FTE contract not renewed - what to do now? (Turn neg. to positive / Graping at Straws

Hi,

I have just been notified that my contract - I am a Fixed Term Employee - will not be renewed. This has come as a bit of a surprise (even within the context of these economical times etc...) as the language they used when I have raised my forthcoming end of contract date has, in general, been positive. (As an aside - what poor management! I have little respect now for my manager. Why lead me up the garden path - just be honest!!)

Anyway, I now have just over 4 weeks until my contract ends.

What should I be doing?

Any advice on how to turn this negative into a positive? Or am I just grasping at straws (in trying to look for positives...)

I see 3 main areas of activity:
1) My current job:
Ask my boss some questions -
Now that I've had time for this to sink in, a few questions are in my mind:
- why isn't my contract being renewed? (In telling me, he just used fluff language - now I'd like to dig down a bit more)
- impact on current day to day activities (do I need to do what I'm doing now...)
- Any handover requirements...

2) How to prepare for looking for a new job:
- Ask people I work with for references
- Look for new job (very little out there already)

3) Worst case:
- What should I be doing to prepare for having no job


If you have any advice on any of these, please let me know.

If you have any thoughts on what else I should be doing, please let me know.

If this is already covered in another thread, I apologise - I didn't find it

That's the very nature of fixed term contracts, many of them don't get renewed. If you're looking for more security, you need to start looking at permanent positions.

Your manager's hands may have been tied. It has happened to me in the past, people working on fixed term contracts that I wanted to renew, but for numerous reasons, senior management decided to use the budget/ headcount elsewhere.

You should remain professional and carry out your duties diligently to the end. Causing hassle for your manager or failing to carry out a hand-over is only likely to get you a bad name that might impact on your chances of getting another job down the line. It's a small country, people talk.

You don't say what field you work in, so difficult to offer more specific advice.

Thanks Leo,

I work in Marketing
And unfortunately there are no Marketing jobs in my location - they are all over in Dublin! (And thats too far to commute!)

Anyway, I appreciate your advice.
On my aside point - I understand the Manager's hands may have been tied, but as I say all the language he used in the lead up was all positive! If conversations were being held in the background, he could have outlined the risk - not saying that 'everything is fine' and 'its only a matter of paperwork'. Anyway that is only a side point. I am trying to focus now on moving forward and doing things which help me, rather than just cry about a decision I seem to have no control or influence over.

Again, any other points on what I should be doing now to prepare are more than welcome.