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"When I graduated college, I was torn between pursuing a career in journalism or going into the music industry. Freshly transplanted to New York with rent, insurance, and other adult bills looming, I decided I'd walk through whichever door opened first. And holy cow, when I was offered a marketing and editorial gig at a major record label two weeks after I landed in the city, it was a dream come true. I was making real money! My boss was cool as hell! My co-workers were becoming my besties! But eventually, the honeymoon phase wore off\u2014hard.\n\nThe company wound up in turmoil, and I survived multiple waves of layoffs. My beloved boss had been let go, but oddly, I was still there. Was it because I was the only person who knew how to send out artists' newsletters? Had I slipped through the cracks because the higher-ups ignored my existence? I felt like my job was becoming phased out of day-to-day processes, but figured my work was still important.\n\nUntil, of course, I got a call from the corner office.\n\nA lot of people talk about getting fired. Everyone knows that papers are signed, someone cleans out your desk, and COBRA becomes the priciest pet you've ever purchased\u2014but no one really tells you what happens after all that. How you'll undoubtedly sit in your bed-turned-workspace for the next week, manically updating your LinkedIn between tears. How you'll dance around those few lines on your resume for more years than you care to count, and pray that future employers won't stray from your provided list of references.\n\nIf you're friends with your co-workers, the next few weeks will feel like you're attending your own funeral. Fielding questions like, \"Are we ever going to see you again?\" and \"What are we going to do without you?!\" becomes par for the course, while small talk centers on how lucky you are to not be at that terrible, no-good office and how you should look on the bright side, since you can now take daytime yoga classes.\n\nBut you know what? All that uncomfortable nonsense, all the how-am-I-going-to-get-money madness\u2014it's perfectly fine. Yes, it's fully bizarre, but when the storm calms and the gossip subsides, getting fired always seems to works itself out. I'd know, because being let go from my first job was one of the best things that ever happened to me.\n\nOdds are, if things aren't going smoothly, it's because you don't want to be there either. (And trust me\u2014people notice!) While I was wrapped up in the day-to-day of a full-time job, I wasn't able to realize that I kind of hated what I was doing. All along I had this gnawing feeling that journalism is where I needed to be\u2014I launched a music blog and freelanced each morning before work\u2014but it wasn't enough to shake me out of my trance and realize I was doing the wrong thing by staying at the label.\n\nThe first few weeks after I was canned were hard. I took informational meetings, I met new people, I hustled\u2014but most importantly, for the first time since school, I sought out what I really wanted. And when I began looking for it, it arrived.\n\nThat cool boss I mentioned? He ended up hiring me at his new company to do what I really wanted to do: write. I crafted blog posts, covered music festivals\u2014I even got to interview Drake! After I'd amassed enough experience and felt a yearning to go full-time freelance, I knew I could survive on my own\u2014because I had before. Quit a job to work from home? Terrifying. No source of steady income? So scary! But I had picked myself up once, so why couldn't I do it again? \n\nThe truth is, I never would have left the music industry if I hadn't been pushed out, which means I never would have started my own company, launched a podcast, dove head-first into comedy\u2014and hey, I wouldn't be writing for Teen Vogue either! What I learned from getting fired is that you need to trust your gut: Do what you love, and if you can't, try your best to work your way towards it by making as few concessions as possible.\n\nAnd remember, just because a few people booted you out doesn't mean everyone at the company is a burnt bridge\u2014the good eggs will support you and the bad ones will fall by the wayside. Getting back the freedom to do what you want and maintaining the trust and respect of the people you like? Well, that's way better than any severance package I've ever heard of."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.teenvogue.com/story/i-got-fired-essay>