Getting fired from a job can kind of feel like getting broken up with. Someone has told you that they don’t want you around anymore, for whatever reason they’ve come up with. It’s a blow to the ego, it forces you to re-organize your life, and it takes a while to recover from. Especially if it’s out of the blue. You reach out to your friends for support, take some time to lick your wounds, and eventually get yourself together enough to see what else is out there. 

Toxic bosses can often behave like toxic relationship partners– similar issues of control, communication, and compatibility cause similar sorts of issues. But an interesting extension of this metaphor came up when an ex-boss did a classic ex-relationship move, and stalked their ex. Who hasn’t checked their ex’s tagged photos to see if they’ve moved on yet? But this kind of behavior should be left to romantic relationships, not professional ones.