On Sept. 11, 2001, the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93 stormed the cockpit, forcing the hijacked jet to crash in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
But before the world knew of their bravery, members of Washington, D.C.’s Air National Guard were prepared to make their own sacrifice.
Nick Schifrin (@nickschifrin) brings us the story of pilot Heather “Lucky” Penney.
My friend moved to Seattle for Amazon.
$170K total comp.
On-call every 6 weeks.
Pager at 2 AM.
“Customer obsessed” on the wall, burnout in the body.
Then the layoff email came.
15 minutes with HR.
Laptop was shipped back.
Access revoked before the call ended.
What surprised him:
1. Performance didn’t matter that day. Headcount math did.
2. Your manager might fight for you, but Finance wins.
3. Your “network” is real only if you built it before you need it.
4. Severance is a runway, not a vacation. He started interviewing in 48 hours.
He told me: “I thought that there was job security. It was just a project after all.”
we should treat jobs like contracts. Doesn't mean we have to be bad at it, do your best because that exp counts. Keep 6 months cash, keep interviewing skills warm, keep your relationships alive.