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.

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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.

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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…

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Lehman Brothers

Thanks to criminally reckless behavior at the highest institutional levels both on Wall Street and in Washington, there was nothing these people could do to save their jobs. But YOU can. If this mess doesn’t make you get serious about bulletproofing your job, you should start packing up your desk right now.