I fear being sacked

LegacyUser

I started a new job in January and I am coming up to the end of my six month probationary period so I will be told if I am going to be made permanent then.
The trouble is I am sick with worry that I will be let go. I think I have done well enough in the six months, in fact I think they would be mad to let me go as I have worked extremely hard for them since day one.
The reason I am worried is that it took me a while after I finished college to get a job;about 8 months, not a long time I know but it felt like an eternity. It was also the worst 8 months of my life as I got very depressed and withdrawn as a result of not having a job and being on the dole was a huge blow to my self esteem.
The fear of having to go back to that life fills me with dread, I don't know what I'll do if I have to go back to going to interviews and looking for jobs on the internet every day.
If I am made permanent then I plan to buy my own house but if I get the boot then that's down the crapper.
I am 35 and want to get on with things and not have any delays, so keeping this job is vital to my future plans.
I am so worried about not being kept on that I am doing a website in my spare time that has some programming in it (I work in IT) as a kind of safety net in case I have to look for a job again so I can put it on my CV.
I do that in my free time instead of socialising, in fact I don't socialise anymore, I am too worried to enjoy myself, I couldn't care less about pubs and clubs.
I have always been a glass half-empty kind of person, I always expect the worst in life so maybe that's the reason I am so pessimistic about my chances of being kept on.
Maybe it's my imagination but I seem to be getting less work to do at the moment too so maybe they have their mind made up already.
Also the jobs market in IT is s***e at the moment so if I am let go I will face a real struggle to get another job.

LegacyUser

Wow...I think you need to try and relax. Most probationary periods are a bit of a formality. If you have been working as well as it sounds like from your post I'd say it's a nailed on cert you will be made permanent.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

I think your fears are probably groundless. Any time someone can 'feel' the sack coming, they tend to have some reson to fear it. Lack of competence, done somethign stupid, etc. You can't point to any of these thigns.

That said, there's no harm in having a plan B. If they do decide not to keep you on, get straight into the nearest agencies with your CV and get something else. There's plenty out there.

MIN2511

Hey dude, i really know where you are coming from.... I myself am in the same position and i would know today for sure especially after putting near 60hrs per week(paid for 37.5)

If it doesn't work out don't stress it, there is more to life....

Neo#

Put it this way, you can only do your best and see what happens. The same thing happened to me not too long ago where I was unemployed for a while. It does mess with you after a while and you can get a bit depressed about it. But just save as much as you can for now and if you get sacked just think of all the free time you will have and you WILL get a job again.

MysticalSoul

If they were not happy with your work something would have been said before now, so try and relax - I know is easier said than done.

MIN2511

irishamethyst wrote: »

If they were not happy with your work something would have been said before now, so try and relax - I know is easier said than done.

Nope they wouldn't.....

My PM kept telling me "Good work, am glad to be working with you" but then she casted me to her boss after 4months(btw when she was in the middle of her review)

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

MIN2511 wrote: »

Nope they wouldn't.....

My PM kept telling me "Good work, am glad to be working with you" but then she casted me to her boss after 4months(btw when she was in the middle of her review)

Think that might be an exception to the rule.

BTw - OP: I notice you called yourself "Pessimist"... This makes my believe that any feelings of getting sacked are all in yoru head....

sunnyside

Don't mean to be negative, more realistic. Even though you've done your job really well there is a chance the company could be cutting back on staff numbers as many places are due to all this talk of a recession. Hopefully not but if it does happen you need to be clear that it wasn't because you weren't good at your job.

I do hope it works out for you. Is there anyone you could ask now about the situation? For financial reasons,etc you do need to know a bit in advance if you have a job or not.

Overheal

I think all this anxiety is stemming from you not having a Net to fall back on.

Do yourself a favor and get your CV out there. You can tear it back down when you're made permanent.

Worst case,

you've been there before; you'll better know what to expect if you have to go back on the dole. If it comes to that just make sure you dont let yourself get beat down. Ask your employer why you are being let go, and learn from that, and improve yourself on that information.

Spud83

As said most probationary periods are a formality.

Companies use them as a kind of get out clause in case they hired the wrong person it means they don’t have to go through a full disciplinary process to let some one go they can just say sorry it’s not working out.

If you have been working hard and completing your work I would be 90% sure you don’t have a problem. Besides if they had a problem with you they would have said something by now in the hope you would improve. The company don’t want to go to the hassle of hiring someone new just as much as you don’t want the hassle of getting a new job. The risk of the new person being worse than you, the expense of trying to find a new employee, and the expense of training a new employee all make employers try and improve what they have in office rather than risking a new person.

You mention nothing about being criticised constructively or otherwise about your work so my guess is they are happy with you.

I said 90% as there is a chance they are looking to cut staff (Have you see any evidence of this?) and as you are probationary you could be an easy one to let go. But I wouldn’t worry about this unless you know they are actively seeking to reduce staff.

LegacyUser

Most replies seem to think I am worrying unnecessarily, I hope you are right. Someone made a good point about it being more hassle for them to find someone else for the job in the event they let me go.
The kind of job it is would mean a lot of hassle for them because I work on my own, not in an office, I'm a field engineer so I was trained by accompanying someone else for four to six weeks so it means they will have to do all that again.
I just hate not knowing, I worry about it, some people in the same position wouldn't give a toss I know.

BankMan

Pessimist - this may sound really simplistic, and if so, I apologise.

Look yourself in the mirror everyday, and tell yourself you're doing a great job, and you're going to be made permanent. You have to start believing it before you can relax !