Does Telling Your Kids You Were Fired Make You “The Biggest Loser”?

Let me start by saying that I’m using “Dad” for the sake of simplicity. This is a non-gender question. But my editor asked me to stick with one gender, so as a father, I’m writing this column as “Dad.”

Some people tell me that they find it very difficult to tell their children that they’ve been fired. Does a 10-year-old even know what the word “fired” means? And how much do teenagers even really understand? Can you just blame the “R word”: recession? Let’s face it, adults barely know what the word “recession” means, so for your children of any age, they just know that Dad (or Mom) is now home all day, not working.

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Keyword-Rich Resumes Get You Noticed

The demands on job seekers, in respect to writing resumes, seem to increase daily. Of course, it’s not really that often, but it does seem as if the list of resume dos and don’ts has grown exponentially over the past few years. It hasn’t. In fact, much of what was important 20 years ago – yes, I’m old enough to actually remember – is still important today … with a modern twist. Adding email addresses to headings and using keywords to catch the attention of scanning equipment or software are pretty much all there is that differs.

Including keywords was probably important 20 years ago, too, but went by another name, the way “reputation” morphed into “personal brand.” Anyway, what’s important for job seekers to know is that adding words to their resumes that pertain to their career fields or mirror those they read in job postings will get them noticed faster.

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Jobless Rate Hits 8.5%; 663,000 Jobs Lost

Today’s released unemployment number ate deceiving: they do not reflect those that have given up work, stopped collecting unemployment, or work
part time–unemployment is more like 20% even higher in some cities like Detroit.

Yet at least half of all American’s do have jobs, and can keep them.

Don’t “assume” you will eventually become a statistic. My book “Bulletproof Your Job” (HaprerCollins) is a great tool, with tricks, yes tricks, and secrets on how to keep your job. Even you are of work, visit my website www.bulletproofyourresume.com to find the secrets on how to get your resume noticed.

Read the NY Times Article >>

First, Shootings by Disgruntled Fired Workers. What’s Next?

Do you work with someone who you think would go on a violent rampage if they got fired?

Have you ever seriously thought about that prospect? How can you not, with the reality of today’s headlines jumping out at us?

The common theme of these tragic killings is that someone has been fired or is recently unemployed, has become deeply unhappy, and feels “wronged” by the boss and co-workers. Now they’re out for revenge. For an already unstable person, getting fired is the final push over the edge that turns him or her into a homicidal, vengeful, cold-blooded killer. These individuals somehow lose their coping mechanism and turn on their bosses, co-workers, and anyone else in the way.

I detest the phrase “going postal.” It demeans our nation’s postal workers, who work so hard in what are often monotonous, routine jobs. I didn’t invent the phrase and try never to use it. However, this single phrase does help us picture this growing pattern of violence at work – which might increase as more and more Americans get fired.

Remember, ever since the “R” word – RECESSION, of course – has become the media buzzword, it’s become a blank check for the boss to fire anyone. Bosses use the recession as an excuse to fire those they have been dying to get rid of.

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Career Fairs or Career Fairy Tales?

Today’s career fairs seem anything but “fair” to me.

Have you noticed lately how every local TV news report has a weekly segment on a career or job fair? The footage may as well be recycled week after week: the camera pans over a long line wrapping around a corner. Then the reporter (always with surprise and a newsworthy sense of self-importance – almost as if he’s breaking a story as hot as Lewinsky and Clinton) marvels over the record attendance.

Um, is this really news? My God, half the country is unemployed, and people are lining up thinking they might land a job. Surprise! Someone give that reporter a raise.

My absolute favorite part is when the reporter corners one of the attendees and gets her to talk about how she plans to stand out from the crowd.

Oh no, wait, this is the best part: then that same person talks on camera about how she’s now begun to make friends in the job fair lines because they all recognize one another from the previous week’s job fair. Hmmm… it might be time to reevaluate that whole “standing out from the crowd” strategy.

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Headhunter Trade Secrets for Finding a New Job During a Recession

It is important to remember even if the unemployment rate reaches 10 percent, that means 90 percent of Americans are still working.

So, do not to get caught up in the emotional anxiety of assuming you too will lose your job. The fact is that most Americans will continue to keep their jobs. Yet, workers from all companies will be let go to meet the bottom line. It’s just for show (and yes it is just for show).

Let’s face it, even the meanest boss hates to fire anyone, but when the “recession” word is used in conjunction with lay-offs, it’s really a blank check to fire anybody with no real reason needed.

Work is not a democracy. If you weren’t old enough to be working during the 1991 recession, the idea that you’re not just judged on merit or performance is probably new to you. It seems repugnant; however, get your head out of the sand.

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What to Do When You Lose Your Job

The economic news gets worse by the day. On Friday, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the national unemployment rate surged to 8.1 percent in February, its highest in 25 years, with 651,000 jobs lost last month.

Financial industry workers have been hit hardest by the recession. But in recent weeks, there have been waves of layoffs at companies like I.B.M., where workers once seemed safe from the economic storm.

In this sinking economy, what should you be prepared to do if you lose your job?

• Katherine S. Newman, professor of sociology
• Michael Melcher, executive coach
• Michael Gates Gill, author and Starbucks worker
• Stephen Viscusi, author and headhunter
• Harley Shaiken, labor expert
• Bob Adler, self-employed consultant

Read the article >>

The Art of Staying Young: My 10 Tips

Being perceived as being younger both emotionally and intellectually is often more important than looking younger. In this recession you need to learn the fine art of being perceived as younger as well as looking younger. So if you’re over 40, here are 10 tips:

1: Buy teeth whitening strips. Shallow for sure, but having coffee-stained teeth won’t do you any favors in interviews.

2: Get on Facebook today. If you don’t know how to join, let your kids show you. Use Google and know what Wikipedia is. Learn how to text and TiVo.

3: Check out your local Apple store and ask to learn the difference between an iPod Classic, iPod Touch, and iPod Nano.

4: If for some reason you still remember your SAT scores, keep them to yourself. No one cares and scoring has changed, so you’ll just wind up aging yourself.

5: Pick up a copy of Entertainment Weekly before an interview. Nothing gets you more up to date on the youthful world of pop culture.

Read the other 5 tips >>

Can You Bulletproof Your Job?

Have you been distressed lately about the economy, your job or your boss? If so, you wouldn’t be alone.

When times are toughest, most of us tend to wait out the storm rather than seek out other, perhaps even riskier opportunities.

In his new book, Bulletproof Your Job, author Stephen Viscusi says that your “primary objective” at work is to protect your job because it is “your most valuable asset.”

Forget the financial crisis; the issue is more primal than that. “Here’s the cold hard truth: If you don’t click with your boss, all that merit and pedigree won’t get you anywhere when your job is on the line,” writes Viscusi. “What really matters is what your boss thinks about you.”

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6 Ways to Prevent Being Laid Off

Think your job is safe? How can anyone know for sure in this economy when it’s not uncommon for big companies to axe hundreds of people in one day, and for small companies to fold with no warning?

Stop worrying and start taking action to protect your position—and possibly earn a promotion and raise. Here’s your six-point plan to make sure you don’t just survive the tough times—you thrive.

Read now >>

Best Ways To Bullet-Proof Your Job

MIAMI (CBS4) ―With the national unemployment rate approaching historic high levels, the tumbles on the stock market, the federal bailouts and the skyrocketing number of home foreclosures seem to be a constant reminder of the gloomy economic forecast for our near future.

“I know a lot of people who are unemployed and can’t find jobs,” said one person who CBS4 spoke with in Doral.

“I know a lot of friends out their looking for part time jobs and there’s nothing out there really,” replied another.

Steven Viscusi, author of Bulletproof Your Job” said if you still have a job that’s your most valuable asset. So you’ve got to do whatever it takes to protect it.

Here are his strategies to bulletproof your job >>

Bulletproof Expert Drops All Charges for Ex-HC Staff

Just a quick update to Wednesday morning’s story about Stephen Viscusi, the resumé-building expert offering his services to laid-off HarperCollins employees: Having initially reduced his fee by half, Viscusi tells us he ultimately decided to forego any compensation after hearing from more than 50 people who’d been dropped by the company (which published his Bulletproof Your Job last year). “I was actually shocked at the quantity of people who contacted me,” Viscusi emailed. “The Collins people who called me for help seemed in ’shock and awe’ over their dismissals.”

Viscusi also commented on how many of the confirmed layoffs had come from editorial. “It seems that the people responsible for ’sales’ of our books should be just as accountable as the people who purchase them,” he observed. “After all, if you can’t find a book in a bookstore to buy, whose fault is that? The author, the publisher, or the sales rep who couldn’t get it merchandised and stocked correctly?”

(Note: Writing about the layoffs for The Wrap, former PW editor-in-chief Sara Nelson quoted an anonymous source who estimated that 20 employees had been cut; commenters were quick to dispute the tally: “The cuts to staff, including the buyouts, were more like 100 to 120,” said one.)

Worried about getting fired?

As soon as you finish reading this blog, send an immediate but short e-mail like this to your boss.

Dear Boss,
When you have 5 minutes, I need to run something by you.
Best,
Steve

This is your preemptive measure in approaching your boss now while 90% of Americans still have jobs. And quite honestly, we only hear the dreaded numbers worsening every day.

Take the strike now by letting your boss identify your face with the person they don’t want to fire.

When the word “recession” is used in conjunction with layoffs for any company – large or small – it’s virtually a blank check for your boss to fire almost anybody.

Being visible is the number one thing you can do to keep your job. It’s really important this very minute to actually ask your boss for some face time.

That’s right. Do it in person – asking to save your job by email doesn’t count.
Most of the time, this really works. Even the meanest boss hates to fire anybody, but it’s more difficult for a boss to fire an employee who just came to them face-to-face and asked to keep their job.

Still don’t believe me? Let’s role play. Follow steps 1-3 by clicking the link below…

Continue Reading >>

How to Bounce Back After Being Laid Off

Michael Raynor worked on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange for 21 years. In late October, the 45-year-old father of two from Howell, N.J., was laid off.
Experts, and people who’ve been there, say you must confront one emotion: fear.

“When it first happens, you just freeze and it’s just so hard to think,” he said. “You’re pretty much just spinning in circles at the very beginning. You don’t know which way to turn.”

It took Raynor four days to tell his wife, Roseanne, then a stay at home mom, that his last paycheck was in the mail.

“When I came home and saw my kids and wife they were choked up that I lost my job and you just do whatever it takes,” Raynor said. “I don’t care where I work or what I’m doing — I have three people who count on me.”

ABC News followed the Raynors as Michael went to career counseling, got retrained and applied for 30 jobs. At first, he didn’t get a single call back.

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7 Ways to Recession-Proof Your Career

As the economy sinks further into a recession — one that the Federal Reserve has now indicated will be longer and deeper than previously thought — job security for most Americans has quickly evaporated.

According to minutes from the Fed’s December meeting released Tuesday, the unemployment rate is expected to rise significantly into 2010, to a level higher than the 6.5% to 7.3% range the agency projected at its October meeting.

The unemployment rate, which hit 6.7% in November, is already at its highest in 25 years. Gus Faucher, director of macroeconomics at Moody’s Economy.com, expects it to peak at more than 9% in the first half of 2010 — a jump that would be similar in severity to that during the double-dip recession in the early 1980s (see table). “Businesses are certainly going to be cutting back,” Faucher says.

Unemployment Rates Through the Years

At 6.7%, November’s unemployment rate is still nowhere near its peak of 10.8% in late 1982,
but economists predict it could get there by the first half of 2010.

Continue Reading >>

How to Be Perceived as Fifteen Years Younger

By: Stephen Viscusi

How old an impression do you make when you’re interviewing? Of course, we all know that your boss can look up your age in your personnel file, or an interviewer can just count backwards from the year of graduation printed on your resume. However, here is the truth: “perception” is the new reality, like sixty is the new fifty. So you need to learn the fine art of being perceived as younger as well as looking younger.

Is this fair? Is it even legal? And most importantly, should you give in to such nonsense? I’ll put it this way—if you are over forty, you need to read on.

Read the full article >>

How to be a Survivor of Today’s Workplace Devastation

As soon as you finish reading this blog, I want you to take a deep breath and send an immediate but short e-mail like this:

From: Steve
To: Boss
Subject: Face time – 5 min.

Dear Boss,
When you have 5 minutes, I need to run something by you.
Best,
Steve

What’s this about? It’s your preemptive measure in approaching your boss NOW – while 93% of Americans still have jobs. And quite honestly, we only hear the dreaded numbers worsening every day.

Take the strike now by letting your boss identify your face with the person they don’t want to fire.

Continue Reading the Full Article >>

Love your job? Then save it!

If you’re worried about getting laid off, here’s some consolation: So is everyone else. Follow these do’s and don’ts to raise the odds that your job stays, well, yours.

Read the full article >>

The value of office gossip

The managing director of a Sydney-based recruitment agency recently grappled with a problem. He could not afford to award all employees a pay increase but was worried an alternative proposal could destroy morale. So he decided to start a rumour.

He told a trusted subordinate of his plan to award higher salaries to a few key staff, who would also have to take on greater responsibilities. As expected, news spread rapidly through the company and employees were surprisingly positive about the proposal. So he decided to press on with the new pay structure.Such an experience, says Grant Michelson, research director at Audencia Nantes Business School in France, shows that senior managers can use office gossip networks as a quick way to test reaction to proposals.

As the economy slows and companies cut costs, the rumour mill is likely to focus on where the axe falls next. Managers have traditionally seen gossip about such an issue as detrimental to productivity and bad for morale. They think they “must do something about the ‘problem’ of gossip”, says Mr Michelson. But many believe that informal channels and conversations in the workplace can be helpful to employers.

At any rate, attempts to thwart rumour are futile, says Frank McAndrew, professor of psychology at Knox University, Illinois: “Managers cannot stop gossip – it is too much a part of human nature; it would be just as difficult to get people to stop breathing.”

Nonetheless, gossip and rumour has a dark side. According to Prof McAndrew, when employees become preoccupied by gossip they can become paralysed and wreck managers’ attempts to introduce change. Moreover, gossip rarely feels benign if you are the object of it.

But managers ignore it at their cost. As Mr Michelson says: “It doesn’t mean you should take action on every bit of information you hear but if it’s from a reliable source, it is probably worth listening to.” He cites the findings of an inquiry in 2005 that looked into how two male psychiatrists working from the same British hospital were able to sexually abuse female patients over a period of more than two decades undetected. The final report found that management should have paid greater heed to rumours indicating that abuse was going on.

Mike Emmott, adviser on employee relations at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, suggests the only way to slow the rumour mill is for companies to be open with information: “They need to get there first. Managers must be honest and credible. You’ve got to be honest even if you don’t know what’s going on. You’ve got to be available.”

If, like the managing director of the Sydney recruitment company, you want to test a proposal through the gossip network, it is vital to pick the right messenger, says Mr Michelson: “They have to be a subordinate who you have built up some trust [with], either through social or professional activities. But they can’t be so far below you in the pecking order that such easy exchanges would be unlikely.”

From the employee’s perspective, it is important not to look like the office gossip. “You certainly don’t want to look like you’ve got time to waste in this time of uncertainty,” says Mr Emmott.

Stephen Viscusi, author of How to Bullet-Proof Your Job, believes the best strategy is to be friends with the office gossip: the “trick is to absorb the information without repeating it, to appear to be above it even while you’re filing it away for future reference to use, if necessary, to bullet-proof your job”.

He cites the example of a friend who heard his company was about to be acquired and deferred his vacation. The rumour turned out to true and by being at work when the announcement came, he was able to carve out a clear role for himself in the fall-out from the merger.

Gossip can bring employees together and force people to be good citizens, suggests Prof McAndrew: “If I am a slacker who might be tempted to not do my fair share, knowing that people will gossip about me and that my reputation within the group will suffer might force me to do more than I otherwise would.”

What is more, says Mr Emmott, it can be fun: “If you had a workplace without gossip it would be dead and dysfunctional.”

Read the full article >>

Bulletproof Your Job Now in Korea!

Check out a recently authored article in Korea’s 3rd largest newspaper, The Chosun Daily.

Read the article >>

Five Best Online Job Search Sites

Looking for a new job in a struggling economy is hard work. Make it easier on yourself by getting to know the best tools for the task at hand.

Earlier this week we asked you to share your favorite online job search sites, and today we’re back with the most popular answers. Keep reading for a detailed breakdown of the best sites around for finding work when you need it.

Check them out >>

My Bulletproof Tips: How to Be Perceived as 15 Years Younger than You Really Are on an Interview or at Work

Viscusi reveals why your “Interview Age” is crucial to finding a job…and keeping one.

How old an impression do you make when you’re interviewing? Of course, we all know that your boss can look up your age in your personnel file, or an interviewer can just count backwards from the year of graduation printed on your resume. However, here’s is the truth: “perception” is the new reality, like 60 is the new 50. So you need to learn the fine art of being perceived as younger as well as looking younger.

Is this fair? Is it even legal? And most importantly, should you give in to such nonsense? I’ll put it this way: if you are over 40, you need to read on.

The recession we’ve all been feeling for months is now official. So now bosses can use that magic “R” word as a blank check to fire almost anyone for any reason. And pay attention, over-40s: the wounded economy is an especially perfect opportunity for higher-ups to fire those senior workers whose high wages and big egos have outlasted their welcome.

Read the full article >>

Lie To Family About Layoff Over Holiday?

Expert Suggests ‘White Lie’ About Job Loss Not Out Of Question

It’s that time of year again: Time to face your well-meaning but nosy, opinionated relatives during the holidays. Only this year, you might have to break the news that you’ve just lost your job.

Stephen Viscusi, author of the recently published “Bulletproof Your Job,” said he’s gotten a slew of letters from those fired and laid off who dread having to tell Aunt Gladys and Uncle Ernie.

“When you’re trapped in that small kitchen with your family members who only see you once a year, and they ask how your job is, how do you tell them in front of your little nieces and nephews?” said Viscusi, who acknowledges he’s never been unemployed himself.

Read full article >>

Unemployment Rate Rises to 6.7%

New figures from the Labor Department show a much sharper worsening of
employment conditions than economists expected.

Some 533,000 nonfarm jobs were eliminated in November, the most in one
month since the mid-1970s, and figures for the prior two months were
revised upward by 199,000. The unemployment rate rose two-tenths of a
point to 6.7 percent in November; it would have been even higher if
large numbers of discouraged workers had not given up looking for work.

Read More >>

Four Christmases: The Humiliation of Explaining Your Unemployment Around the Holiday Table

Losing your job is dreadful, no matter what the reason. In this journalist’s mind, it’s better than health issues, divorce, and death — but that’s it.

The new holiday movie Four Christmases reminded me of how we can get trapped with family during the holidays. Under normal circumstances, this is tough enough for some people. But can you imagine having to explain that you’re unemployed to the people you see only once a year?

The truth is, the reason you were fired really doesn’t matter to anyone else. They really only think of you as “unemployed,” “not working,” and “still looking.” That’s how you’re defined.

Even if you were fired due to downsizing and not your performance, that’s still of little comfort to you. No matter how much you try, and regardless of how much you truly believe that your firing was nothing personal, you still can’t help but feel ashamed. And even today when so many people are losing their jobs, hearing “you’re not alone” offers little solace. Whatever the reason, what remains is that you don’t have a job — and a job is how society judges us and defines who we are.

Read the full article >>

Job crisis might be worsening, but there’s no reason to lie

by Heather Huhman, Entry Level Careers Examiner

According to Gallup’s Net New Hiring Activity measure, “U.S. employee’s perceptions of the job situation at their companies worsened significantly in October, with the downward trend continuing to accelerate, as it has over the past three months.”

The Net New Hiring Activity measure goes on to state, “the deterioration in the job market is accelerating.” The number of job available declined substantially in October – for the tenth consecutive month and 200,000 more than expected.

But, Stephen Viscusi, author of “Bulletproof Your Job: 4 Simple Strategies to Ride Out the Rough Times and Come Out on Top at Work,” remains firm that the market turbulence is positive for internship and entry-level job seekers.

Read the full article >>

The Ketchup Generation: Entry-Level Jobs Really are There for You, Even During a Recession; Here’s the Secret

I want full credit for this ketchup thing. Let me explain. What’s the ketchup generation?

If you’re older, think of your kids. If you’re under 30, think of your friends. If you’re a girl, think of your boyfriend. You must have noticed that there’s something about the under-30 set…

Read Post >>

Employment Situation News Release

The  unemployment rate, and the media hype which accompanies it, is very  scary for young workers, seeking to find their first job or  internship.  The NUMBER and media around it, almost becomes a  young persons  excuse, not to look as hard, for a job, or  internship, some may not look at all. So they say they decide to take a  year off, (whatever that means) or young people choose to go on for  an advance degrees immediately, directly after graduating from  college, under the false premise that their chances of finding  that first job, are zero to none.

My analysis and opinion of the employment market, for young people  is based on the reality I hear from readers of my book, and  employers contradicts, the conventional wisdom.

Although  the unemployment rate is the highest in 8 years, it is still low. Yet the knee  jerk reaction of employers, to what they hear and read, is to fire  senior workers, in order to save the money of their salaries.  The  “word” recession is a blank check for employers to fire workers, for no reason  at all.

However, employers still have jobs they need to  fill.  Entry level employees or interns,  represent a  inexpensive way to fill those jobs.  Simply put, entry level workers are: “cheap  labor”.

So a  recession is a great opportunity, for these entry level workers to find  jobs.  Even better,  when you find that entry level job, you may  find you have more responsibility, because employers, trying to stretch  there budgets, are giving new workers,with no experience the tasks that more  seniors workers, they recently fired, once did.

So entry  level workers often luck out, getting more responsibility then they imagined.  As a result they learn more–faster. So it is a better time, for  first time workers, then they may think.

So entry  entry level workers, so not be discouraged:

1. High  unemployment, does not necessarily effect entry level jobs, or  internships.  You need to understand the context of what you are reading  in the economic history.
2. Remember “Chemistry” is the key to getting that entry level job, or  internship, not experience.  Employers do not expect first time workers  to have “experience”, but they want to like you, relate to you. Chemistry is  more important then your GPA. (Remember you are not applying to graduate  school, you are applying for a job!)
3. Look the  part.  The means dress appropriately for the job you are applying  for, it is part of what creates that “chemistry” along with a firm handshake,  attention to detail and doing your homework on the company to which you are  applying.
4. “Ask for  the job”.  Yes, “ask.  A little humility goes a long way.   Employers tell me they “pass” on candidates who don”t seem interested in the  job, passive, or “qualified but arrogant”.

The job  market for entry level jobs is better then you think. The once you find that  job, don”t be surprised if you have more responsibility then you might  think.

Stephen  Viscusi

Now Is Not Time To Get Fired!

CBS 2 HD Speaks To Headhunter Who Says In Tough Times Like These Brown-Nosing Is Almost Encouraged

Kirstin Cole

NEW YORK (CBS) ― Experts say right now is the worst possible time to lose your job.

It is easy to see just how bad the economy is in our area. Lines wrapped around the block in the garment district on Wednesday for a monster.com job fair.

So what, if anything, can you do to make sure you don’t end up in one of these lines?

CBS 2 HD has the secrets to bulletproofing your position.

Read the full article >>

Career Coach: 3 Ways to Save Your Job

by SHAPE Magazine, on Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:19am PST

These days, everyone is feeling the pinch. And as topsy-turvy markets lead to smaller expense accounts, canceled holiday parties, and even the closing of long-standing companies, it’s natural to feel a little skittish about your job security. Declaring doomsday in your cubicle, though, is the last thing you want to do, says Stephen Viscusi, author of Bulletproof Your Job.

“There’s no time to waste worrying with an unemployment rate at a 14-year high of 6.5 percent and climbing,” says Viscusi, who helms a New York-based executive search firm. “Start working to protect your job instead.” His three simple strategies can help you weather the economic storm, paycheck in tow.

Read the article >>

It’s Not Your Imagination—Your Boss Is Ignoring You

Many people are paying close attention to signs that they may be next up for a layoff. Job shedding has accelerated since the start of the year, and mass layoffs in September were the highest they’ve been since 9/11.

So here’s one sign to watch out for: the boss’s cold shoulder. The Wall Street Journal reports that managers who have become unhappy with an employee’s performance, or who fear having to break bad news, may begin pulling away—shunning meetings, conversation, invitations, and the like.

Apparently some bosses use cold-shoulder subtlety to give feedback. An example from the story:

Bob Miglani, senior director of external medical affairs for Pfizer Inc., says he has purposely made employees that reported to him feel left out of the loop, by not inviting them to meetings or waiting a long time to answer their emails. He has also declined their meeting requests even if he’s able to make the meeting so that the employee will see that he didn’t want to attend.

“The whole point is to spur them to ask you what’s wrong and take charge,” says Mr. Miglani, who says some employees he’s managed are too sensitive to handle frank feedback, so he resorted to the subtle cues.

Read the full article now >>

Who’s the number one threat to your job security?

YOU ARE. That’s because for the most part, you’re getting along by going along, not thinking much about your job security at all.  In fact, you’re probably just thinking about your plans for the weekend or maybe where you’re going for lunch today. Unless you’ve been called into to your boss’s office a bunch of times to get chewed out or you’ve heard a rumor of big layoffs, you don’t think of yourself in any danger. Most people don’t.

The government just reported that more than 85,000 jobs were lost last month and many thousands more than they thought were lost in the two previous months. So the fact is every single person within the sound of my voice is layoff-bait. That means you.

So what are you waiting for? Get to work improving your relationship with your boss. It’s your job to make the relationship work, not hers. And if she doesn’t know you and like you, you’re easy to fire. So if she likes dogs and you’ve got one, make sure she knows it. Follow her lead in personal style and in how you interact with others—be a bit of a Mini-Me.  And learn how to communicate with her in a way that suits her and makes you look your best. Because if you don’t have a regular course of communication with your boss that’s effective for both of you, you’re just a body in a chair with a giant bull’s-eye on your back.

Protecting Yourself in a Bleak Job Market

By Elizabeth Razzi

The message was hard to miss last week: No more wishful thinking — it’s time to prepare yourself for a grim job market. Unemployment has surged in the past four months, hitting 6.1 percent in August, the highest since September 2003. In April, the rate stood at 5 percent. Even a top-notch performance may not be enough to save your job. The layoff lists are full of people who turned in first-rate work yet didn’t survive the cut. Though job security may be unattainable, resiliency can be yours. Become the employee who’s kept on despite layoffs. Or at least make sure you have the skills and contacts necessary to make a pink slip your springboard to a better job.

Read the full article >

U.S. Jobless Rate Rises Past 6%, Highest Since ’03

By LOUIS UCHITELLE

The unemployment rate jumped to 6.1 percent in August, its highest level in five years, pushing the troubles of American workers to the center of the political debate as the presidential campaign enters its final weeks.

Theodore Harmon, left, helped a fellow job applicant, Solomon Boyd, on Friday as the two and others looked for work at the New York State Department of Labor office in Harlem.

For the eighth consecutive month, the nation’s employers shed jobs, 84,000 last month, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported Friday. In all, 605,000 jobs have been lost since January. The steady rise in unemployment, from 5.7 percent in July and 5 percent in April, is one that many economists associate with recession.

Both presidential candidates — Senators Barack Obama and John McCain — said through spokesmen that they would favor an economic stimulus package from Congress this fall.

Mr. Obama jumped on the latest report, declaring that Democrats would do more to help struggling Americans. “You would think that George Bush and his potential Republican successor, John McCain, would be spending a lot of time worrying about the economy and all these jobs that are being lost on their watch,” he said at a campaign stop in Duryea, Pa. But, “if you watched the Republican National Convention over the last three days, you wouldn’t know that we have the highest unemployment rate in five years.”

Mr. McCain issued a brief statement in which he said that “Americans are hurting and we must act to create jobs.” He added that “as president, I will enact a jobs for America economic plan that creates jobs, helps small businesses, expands opportunities and opens markets to American goods.”

Even though the economy continued to expand in the first half of the year, tell-tale signs of a recession — either in progress or soon to strike — are spreading. Consumers have curtailed their spending, the housing market continues to deteriorate, banks are reluctant to lend, consumer confidence is slipping and European and Asian economies are slowing, depriving the United States of a lift from abroad.

“The mood of the country as far as the economy is concerned is depressed,” said Nigel Gault, chief domestic economist for Global Insight, “and that is what it should be.”

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Why Saving Money Will Help Your Career

by Liz Wolgemuth

More proof that we live lives that are too expensive: 21 percent of people with salaries of $100,000 or more report living paycheck to paycheck. The figure comes from a CareerBuilder survey published today. The survey shows 47 percent of all workers surveyed said they always or usually live paycheck to paycheck. One third of workers do not put any money into a 401(k), an IRA, or a retirement plan, and a quarter of workers don’t save anything.

This is a problem for several reasons, but since I cover careers, I’m going to focus on the job problem.

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Get Real

People often say I’m too critical when I give career advice. I believe that “too critical” is just another way of saying you don’t really want to know the truth.  Part of the problem today is too much false positive reinforcement. Look. I know how hard it can be to be to listen to criticism or negative feedback or whatever you want to call it. It’s much easier to get up every day, get dressed, go to work, do everything just the way you’ve been doing it. But every day you avoid taking a hard look in the mirror you make yourself more vulnerable to losing your job—for all the reasons people lose their jobs, from mass layoffs to corporate reorganizations to interoffice politics to just plain not doing good enough work.

None of these are reasons you should lose your job. To avoid that outcome, however, you have to get real. You have to level with yourself about how serious you are about keeping your job, how well you actually do your job, and how good your chemistry is with your boss.  If you can’t get real….if you can’t be brutally honest with yourself about your own job security….you will lose your job. The fact is, someone always loses his job and if you’re weak, uncommitted, and unrealistic it will be you who gets the ax. So if you know that taking a square, honest look in the mirror and doing something smart about what you see will save your job, why wouldn’t you do that right now?

Repeat after me: My job is my most important asset and protecting my job is my number one priority. Now say it again and mean it. Make today the start of all the important changes—small and large—that you’re going to make in order to protect your job.

Dressing Up, Up and Away

Recently a jobhunter seeking my advice took exception to my unvarnished observations about his appearance.  What I saw was a 30+-year-old man sporting a 20-year-old’s late-night, downtown look, replete with a stylishly shaggy haircut, slouchy jeans, an untucked shirt under a pullover sweater, and trendy boots I admired, but which I pointed out should never make an appearance in the workplace. What he saw was an almost perfect expression of “who he really is.”

“This is my personal style,” he explained with obvious annoyance. When I asked him to tell me how his boss dressed, he described a man who wore suits, real shoes, and silk ties….”boring” I think is the word the young man used. “Well,” I told him, “unless you start showing up at work in a suit and some of those boring silk ties, you’re going to ‘personal style’ yourself right out of a job.”

Dressing for success doesn’t mean dressing to express yourself.  It means dressing upward—a degree or more better than your co-workers and in the same general style as your boss. It means showing care for your personal appearance that sends a message that you’re dead serious about keeping your job. Merit alone will do almost nothing to save your job; presenting a “look” that creates the illusion of both fitting in and aiming above the basic standard in your corporate culture will.

Remember when those flight attendants sued their airline employer for firing them for being overweight? I don’t endorse discrimination against fat people or anyone else. But I also don’t think the flight attendants deserved to keep their jobs after violating the airline’s clear policy regarding weight and personal appearance. If I wanted to keep that job as a flight attendant, I’d stay below the maximum weight requirements—and wear a super-stylish haircut, Prada shoes, and a million-dollar smile. If you don’t dress like you love your job and damn well mean to keep it, you should go ahead and start looking for a new one.