I have always been on edge working for companies in the US. Everyone jokes about the panic you feel when a manager asks to speak with you privately, but it is very real. TLDR: I got fired as soon as I relaxed and was gearing up for the next season.
I was hired as a contractor with the option to extend my contract indefinitely. I was treated like a temp with the option to hire. Ok that's fine, not my first time working such a job. Only this time I was working in field I wanted to be in. I enjoyed the job. I worked hard, I learned as much as I could as often as I could. I was told over and over that they don't just let contractors go out of the blue. They renewed my contract in July and I considered letting go of the other side job and volunteer work I did so I could better perform at this job.
I did take time off the side job and quit volunteering at the beginning of this month. I was fired Tuesday night right before my shift. The list they gave me of their grievances were so minor, that I thought they were joking.
Lack of attention to detail: failing to notice I had been handed jars with loose lids, which resulted in product spillage.
Attendance: I failed to notify my supervisor when I left early. Once. When I was told I could leave early due to an issue requiring my attention at home. (my husbands car broke down and he was stranded)
Time management: failure to retrieve items every hour, even though my work was done before the start of the next shift, without fail.
Reachability: I failed to notice the radio we use to communicate was broken, resulting in one of the operators have to track me down for a question.
These last two combined made the process have to wait an hour for an answer. I was working on other things in my workspace, like cleaning and retrieving other materials. But when they found me I was taking a break, so they took that to mean I was doing nothing that whole time. Of course I was there third shift, by myself 80% of the time I have had this job, and this was the only time this has happened, ever.
Now normally I would have had no issues setting an alarm and going out every hour to retrieve materials. But since I had started working there the attitude has been prioritize one process over another, certain work comes first. Blah blah. This was also the attitude of my coworkers and supervisor. Day shift or night shift, if one process brings us something that is a higher priority, then we run it first. if other processes have to wait to be retrieved that is also just the way it is.
This last bit was over a month ago, so I didn't think it was important, seeing as after that we dropped hours and the two third shift people, me and a coworker, were working together. Seeing as he still didn't prioritize jumping every hour to go get stuff, I continued with my current time management strategy of go and get it when I have a second.
I am kind of rambling, but I wanted to illustrate that the last two if they were the real reason I was fired, then this was a flaw in the approach of the whole workplace, not just myself.
I was called and fired over the phone. I was told the list of reasons and they stated I was coached on all of these issues. I have no documentation of coaching, no write ups, no warning that anything was wrong. Which leads me to the conclusion that I was fired to cut costs, because I was a temp. I was making more than the other temp hired at the same time I was, because I was working third shift. And I made myself a target, by suggesting improvements to the way we organized things. Once I got permission I even did the work of reorganizing.
Now if you have read this far you're a champ, because it's been two days and I am still so mad. I put up with a garbage trainer, garbage hours, garbage commute, for good pay, meh benefits, and a chance at the oh so f*cking valuble experience. FOR 11 MONTHS. I was willing to get hired on at a place that clearly played the political game so hard that you needed to keep notes on the social climate to not get screwed, even though I loathe that kind of crap. I liked the job, the work was interesting and after a while easy. and as soon as I let my guard down, I stopped worrying about being let go because I was a temp, they let me go.
Now I am approaching winter in a place that snows, I need new tires because I worked so freaking far away so often. And to top it all off this is the second time I have ever been fired, in 19 years of working.
uhhg. This ever reminds me to maintaining my edge.