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I Was Fired 4 Days To Christmas…

By Perminus Wainaina 

What happens when you lose your treasured job just four days to Christmas?

Peter, a graduate of the Speak With Confidence (Public Speaking) Training class shared his unique experience of how he went from having a well-paying job to being unemployed, all in a matter of days.

In the Public Speaking Training, one of the assignments involves sharing your life experience on a given topic. In Peter’s class, one of the topics was to share your most vivid memory from the previous year.

After the training, I sought to learn more of his experience. Here is Peter’s story, the lessons he learned, and his advice to you.

“What fascinates you about teaching?”

“I have always wanted to teach and mentor, in one way, or another. Throughout my career, I sought out mentorship opportunities.”

Today, Peter wears the hat of lecturer, businessman, husband, and father. Here is how he was fired four days to Christmas and the lessons he picked along the way.

“Before I share my experience, there are a few things you should know. One, I was a top performing employee; I never thought I’d be the one to get the pink slip. Two, I had never tarmacked. I was lucky enough to get opportunities just when I needed them,” says Peter.

“I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce –finance option and got a job at an NGO.

While I loved the job, I felt it was not the right place for me.

Soon after, I started CPA, I felt it was a great move and would open more opportunities for me.

After the NGO, and equipped with my academic qualifications, I moved to a SACCO in the coastal region. Again, I felt something was amiss. I wanted to work for a financial institution.

After a while, I landed a job at a leading financial institution in the region. The position was entry level, but I knew I could grow within the organization. So neither the pay nor the position bothered me much. After all, I was doing what I loved.

After two years in the bank, I got my first promotion. A year after, I got another promotion, and another followed.”

“As your career was growing, what were you doing to keep up with the promotions?”

“From early on, I knew I had to continuously add skills to my name. Each year, I ensured I had taken a short professional course. Later on, I saw I had pursued most of the courses I was aiming for.

I now applied for my MBA and later my Ph.D.”

“In 2009, the government tightened its hold on the industry. To keep up with the fines and regulations, most financial institutions started cutting cost by reducing the workforce.

This was the time I first thought it was possible to lose my job. I had to be smart; I started thinking of a plan B –an exit strategy in case I lost my job. By 2011, retrenchment cases had become a constant affair.”

“Having studied different subjects, did you want to be in banking till retirement?”

“No, no, not at all. After the reality of losing a job hit me in 2011, I started planning for any situation.

My plan was to be in employment for 15 or so years. After this, I would then move to the public sector. Finally, I wanted to work with acclaimed international firms. I wanted to have a feel of the public, private and international sectors.

Life had it differently for me, I got fired after 14 years.”

“How were your personal finances? Had you saved up for a rainy day?”

I believe my biggest investment was in my personal development. I invested in my education.

Since I was in the banking industry, I had information on how to invest wisely.

I sat with my wife and we decided to invest in farming, real estate, and insurance –life and a pension plan.”

“At this point, you’re studying; you have a young family, a full-time job, and some side businesses. How did you balance it all?”

“I had a great support system. My wife was my backbone. She would do everything in the house, and in the evening, she would keep me company as I studied and did my research. You see, I embarked on my PhD soon after we had our third born.”

“Let’s go to the day it all happened. Did you know you were about to get fired?”

“Before that day, let me tell you about two weeks earlier.

The bank had sent communication asking for voluntary separation. This came with a few benefits, but I still had one year to go in my plan. Furthermore, I knew based on my performance, I was not among those being targeted.

During the two weeks, they did everything to downsize. The most common was re-interviewing employees for positions. In one of the departments, they wanted to reduce from 50 employees to 20. They re-interviewed all 50 employees, and 30 of them were unsuccessful.

I was fired on a Friday. That Thursday, I was from Kisumu and had just flown back. At the airport, my boss phoned me. She asked if I would be in the next day. ‘Yes,’ I told her. Then, she said she would like to have a meeting.

While it was odd for her to call since she was on leave, I made nothing of the matter.

The next day, I went to work, like any other Friday.

At work, my boss phoned me, she asked me to go to the HR’s office, where we would then have a conference call.”

“At this point, did you think you were about to be fired.”

“No, not yet. I found the events curious, but I didn’t think of being fired.”

The Conference Call

“I walked into the HR’s office. A few minutes later, she asked me to head to the boardroom, where she soon followed.

My boss called. She delivered a long monologue of how good I had been at my job, and how I was an asset to the organization. Then, she pounced for the kill. She informed me the company was downsizing, and my role had been declared redundant. She told me that was going to be my last day, then asked if I had any questions.

‘Why me?’ I asked her.

‘To be honest with you, it was either you or me. I’m sorry Peter.” She responded.

‘So, who takes over my job?”

She said some guy’s name. After the call, I went, met the guy who was to take over my job and gave him a debrief of my roles.”

“Did you tell anyone you had gotten the pink slip?”

“I had a circle of about 20 coworkers. The people I considered my friends. However, at this point, I only disclosed to Jake –he used to sit next to me. I gave him the letter and watched as he went through it, line after another.”

“What did you do after? What was on your mind?”

I packed my things and went to my mechanic. I had been planning to get the car fixed.

I was thinking this was a good and bad thing at the same time.

On one hand, it was a few months before I had planned to leave. The job just gave me a push. On the other hand, ‘why me!’ my performance was great!”

“How did you tell your wife you had just been fired?”

Peter takes a deep breath.

“On my way home, I didn’t know how to break the news to my wife. When I got home, she was not in yet. A few hours later, she came home.

I still didn’t know what to do. I went to the bedroom, called her, and laid the letter on the bed.

She took the letter, sat down, gave me a concerned look, and then began to read. Not once did her expression change. I watched her closely to see signs of shock, worry even, but, nothing.

She finished reading, sprung to her feet, and gave me a hug.

Now, the interesting thing is, the following Monday, we were to go on vacation to Zanzibar for the Christmas holiday.

We canceled the trip and started planning how to save every coin we had.

“Did your livelihood drastically change?”

“In some ways, it did. Canceling the trip was just one of the ways. However, I had by now established some side businesses. These helped us earn a coin or two.

In November, we’d decided to move the kids to a better school. Now, I believe in quality education. So we still went through with this.”

“You mentioned you had a circle of about 20 friends at work, did any of them reach out to you?”

Yes. But most with their own agendas. The first one was the guy who replaced me. He only called when he needed me to explain how a process works. Once he had a hang of things, the calls never came again.

The other was someone I considered a close friend. He called to ask why he wasn’t seeing my kids in school. I told him we’d moved them, and his calls never came again.

There’s only one person who’s stuck with me. He called to check up on me, see how I was doing. It’s funny, I thought I had friends, but this experience revealed otherwise.

“What was next after you got fired?”

I decided I had had enough of employment. I approached a few universities and got part-time lecturer jobs.

These jobs are great, they give me income to sustain my family and run a few side projects. The side businesses also supplement the income.

I also love teaching because I get to mentor the students and guide them along with school and their professional life. Having a part-time job also clears my schedule to spend time with my wife and kids.”

“What was the biggest lesson you learned”

“Being fired taught me a lot of life lessons. My biggest one was to always have an exit strategy. For me, I was able to save, start a few businesses, invest in my education, and plan to get out of employment.

I see many professionals who get employed, and they go about as though they’ll always have the job. Always save for a rainy day. It just might come as unexpectedly as mine did.”

Peter’s experience is something we should all learn from. He made decisions that helped him stay afloat even when the pink slip came.

Invest in education, take up short courses and develop new skills, make meaningful connections through networking, have a support system, and most importantly, have an exit plan.

Perminus Wainaina is the C.E.O and Managing Partner at Corporate Staffing Services, a leading HR & Recruitment consultancy firm based in Westlands. Through personalized career coaching he assists mid-level and senior professionals get solutions to complex and challenging career issues that they are facing. Click here for more on career coaching.

115 Comments

  1. You’re right Ruth. The article sheds light on the importance of saving up for a rainy day and preparing for the worst. We should share this information with other young professionals that they too, might learn.

  2. thanks for sharing, its such an eye opener especially to us young people who never think about saving and investing forgetting that we are not indispensable.

  4. This is inspiring. Great lessons learnt. Always invest for a rainy day. My resolution

  5. Nice piece….lesson well learnt.Always have a side biz just in case the pink slip comes unexpectedly……

  8. Great insight and can relate too. God bless you. Though most people are found unaware and unprepared. Lesson well learnt.

  9. Wow! This is informative. Invest in your education, have an exit strategy, network and have a support system. Thank you.

  11. That’s correct, you can get fired over myriad reasons. Being prepared is the only way to secure your future.

  15. Nice,reminds me of my experience I opted for voluntary separation in tough times for the company the writer seemed to be a threat to the top management of his company. though mine was at lower level of job rank and education achievements,the cycle continues.

  16. This is a Master Piece! Lasting Employment is never guaranteed for anyone.When you have that opportunity to work,work! work!work! as you invest in yourself and think of an exit strategy.Anything can happen.Always think about WHAT IF? have a secondary income source for yourself.

  17. Thanks guys. Great lessons indeed. I’ve personal been fired two times. The first one happened when my wife was a way and the house helper disappeared from home. I found myself more committing to my baby who was alone and we were trying to find another helper.

    The second time is a funny one, it was paying well but was fired for being a GOOD WORKER. My bosses wanted me to help them do very dirty work which I refused. They fired me.

    Being good or bad can both lead you to getting fired.

  19. Peters’ experience is a timely reminder.” May shower bring forth June flowers.”

    In the fastlane of life, we sometimes fall asleep in the middle of our lives until an event ( an unexpected dark cloud) or a true friend wakes us up.

    Invest in developing your skills, meaningful connections and most importantly; have an exit plan.

  20. I went through the same thing in 2017 .in fact this happened when i was on compassionate leave taken immediately when i finished the audit. i was also in final year in college .I was very traumatized but learnt a lot.Envy do exist in work places

  24. Thanks for sharing this, very good advice to all employed and those people who depend on salary income only.

  25. Hey Rose,
    That’s a valid question. If there’s one thing I have learned, it’s the salary will never be enough. It’s up to us to learn where we can make a sacrifice and save a few coins.

  30. It’s unfortunate you had to go through this. It looks like you were well prepared for the unexpected. We all need to anticipate the worst case scenario.

  34. It’s a great thing you had an exit plan. More professionals need to realize the importance of being prepared.

  35. This is a great piece.
    I also went through a similar phase. Lucky I had already set up a side hussle to take care of any eventuality and had constructed & moved my family into my own home.
    What I didn’t like about the termination however was that it was so malicious; I had actually refused to side with a corrupt junior employee who was a cousin of an influential director. I opted not to sue but to focus my energy on building my business.
    It was tough but three years down the line, I cannot complain.

  36. Today, l have been encouraged by this article to keep doing what l started-planning for an exit strategy. I have witnessed my colleagues get summary dismissals and l could be next any time soon. I just didn’t realize that it happens everywhere.

  37. Very educative. Exit strategy, invest in education and set up a few businesses. This is priceless. Thank you for sharing this. It is priceless!!

  38. Out of every disadvantage, there is always an advantage. By focusing on the positive side,You were able to do even better with your life after being fired. “…time and chance happens to them all ” Ecclesiastes 9:11

  39. I went through similar experience the worst part is that I had never had plan B. In fact it came at a time I’d ordered a luxurious car from Japan and used the little I’d saved for it. And Mark you, when I lost the job, I couldn’t even sell the car at even half the price… And again its a time that out of the VERY MANY friends that I had only one stood by me. The rest weren’t even picking up calls thinking that maybe I’d ask for money.
    It reached a point that I could not meet the most basic needs like paying rent. Wgat followed was that my child got sick and needed to be operated on. I took a loan from a microfinance with hopes that I’ll find a client for mh car at fair rates, or my be hire it out and earn at least 5k per day.. Just after getting the loan and paying hospital bills, I got a small accident with it and needed more money to repair the car. A month passed and I could not manage paying the instalment for the loan. A car I bout at over Ksh 3million was taken by the microfinance and sold at Ksh 600,000. They only gave me 70,000 and took the rest. Platinum credit is a scam.
    I wonder what the problem it is with the accounting profession. We get good jobs but it comes to an end very first and unexpectedly.

    It’s a long story and the rest is history.

    I thank God for life and care for my family.

  40. A great inspiring piece I believe once one gets their employment letter the next thing should always be to be prepared for firing/leaving.

    Always have an exit strategy for short-term and long-term and when you are a performer note that you always attract enemies in the name of colleagues and bosses especially with more courses and certificate you became a threat.

    Good thing Peter you were pushed to doing what you love and you have a supportive family.

    Thanks for sharing.

  41. It is inspiring and an eye opener too…. But atymes we work for companies that pay as u spend no much to save what the best measure to take?
    Regard
    Rose

  43. Thanks for sharing this piece.It has inspired me alot.i recently have had the same experience thank God I too had an exit plan

  44. Thanks for sharing.it has inspired me alot .I am a perfect example of what this guy went through thank God I have had an exit plan too

  45. I can relate to this very well. The positive side of it is that it makes you wiser!

  57. It’s all about the small steps we make on a daily basis. Soon enough, you have all the skills you were looking for.

  66. Oh my God! When I read this I was astounded by the similarities to my story, for a minute I thought you were writing about me, then I remembered I had not shared this with you. Great advice and the thing with friends is true. In now only keep real connections in my phone

  69. Anything happening in our lives, happens for and with a reason. We only need to say THANK YOU LORD because in many occasions, they help us have a learning opportunities. In this life, there are ups and downs, we only need to appreciate any of them.

  70. You are very strong and thanks to your wife for being there to lift you up. it was very difficult moment but you overcame.
    Thanks a lot coz i have also learned something.

  75. Thanks Peter for sharing your story,

    Sure it’s an eye opener invest in your education , invest on cash generating businesses and have a support system.

    I can also relate with how you thought you had friends now days I use “Jesus Matrix 1, 3, 12,72 to define them and manage my expectations

  78. In safety we use the terminology, emergency preparedness,that is all what we need, anything can happen anytime you never expected.

  82. Beautiful story,Going through something similar and the biggest lessons is that People leave when you have problems the beauty is such situations makes us realize and know our true and genuine friends.always have a plan B

  83. Sometimes you just walk especially when you know it’s not about performance but someone maliciously targeted you(court cases drain you both emotionally and financially) besides you can invest that time and energy in yourself and your family. I can tell you for free the people who make such decisions of letting go of high performers also soon get fired because they got rid of the donkey that was pulling and pushing for the department and they can’t match up. Such companies also don’t last long. The company will collapse all together in a few years or forced into an acquisition.

  84. This is so inspiring, we need to be always on the look out for alternative plan in life

  85. ILoosing a job helps one to differentiate friends with an agenda and real friends.Inspiring as education earns the best interest as you age.

  86. I lost my job on the day I learnt that I was pregnant. That email broke my heart into pieces. I decided to take a break from work and concentrate on the baby first as I believed I wasn’t ready at that moment to look for another job. It has been two and half years now. I have applied for jobs and when I get interviews prospective employers doubt me and tell me the gap is quite big. How can you people be of help?
    Thanks

  87. So inspiring,I was once given a termination letter without any notice on my first job. I became so disoriented since I had just enrolled for my CPA classes

  88. This is so inspiring,as someone specializing in finance,I just felt like this post spoke to me.I learnt quite a lot and in future what I will always have in mind once I get employed is the exit plan.

  94. It’s sad what envy can result in in the workplace.
    You’re right, you’ll never regret investing in learning.

  95. The important bit is you learned a lesson from what you went through.
    You can also share your experience to help someone else.

  96. Some of his friends actually advised him to sue the organization. He chose not to.
    You’re right, though. There are set procidures that must be followed in such instances.

  97. I was fired on the second of January. I don’t even add that stint as part of my experience.

  105. Great article and a replica of what happened to me 10 days to Christmas two years ago. Very similar circumstances too. The only difference being dishonesty in reason for being laid off.

  106. It’s an eye opening for me I have an experience of the same with my mum and can say sometimes things get real.thank you for that .

  107. Most welcome Nicholas.
    The most important aspect is to always be prepared -whether you leave immediately or in a few years.

  108. This is touching and always there are no true friends especially at work places.People show off crocodile faces but there reality reveals itself when you are out of that office. always work smart interact and be keen with your personality.

  110. I now feel I should leave my job, and concentrate on other things.

    Thanks for the share

  113. “My boss called. She delivered a long monologue of how good I had been at my job, and how I was an asset to the organization. Then, she pounced for the kill. She informed me the company was downsizing, and my role had been declared redundant. She told me that was going to be my last day, then asked if I had any questions.”

    I see a lawsuit waiting to happen.

    Being a leading financial institution, you would think they have lawyers to advise them on redundancy procedures.

    He should sue. I will be happy to represent him

  114. I also went through almost similar experience.The only difference is that I hadn’t saved up but I learned my lesson.
    Such an inspiring story.

  115. Wow,

    This is so inspiring and an eye-opener. Reminds me of a time my seniors in a local company realized that I was half-way my Master’s degree; they ganged up and got me fired. This really went down my nerves.

    Investing in Education is the key!

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