113 - Jobs I've Had VIII (to current day)

I worked for The Torrington Company for 11 years total. There's never been any other place like that in my life, that I felt so part of the place. The people, they were like family. When a spat arose, people never held a grudge, they forgave and moved on, just like in a family. It was special.

It broke my heart beyond words when I got laid off, but it was a good thing in a way, as big layoffs were yet to come, and some of the people have had a hard time recovering from it.

I got laid off in February of 2001. It was a time that jobs were extremely hard to find. I was out of work for 7 months, longer than I had ever been out of work in my life. I hated collecting unemployment. I was depressed. 'nuff said.

I had applied at the University of Connecticut Health Center (shown in the picture at right, click to embiggen)

 

I had also applied to CIGNA (insurance company) which was right in my town. I went for an interview, and the supervisor there told me "you seem overqualified.. I'd hate to hire you only to have you leave for somewhere else in 6 months". I told her I was looking for a home. That I wasn't interested in going anywhere else after I worked there. She hired me and I was back to work. Better yet, my commute was about 1 mile. The people there were nice, I made friends with the two younger IT people there, but there were two other guys there, while younger than me, they kept to themselves a lot and I didn't push it.

After being there for 1 month, I got a call for an interview at UCONN. I went, they told me what they were looking for, told them my qualifications, and they said they'd get back to me. I got a call for a second interview, and they told me they wanted to hire me, and would send a letter of intent to my house. I waited, and when I got it.. I was worried of how to tell my boss at Cigna, where I'd only been for 4 weeks. The reason I wanted to work at UCONN, was the benefits. It's a State of CT job, with incredible health care benefits, my son could go to college at UCONN for free, and when I retire (after a minimum of 10 years of service), my health benefits would continue to be paid. That last benefit alone was enough to sell me. I wrote up the benefits of the job, and showed them to my supervisor at CIGNA, apologizing profusely, and telling her truthfully that I hadn't applied anywhere after my job at CIGNA. She understood, and wished me well.

So, I've been at UCONN for 7 years, and I'm hoping I retire from here. It's not Torrington, but it's a good job and for the most part, the people are ok.

So there it is... 36 years of my jobs laid out for your consideration.

Have a wonderful weekend all...!