Tim Franklin, Lawrence, lost his job as a loan officer last October and is still job-hunting. He is studying to become an insurance salesman and says he holds no grudges for being laid off.

The year 2008 was not a good one for Tim Franklin.

At the beginning of the year, the 38-year-old Lawrence man filed for bankruptcy. In October, he was laid off from his job as a residential loan officer at Bank of America.

“It’s pretty emotional,” Franklin said about the layoff. “It’s like, what do I do now?”

Franklin holds no grudges against the bank, where he worked for three years. “It did what it had to do,” he said. Although the home loan business started off well in 2007, it then dropped off and led to his bankruptcy and eventual layoff.

“You count on your income being there when you need it, and then it goes down to nothing,” he said.

Franklin is married and has three children. His wife, Amy, works as a dental hygienist and her job was not included in the bankruptcy filing.

“Everything is on her shoulders now, and it takes a toll,” he said.

Franklin stays home and takes care of the children while job-hunting.

He is studying to become an insurance salesman after networking and finding out about an opening with a local company. He must pass a licensing test.

Franklin has had sales jobs most of his life. Sales jobs are not too secure in bad economic times, and he knows that.

“If you don’t make sales, you don’t make any money,” he said. “There’s just not a lot of jobs here in Lawrence that are available.”

Franklin passed on a truck-driving job opportunity. It would have taken him away from his family one or two nights a week, and he didn’t want that. He thinks the insurance job is the best fit for him now.

“It’s still sales, but everything is starting to fall into place. I can’t complain,” he said.