RockCoCougars

It's very hard to get your nose in the door these days without elbow rubbing, butt kissing or, ahem, 'networking'. You are learning fast. All that I can say from my experience is that the buddy system is alive and well. I can't remember the last time that my department had a job opening in which someone's friend/former co-worker, etc. didn't get an interview. Often, that person ended up getting the job over someone more qualified, sometimes this was to the detriment of the company. Even if they didn't get the job, the politics involved throw a real wrench in the hiring process.

You are probably just worrying too much. If they intended to fire you, they probably would have done so that day. Generally, employers want a good paper trail of 'disciplinary actions' to terminate an employee, so just mind your p's and q's until you find something more up your alley. I'd lay off the computer a bit, because that is a stone-cold, easily provable 'offense' if they wanted to go that route. Does your employer have an Internet usage policy?

edit: i thought a person couldn't collect unemployment if they got fired, or at least there was a complicated appeal process. otherwise there would be nothing stopping someone purposely getting themselves fired just to collect unemployment. but strangely, unemployment would be awesome for me to help me afford possibly not finding a job in NC for a while. Believe me, it happens all the time, at least here in Wisconsin. Things may be different in Texas, but here unless the DWD actually has the time to investigate your claim thoroughly (fairly long odds among the oodles of claims) AND your previous employer has the time/inclination to 'fight' your claim, you will most likely get it. Again, since unemployment is a state thing, things may be different in Texas.

but i would then also have to check that "Have you ever been terminated" box on standard application forms. it's hard enough to land interviews as it is, and does checking that box mean the application pretty much goes right into the garbage? because of this, there's a small part of me that almost wants to quit before i get fired. Most likely, you will be asked to 'resign' if worse comes to worse. Does anyone actually get fired anymore in our litigious society? If it comes down to it, firing may actually be beneficial to you if you want to collect unemployment....many more hoops to jump through with a forced resignation (another reason that employers tend to go this route). As stated above, you can always check 'No' on the termination box...getting fired isn't the end of the world. Even if a prospective employer does the due diligence to check your employment history, most previous employers will only confirm your dates of employment... again for legal reasons (they may disclose a termination if prodded, but it's far from a slam dunk).