Give Hope to the Hopeless
“My Career is Over –
So Now What Do I Do Now?”
Case Studies: “My career is over, therefore my life has ended”
(High profile cases of people whose career and/or career aspirations unexpectedly ended)
The following are high-profile stories of individuals who, whether due to poor judgment, personal choice, lack of necessary life skills, or circumstances beyond their control, ultimately found themselves in situations where their current job/career aspirations had come to an end. Some situations happened very suddenly – within a matter of hours to a few days’ time. Unfortunately, in this situation, a common response for many individuals is likely to believe "My career is over. Therefore, my life has ended. So, now what do I do?” For every high-profile example given, there are countless ‘hidden’ individuals facing similar situations.
Employer’s Product/Service No Longer in Demand
Over 700 employees at the 50-year-old PennySaver in Yorba Linda, CA were told one Friday afternoon “to stop what you’re doing. Pack up your stuff. It’s time to go.” The company was shutting its doors. Employees were shocked and devastated, and hoped to receive just one-weeks’ pay, but did not. Many employees had worked there for several decades, and some multi-generation families were impacted as well. What do these people do now?
https://www.nbclosangeles.com/video/on-air/pennysaver-shuts-down_los-angeles/52199/
Life’s Work No Longer in Demand
After almost 30 years as the owner of a local, well-known auto dealership, Lenny Woods was devastated at having to sell his dealership during the economic downturn in 2010. In response, he committed suicide:
… business for the dealership had declined precipitously in recent years with the fall of the housing market, increasing popularity of import cars, decrease in discretionary spending and the higher cost of gas, Woods told the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in April. At the time, Woods was distraught over the loss of his life's work.
http://www.dailybulletin.com/20100922/chino-dealership-owner-found-dead-at-business
Pursued a Dream and Failed
Career changers, adult students, college drop outs, students who are denied admissions to preferred pre-professional programs, professional athletes, actors, performers, entrepreneurs. New employees who don’t pass their probationary period because they don’t fit the organizational culture of their employers, etc.
Christopher Dorner was a young African American man who had a dream of becoming a police officer. According to the standard advice career counselors often give to young college students, this man did everything he needed to do to achieve his dream and succeed. He was eventually hired by and passed, the Los Angeles Police Department’s police academy. However, before he was able to finish his probationary period on the job, he experienced several situations that caused serious personal conflict with his employer and how they do things. After considering a particular situation which he found personally objectionable, he filed a personal complaint against his training supervisor. LAPD determined his allegations were unfounded and fired him for filing a false report. He appealed his case through several legal options, but after four years of unemployment, isolation, and the opportunity to continuously stress and ruminate over what happened he eventually came to the conclusion: “My career is over, therefore my life is over.” Unfortunately, he eventually came to the conclusion the solution to ‘getting his reputation back’ was to wage a violent war against the Los Angeles Police Department. This ‘war’ made national headlines. By the time it was over, he had murdered two civilians, two police officers, and eventually took his own life in a fiery gun battle with local law enforcement.
How differently could things have turned out if he had received appropriate intervention earlier in his career when his challenges began to manifest? Unfortunately, we will never know whether or not the premature death of those five lives could have prevented.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/14/justice/lapd-dorner-former-girlfriend/
Caught Up in Social/Political Controversy
Police Officers Accused of Excessive Force
Officer Darren Wilson’s became a household name after his controversial shooting killed Michael Brown and caused political unrest in Ferguson, Mo. Officer Wilson was eventually cleared of wrong doing in the incident, which further escalated national tensions and leading to rioting. He eventually resigned his job without benefits, knowing he will never be a police officer again. During the firestorm that threatened the safety of his life, he married his pregnant girlfriend. One can only imagine the stress of living under these circumstances would produce in this man’s life.
Same Sex Marriage Rights vs. First Amendment Rights of Freedom of Religion and Speech
Aaron and Melissa Klein, bakery owners in Oregon, have been sued, lost their business, and barred from speaking about it, when they refused to make a cake for a same-sex wedding.
Acquired Disabilities or Physical/Mental/Emotional Limitations
GermanWings Co-Pilot, Andreas Lubitz, had always dreamed of being a pilot. Yet he deliberately flew Flight #9525 into the side of a mountain killing all 150 onboard the flight. Investigation is ongoing regarding his motives, but to date, clues have been found that could suggest the likely motive: He had recently been declared ‘unfit to fly’ by his doctors because he struggled with mental illness. Evidence is coming to light that he struggled with depression and schizophrenia. He knew very well that a pilot needs to be in excellent physical and mental condition to be qualified for this dream career he had achieved. He probably believed his dream was over, and probably was afraid to discuss this fear with anyone for fear it would end his career.
http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/27/europe/germanwings-copilot-andreas-lubitz/index.html
Poor Life Skills (Prioritizing, Problem Solving, etc.)
Brenda Slaby was a married assistant principal, who saw her career come to a screeching halt one day, when she got so caught up in the day’s activities that she forgot her priorities and inadvertently left her toddler in a hot car at work all day, leading to the child’s death. While not charged with criminal wrong doing, the decision makers at her school district fired her because she was thought to not be safe around children. In a later interview, she revealed this incident lead to her divorce and subsequent second termination when her next employer learned of her past mistake.
http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/10/17/o.overwhelmed.mom.mistake/index.html
Inappropriate Social Media Use
Justine Sacco, a communications executive, saw her life ruined after she posted a stupid and offensive joke over social media as she was boarding a plane to South Africa. By the time she got off the plane 11 hours later, her tweet, name, and poor judgement had received international attention, and she had to go into hiding because of the media backlash.
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/15/magazine/how-one-stupid-tweet-ruined-justine-saccos-life.html?_r=1
