I have 28 days left with the Masonic Cancer Center IT dept. My options at the moment include:
1. Bumping someone of lower seniority and taking their job.
2. Going on the “layoff list” where I get priority for jobs I’m qualified for.
3. Taking the severance package which includes 8-weeks salary, vacation payout, and healthcare at current employee cost for a year (and I still qualify for unemployment).
I will leave the Cancer Center with a Masters in Public Affairs from Humphrey (if I finish a paper and pass the stats class by the end of the summer session). So I am seriously considering option #3. With unemployment, I should have a nice cushion to look for something in a policy/strategy area or maybe help a group use the social web. I have ideas. I have dreams.
If I go that route I will be interested in any freelance web work to help pay the bills. Or how about a freelance web project that has a social web component to it? I have some great ideas. I have deep blogging and twitter experience and I can fake it on Facebook.
If you have some ideas (or work) for me, I’m pfhyper at gmail.
PF Hyper the Blog
From Blogger to Posterous to WordPress.com! Here we are again.
PF Hyper the Blog 
Thanks for the update on the layoff. With your new degree, the smarts you’ve always had and your very special talents — I know your ideas will make your dreams happen. I would like to team up with you to design and develop online identities for individuals and companies merging all the online spaces. Let’s talk again after you’ve completed your degree requirements.
With all due respect, unemployment is getting up to 10 %. Unemployment runs out after a while. Unemployment is NOT a cushion. The rule of thumb used to be 1 month of job hunting for each $10k/year in salary. It’s at least double that now. If you have any option to stay, even at a lower salary, do it. If you can’t avoid unemployment, you should not use it to "take time off". You won’t have enough time to take off. You should make your new job, job hunting, full time.
Thanks for the comment, Glenn. I’m using the layoff as a chance to change careers. I’ll have a decent severance package and I hope to be doing contract work for various groups, possibly even the group that laid me off. I’m not really relying on unemployment as a cushion. My bad for making a poor choice of words.