Fired! Bouncing Back from a Midlife Pink Slip

Editor's Note: We've heard from way too many of you about job losses since the pandemic hit. We know it's extraordinarily tough, and think that this story on what to do when you get fired is especially relevant. It's only one woman's experience but we hope you can find some ideas and comfort here.

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A smarter cookie might have suspected something dodgy when the head of Human Resources summoned me to her office one January afternoon. Was I going to be busted for asking a job candidate if she had kids? That had happened once, though as the editor-in-chief of a magazine linked to Lifetime Television, I wasn’t trying to eliminate mommies, but find one for the staff, to add what I thought would be a valuable viewpoint. But as soon as I set foot in Ms. H.R.’s office, I felt ill. I saw my boss sitting there, too.