Fire Your Boss Part 10

The Seven Steps Start by firing your boss and hiring yourself. Write your own job description, give yourself a performance review, define alternate courses for your work life, and put your plan into writing. This will let you take charge of your work life. On the outside you'll seem as loyal and subservient as ever, but on the inside you'll be charting your own course. You'll be able to figure out how much you're worth and what skills you need to add to your repertoire, and to choose short- and long-term goals.

Remember Wendy Rosenfeld, the woman who had allowed her boss, a politician, to a.s.sume control over her work life? Wendy fired that controlling boss and hired herself. She took some college courses to expand her graphic and computer skills, and began fis.h.i.+ng for work in corporate communications and not - for - profit development. After nine months of looking, during which she continued to efficiently manage her boss's campaign headquarters, Wendy landed a position as director of communications for an old-line social service agency in Manhattan. She felt secure enough to buy herself an apartment and start creating the kind of social life she never had when her former boss, in effect, dictated where she'd live and for how long. She's never been happier.

Next, kill your career and get a job instead. a.n.a.lyze why you work. Determine ways to get what you want through areas of your life other than work. Then start pursuing those routes to fulfillment outside of work. Soon you'll achieve the satisfaction you crave and will have more time to enjoy it. Rather than trying to find work that fulfills all your wants and answers all your needs, divide your life into a work portion and a personal portion. Work will become less frustrating and life will become more satisfying.

That's what Sean Shanahan discovered. Having spent most of his working life as a designer, trying to combine art and commerce, Sean finally decided to kill his career and get a job instead. He turned what had been a home office into a studio to do his own art. By not placing the burden of providing psychological satisfaction on his work for the design firm, Sean found he didn't feel the need to spend so much time at the office, or bring work home. He started feeling better about work and about his personal life too. Sean entered some of his work in a juried show for the first time since college and received an honorable mention. Encouraged, he's now working on a new set of collages, hoping to build up sufficient work to interest a local gallery. He's now achieving the artistic fulfillment he always tried to get through work, through his personal life instead.

Then, realize there's no I in job. Focus on meeting your boss's needs rather than your own. That will let you secure your job even while spending less time in the office. It will enable you to earn raises and praise even though you're actively looking for another job. Determine what your boss needs and wants, by figuring out what type of boss he is and observing him carefully. Prioritize his needs and decide which to tackle first, and how. Then make him feel as if his success and happiness are your number one goal.

That's exactly what schoolteacher Janet Crosetti did. An ossified department chairperson was causing Janet many problems upon her return to teaching. A cowardly boss, Janet's chairperson threatened to make her teaching job a potential minefield. But Janet realized that the best way to make her own job safe was to make her frightened boss feel safe. By playing to her chairperson's ego, offering to accept responsibility for risks, and warning about possible problems and offering solutions ahead of time, Janet built a coc.o.o.n around her boss. After nine months on the job Janet had moved from troublemaker to the apple of her boss's eye. At the start of her second year the chairperson was actively promoting Janet to the school administrators as a star in the making.

Your next step is to "go fish." That means learning how to go job fis.h.i.+ng rather than job hunting. Rather than reactively looking for work when something happens at your current job, become a proactive job seeker who's constantly looking for another position. And instead of focusing on finding a job you want, concentrate on attracting job offers whose merits you can judge after receiving them. Alternatively, offers can be used as bargaining chips to get more at your current job, or to create compet.i.tion between two suitors.

Jared Edwards's sales career had been long and varied, but always reactive, until he started job fis.h.i.+ng. Having gone through a long and difficult time finding his current job, Jared became proactive, actively seeking offers even though his job was going well. He had received two offers in his first year of job fis.h.i.+ng but turned them both down because they didn't pay enough. Jared then developed a connection with an inventor-entrepreneur by using his fis.h.i.+ng techniques. He slowly cultivated a relations.h.i.+p with the individual. While this was going on, Jared picked up some preliminary signs of instability at work. Jared reeled his new contact in, and won an offer of a job that paid the same as his current position but offered the possibility of earning far more. He grabbed it after his current boss wasn't able to match some of the new opportunities. Three months after taking his new job Jared learned of wholesale layoffs at his former employer.

The fifth step is to realize that no one hires a stranger today. The age of networking and informational interviews is over. Draw on your personal relations.h.i.+ps to find job offers. Make friends, not contacts. Socialize, don't network. Expand your personal life and you expand the universe from which you can draw connections, broadening your reach into fields and industries you'd never otherwise touch. Pursue those things you most enjoy in your personal life and you'll also benefit your work life.

Fred Peters, director of publications for an Ivy League university, was faced with an unsettled situation where he worked. In an effort to get away from the threatening departmental politics, Fred decided to start job hunting. But when he tried to use traditional job-search and networking techniques, he came up short. Fred learned that no one hires a stranger today. As a result he began expanding his personal life instead. Fred began playing more golf, joined the board of his son's youth hockey league, and even got active in local theater. Fred struck up a friends.h.i.+p on the golf course with the general manager of a printing company, which led to his being offered a new job as a.s.sistant general manager of the company's local facility. Six months since landing that job, Fred is sill working on expanding his personal life. He's joined a gym and a reading group, and is planning on taking an art history cla.s.s in the spring. He's leading a richer personal life than ever before, and simultaneously expanding his job prospects for the future.

Next, accept that it's the money that counts when choosing which job offers you should take. Isolate the twenty factors that characterize every job. Prioritize them based on your current situation and future needs. Give maximum weight to those that provide you with more money or more time. Trade amenities, a comfortable environment, and a supportive culture for paid time off. Exchange status, t.i.tle, and opportunities to advance for a higher income. Swap autos, retirement plans, and perceived stability for a shorter commute.

When Debbie O'Leary came to New York she had a hard time finding a radio job like those she'd held previously. In fact, she had a hard time finding any job. It took more than eighteen months, but Debbie eventually received two offers: one a part - time deejay position at a rock station, and the other a jazz-programming job for a satellite radio network. Debbie's instinct was to take the deejay job, since it offered status and opportunities for advancement as well as a comfortable environment. But after weighing the factors involved in both offers, she realized that the satellite radio job offered more opportunities for learning; a better retirement plan; and most important of all, considerably more money. A year after making her choice, Debbie feels even better about it. The satellite network is making inroads in the marketplace, and Debbie has gotten two bonuses. The radio station where she would have worked has gone through a format change, from rock to sports talk, meaning she would have lost her job.

Finally, you need to enter your job with a plan for leaving - an att.i.tude I call "h.e.l.lo, I must be going." Accept that no job is permanent. Resolve to leave on your schedule rather than your boss's. Turn leaving a job into a positive step rather than a defensive one. Determine what additional compensation will improve your situation, and then take jobs that provide it. Make a quick move to a new job if it's a major improvement. But after a couple of years make a move for any improvement to keep your forward momentum.

Bill Kaplan was excited to land a job as a.s.sistant manager of a bookstore after graduating college. Having had a nomadic academic and work life up until then, he found stability inviting. Yet, he soon realized he had to plan for leaving. Bill a.n.a.lyzed his current job and prepared a checklist against which to compare job offers. He began job fis.h.i.+ng and expanding his personal network. Through his work for adult literacy, Bill met the owner of a special-interest bookstore who offered him a job as manager of his store. Since it represented a 20-percent salary increase, Bill took the job. After six months at the store the owner and Bill worked out a plan allowing Bill to purchase the store over a period of five years. With three years still to go on his buyout plan, Bill is as thrilled with the possibility as ever. At our most recent meeting he and I worked up a business plan for the store, including projections for when it should be sold. Bill is convinced of the need to always have an exit strategy.

You can turn your work life around and create the life of your dreams. I've been helping my clients do just that for the past three years. They've used the same process I've outlined in this book. It has worked for them and it can work for you.

Breaking Free from the Doldrums I know it may be hard to believe. Even after reading this far you may still feel that you've no hope. I know how hard it can be to overcome malaise and break free from the doldrums of the current work environment. I know how bad it is out there.

While all the Wall Street economists and Was.h.i.+ngton pundits talk about a recovery, it still feels like a recession on the sales floor, at the office, and in the factory. Both the clerk earning $12,000 and the executive earning $112,000 rightly feel their jobs are hanging by threads. In the face of this insecurity most of us are working longer hours than ever before. When people are laid off they face a lack of new job opportunities.

The average employee sees his income shrinking and his hours increasing. He's getting no satisfaction from his career. He feels his job is in jeopardy, and he has no control over his work life. The future seems bleak.

Then, in the midst of all this bad news, I come along and write that you can actually create the job of your dreams and lead the life of your dreams. I offer up examples of my clients and say you can do what they did. I suggest seven steps to follow that fly in the face of conventional wisdom, and make it all sound so simple.

That's because it is.

A Change in Att.i.tude Turning your work life around isn't easy, but it is simple. The seven steps require considerable time and effort on your part. But when push comes to shove, the whole process really just comes down to a change in att.i.tude. If I can get you to accept and implement just one thing from this whole book, it's this: you are not your work.

For decades we have all been trying to integrate our work lives and personal lives in an effort to create a wonderful holistic life. We've pursued careers we thought would make us wealthy materially and spiritually. In the process we've done immeasurable damage to our lives. We've been making presentations rather than baking cookies with our kids. We've spent time at sales conferences instead of soccer games. We've been staring at our computers rather than sunsets. We've gathered around conference tables rather than dinner tables.

Separating your self from your work doesn't mean giving up the search for material wealth. In fact, it makes it easier to achieve wealth. Stop looking to satisfy your own needs and start satisfying your boss's needs instead. You'll earn more and be more secure. Stop trying to climb a hierarchy and start looking for new jobs instead. You'll be in control and will find work more quickly.

Separating your self from your work doesn't mean giving up the search for fulfillment. In fact, it makes it easier to achieve fulfillment. Stop looking for joy at work and start looking for it at home or in church. Stop trying to make your work creative, or make creativity your work, and instead work at your job and create in your life. You'll find emotional, psychological, and spiritual satisfaction.

Some people have told me they think my Fire Your Boss philosophy is cynical. I couldn't disagree more. I think it's idealistic. It places the greatest priority on helping you achieve your dreams. Fire your boss and you'll finally be able to take charge of your work life. Fire your boss and you'll finally be able to find the fulfillment in life you've always wanted.

All it takes is a change in att.i.tude. I'm asking you to take a leap of faith. To step away from the conventional and embrace the radical. I've led you to the brink of happiness. But you have to take the next step.

Part II

Firing Your Boss in Three Common Situations The remaining three chapters show how the Fire Your Boss philosophy is applied in three work situations. I've always felt it important not just to write about what someone should do, but to show how to do it. These chapters are intended as supplements, not subst.i.tutes, for the previous chapters. They're written with the a.s.sumption that you've read the rest of the book and are coming to these chapters for help in applying ideas you've already absorbed.

Chapter 10.

Firing Your Boss When You're Unemployed

It's a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it's a depression when you lose yours.- HARRY S. T S. TRUMAN IF YOU'RE UNEMPLOYED you probably wish you still had a boss you could fire. And I'm sure some of you can think of a lot of other things you'd like to do to your ex-boss besides terminating him. But the first thing you need to do is to get over your anger. you probably wish you still had a boss you could fire. And I'm sure some of you can think of a lot of other things you'd like to do to your ex-boss besides terminating him. But the first thing you need to do is to get over your anger.

Many people who are unemployed have every right to be bitter. Since you were open-minded and proactive enough to pick up this book, and intelligent and determined enough to get this far into it, odds are you lost your job through no fault of your own. I know that's of little comfort. Neither is knowing that you're not alone. There are millions of other good, honest, hardworking, skilled people out there who are unemployed through no fault of their own. Misery may love company, but it's an affection that provides little solace and less empowerment.

The rage felt by some of those who are unemployed is understandable. But it's not very helpful. Anger is an impotent emotion: it doesn't do anything for you. In this case it's probably born of impotence as well: people are angry that others, not they, had control over their work life. It could also come from a sense of outrage. They held up their end of the bargain, but their boss didn't. They showed up on time, they did their job, perhaps they even excelled. Yet they got fired. Where's the justice in that?

Well, there is none. As I wrote earlier in this book, there is no justice in the workplace today. Believing otherwise often leads to disappointment. I hate to say it, but many of these people are right in feeling impotent. They had no control over their work life. They were nothing more than a budget line to be cut so someone higher up the ladder could keep his job for another couple of months.

Instead of getting angry, get even. How? There's an old adage that says living well is the best revenge. I couldn't agree more. Payback will come by your taking charge of your own work life, making sure you're never put in this position again, and getting to lead the life of your dreams. That's what I told Jason Hope when he came to my office.

A tall, thin man who looks a bit like Tom Hanks, Jason came to see me on the advice of a mutual friend. Jason was fifty-one, and had been vice president of sales and marketing for the U.S. subsidiary of a j.a.panese electronics firm for six years. He had spent his entire working life in the consumer electronics industry, starting out as a sales-clerk in a retail store after college. From there, Jason became a salesman for an American company that made high-end audio speakers. After a half dozen years with that firm he became a regional sales manager for a larger American firm that made ma.s.s-market electronics products. Nine years later he became national sales manager of the j.a.panese firm, eventually being promoted into the position from which he was fired after more than a decade with the company.

Jason was able to negotiate a severance package that included six months' salary. That slowed, but didn't stop, his family's economic problems. Jason's wife, Beth, works as a dental hygienist at an office not far from their home in suburban New Jersey. They have two sons, Steve, a senior in college, and Tim, a junior in high school. Jason and Beth were astute enough to make some very quick adjustments in their financial lives. Beth was able to add Jason and their sons to her health insurance plan at work. They helped Steve obtain loans for his last two semesters in college that, while not subsidized, deferred repayment of princ.i.p.al until after graduation. They took out a home-equity line of credit, gave up one of their cars, and cut back on all their discretionary spending. Jason believed all this belt - tightening and his severance would help carry the family for the year he thought it would take for him to find another job. The plan would have worked, except after a year he still had no job in sight. Another six months pa.s.sed before he came to see me.

Still seething over having been fired eighteen months earlier, and increasingly angry at himself for not having found a job sooner, Jason was right on the cusp of despair when he came to see me. I spent about fifteen minutes "talking him off the ledge." I explained that if he let himself sink into despair he'd signal that to the world and would have an even harder time getting another job. The antidote, I suggested, was to fire his ex-boss.

Firing Your Ex-Boss The first homework a.s.signment I give to clients who are still employed is designed to get them to realize the degree to which they actually lack control over their working life. If you're unemployed you don't need my help in realizing that. However, you still need to break the hold your former boss and job have on your psyche and your self-image.

How are you determining your value in the workplace? I'll bet you're looking at what you were earning at your job before you were fired. I'll bet the same is true of what kind of benefits you think you deserve. Even though you've been fired, you're allowing your ex-boss to continue to define who and what you are. Use your termination as an opportunity to shatter those chains. Just because you were earning $90,000 a year at your former company in your former industry doesn't mean that's your value in the overall job market. Someone like you may well be worth $150,000. Or it could be your real value is actually only $75,000 today. Obviously it's preferable to find out you are undervaluing rather than overvaluing yourself, based on your previous job. But it's still better to find out your actual value is lower, and then land a job, than to continue to have an unrealistic view, and remain unemployed.

The same goes for the rest of your work image. Are you a.s.suming a certain work path based solely on the path you would have followed if you'd stayed at your former employer? Are you stressing certain achievements in your past based on what your ex-boss valued? Are you viewing yourself, and describing yourself to others, based on the job description of a job you no longer hold? You are not your job. And you certainly are not your ex-job.

G.o.d knows there are a lot of bad things that happen when you lose your job. But just as every cloud has a silver lining, and the Chinese use the same character for "crisis" and "opportunity," so too can being fired have a positive element to it...at least if you're willing to get past your bitterness and embrace that chance. Being fired is an opportunity for you to break completely with your past. It's a chance to start over and carve out a new ident.i.ty for yourself. It's a time when you can become who you want to be rather than continue being who your boss said you were. Don't let him continue his hold over you even after firing you.

My suggestion is to write a job description of the job you want, not the job you lost. What is it you are best at? Where do you feel you excel? What are your strengths? You know the answers to these questions far better than your ex-boss ever did.

After crafting your own job description, investigate its value in the marketplace. How? First, by consulting cla.s.sified ads, reading professional journals, meeting with employment agencies, and chatting with headhunters. Then, simply by testing the waters. You are worth what the market will pay for you. Use your self-definition as the bait in your job fis.h.i.+ng and you will soon learn what you're worth in today's market.

Jason Hope Fires His Ex-Boss Jason, despite his lingering anger with his former company, admitted to me he was continuing to define himself based on its perspective, rather than his own. At first the admission made him even angrier than he was. But after a few minutes discussing how he could now develop his own job description, Jason's anger abated and eventually morphed into excitement. His homework a.s.signment after our initial consultation was to come up with that self-definition. Before he left he told me this was the first time he'd been excited about work in more than a year.

When he returned a week later, Jason seemed a different man. His anger was gone, replaced by enthusiasm. He had taken my suggestions to heart. He had sat down with his wife and gotten her feedback and insights into his work image. Their conclusions surprised him. Jason realized he had bought into the work path of his employers, rather than creating his own. While he excelled at personal selling, he had moved into sales management because that was the next step in the ladder at his company. Once on that path he never stepped back to reconsider his direction. In addition, he realized he was basing his ideas about compensation on just one industry. Jason decided he would seize the opportunity and redefine himself. Rather than marketing himself as a sales and marketing executive, he would promote himself as an expert at selling high-end consumer products to specialty retailers.

Kill Your Career...and Get a Job...Any Job It's surprising, but unemployment on its own doesn't seem to be enough to convince some people to stop looking for emotional, psychological, or spiritual fulfillment through work. I've met with people who, despite being out of work for more than a year, continue to look for work they believe will be more than just financially rewarding. When faced with a choice between going into debt or giving up the pursuit of "meaningful" work, they opt for debt. Sometimes they are enabled in this by "supportive" spouses or parents who are equally convinced of the importance of having a career as opposed to a job. In many cases, the longer these individuals hold out, the more they become committed to their cause. It's as if the only thing that can justify their prolonged unemployment is that they're on an almost spiritual quest. Then, rather than compromising on the psychic side of the equation, they compromise on the financial side. Eventually they take a job paying far less than they previously earned, far less than they could potentially earn, simply to ensure that their work is more than just a mercantile pursuit. Please, if you follow no other piece of advice I offer in the chapter, at least don't let this happen to you.

As soon as you can after being fired, do a self-a.n.a.lysis and try to figure out your reason for working. What is it you're looking for from work...besides money? Once you come up with an answer, immediately address that need through your personal life. If you want to be of service, go out and volunteer one evening a week, even if you're out of work. Feel the urge to be creative? Splurge on a set of watercolors and dedicate one afternoon on the weekend to painting, or do whatever it takes, within reason, to fill that artistic need. The sooner you address your psychic needs through your personal life, the sooner you'll be able to focus on just getting a job - any job - in order to generate a stream of income.

That's really the key: regenerating a stream of income as quickly as possible. It doesn't have to be a job with long-term potential. Feel free to minimize your experience if you think it will hurt your chances on an interview. If your motivation is questioned, say you've taken early retirement, or just came into an inheritance, or are thinking of changing careers, or want to get insights into a new industry or business. Say whatever it takes to get the job.

Having a stream of income coming in will do two things for you. First, it will relieve some of the economic pressure you're experiencing. Obviously this emergency income may not be what you were used to. But something is better than nothing. Remember, this is just temporary, and no honest labor is demeaning. Second, a stream of income, however small and whatever its source, will improve your self-esteem. Some clients don't believe me when I tell them that. But that's because they've never been out of work for a long period of time. I have. And I can tell you firsthand that your self-image takes a nosedive. Did it feel good for an out-of-work former CEO and banker to work part time teaching adult ed cla.s.ses? No. But it felt better than not working at all, sitting home in my bathrobe feeling sorry for myself.13 13. For the whole story of my spell of long-term unemployment and my road back, read my book Second Acts Second Acts.

If nothing else good comes from your being out of work for a time, at least you'll have finally put an end to this destructive pursuit of meaningful work. Once you discover you can satisfy your nonmonetary needs through your personal life, you'll be free to focus on working for the money.

Jason Hope Kills His Career and Gets a Job In the eighteen months since he'd lost his job at the consumer electronics firm, Jason's pursuit of meaningful work had abated, but not vanished. He admitted to me he still looked for more than just money from work. When I pressed him about what he was looking for, he had a hard time answering me at first.

We talked about his work life and the choices he had made. As we spoke it became apparent to Jason that he had always been looking for respect from work. He told me his parents had been disappointed that he never pursued a profession. His father, a career garment salesman, had made it clear he was upset that after graduating college Jason chose to get a job selling audio equipment. He told Jason that he hadn't sent him to college so he could end up being just a salesman like him. Jason said that, on some level, he felt his climb into management was at first done partly to gain the respect of his father. He added he probably still harbored some feelings that being "just a salesman" wasn't enough.

I said to Jason he clearly wasn't "just a salesman." He was a loving husband and father. He had been a Democratic committee person. Besides, there was nothing wrong with being a salesman. Just because his father felt inadequate was no reason he should. I suggested he do something else in his personal life that would provide him with the feeling he was respected. After a few moments' thought, Jason admitted he had been approached to serve on the board of his synagogue, but had hesitated because of the time commitment. I said maybe he should reconsider, and meanwhile, he should just look for a job - any job - to bring in some income and make himself feel a bit better.

A week later I got a telephone call from Jason. He had accepted a spot on the synagogue board. It meant a one - night - a - week commitment, but Jason admitted it gave his esteem a boost. He had also applied for a floor sales job at a local consumer electronics superstore. Jason didn't hide all his experience in the industry from the manager, but explained he had taken early retirement and was looking for something to "keep busy." He didn't explain that it was a forced early retirement or that he intended for it to be only temporary. While the starting salary wasn't even half what he had previously been earning, it would provide the family with some much needed financial relief. Both Jason and his wife already felt more optimistic about their lives and their futures just with the possibility of Jason's getting a paycheck.

There's No I in Unemployment Either Focusing on your boss's needs, rather than your own, is the route to success and increased security once you've gotten a job. But it also has an application if you're unemployed.

Far too many unemployed job seekers go into job interviews with the wrong att.i.tude. Early in the process, still fresh from employment and confident you'll soon be back in the saddle, you may come off as overconfident. You may signal to the interviewer that the job in question maybe beneath you. I'm all for projecting confidence and making the interviewer feel like he must compete for you...when you've still got a job. In that situation your confidence is understandable. If you're unemployed and yet you're acting superior, you look conceited and maybe even a little out of touch. After not getting any offers for a few months people with such att.i.tudes often s.h.i.+ft to the other extreme. Desperate for a job offer, you signal this desperation to the interviewer. He's usually made uncomfortable by the excessive toadying and begins to suspect there's something wrong with you and that this, rather than market conditions, is why you've been out of work for so long.

The solution is to adopt a middle ground right from the start, and then maintain it throughout the process. You need to show an immediate interest in the needs of the interviewer and his company, rather than your own, and that you are ready, willing, and able to meet those needs. To paraphrase JFK, ask not what the company can do for you, but what you can do for the company. You'll have some initial hints as to what the company's or interviewer's needs are by the way the position is advertised or described and by the skills and experiences stressed. But the best way to find out exactly what's needed is simply to ask. Be direct and ask what the ideal candidate would provide for the company. Then show how you match that description. This two-step approach demonstrates an eagerness to please and self-confidence. That's a terrific combination.

Earlier in this book I wrote about how bosses will say one thing about what they want from employees, while actually wanting something else. I haven't changed my mind. That's still the case. But in an interview process when you're unemployed, it's essential that you buy into the charade. If you ask and the interviewer says he's looking for a straight shooter who'll be an agent for change, talk about your integrity and explain how your innovative streak will shake things up. Then, after you land the job and find out he really wants someone who'll protect him from his his boss's demands for change, transform yourself into his stoutest defender. Believe me, he will never question the transformation. In fact, he'll thank his lucky stars for having found the absolutely perfect person for the job. boss's demands for change, transform yourself into his stoutest defender. Believe me, he will never question the transformation. In fact, he'll thank his lucky stars for having found the absolutely perfect person for the job.

Jason Hope Demonstrates There's No I in Unemployed As soon as I heard Jason had applied for a retail sales position at the consumer electronics store, I suggested he make sure he maintained and projected the right att.i.tude. He agreed, noting that he himself was worried about not being able to keep from showing how much more he knew about the business than the store manager, and acting as if the job were beneath him. We talked for a few minutes about how to keep the focus on the manager's needs.

The next day I got another call from Jason, letting me know he had gotten the job at the store. He said he directly asked the manager what he was looking for. The answer was someone knowledgeable about high-end audio equipment, who could relate well to customers, and was reliable. Jason told of his lifelong love of audio equipment and portrayed his long affiliation with the industry as having been as much hobby as work. He talked about having been successful in retail sales and about having learned a lot from all the retailers he had worked with in the past. Jason noted that since he was a close match to the demographics of the average customers, he shouldn't have a hard time relating to them. As someone with experience in business, he said, he knew how important it was to be on time and reliable. Jason was offered the job on the spot and told he could start whenever he wanted.

Job Fis.h.i.+ng for the Unemployed The principles of job fis.h.i.+ng are to look constantly for work and to concentrate on getting offers rather than on getting jobs. Once again, while I developed these principles with the employed individual in mind, they have relevance for the unemployed as well.

Some unemployed job seekers engage in what I call a serial job hunt. They find one or two potential jobs, or perhaps focus on a single industry. Then they follow through on those possibilities, to the exclusion of all others, until they are exhausted. If they don't land a job, they look for another industry, or find another couple of openings, and pursue these exclusively until they are exhausted as well. This kind of linear, systematic approach is almost guaranteed to increase the time it takes to find a new job. And it definitely guarantees that you will never be in the enviable position of having more than one offer to choose from.

That's why I encourage my unemployed clients to pursue as many leads as they can develop, all at the same time. Answer all the help wanted ads that fit. Contact every employment agency that seems a player in the market. Call every headhunter. Tap into every resource. Sure, it means having to keep lots of b.a.l.l.s in the air at the same time. You'll need to keep track of where you've sent your resume and when, whom you've contacted and met with, and whom you've e-mailed and telephoned. Since you'll be pursuing opportunities in different industries and of different types at the same time, you'll need to be able to switch hats quickly and have a conversation about the aeros.p.a.ce industry right after sending an e-mail to someone in the fast-food business.

I know this kind of mult.i.tasking isn't easy, but it is essential. If you don't know how to do this by the time you're unemployed, use the extra time you now have on your hands to become a master of it. You'll need it once you're back in the workplace. That's because from now on you'll be perpetually looking for work...unless you want to find yourself in this position again.

Rather than being selective about pursuing opportunities, based on prejudgments, go after every possible opportunity. The idea, whether you're working or unemployed, is to have multiple offers to choose from. Not only will having multiple offers give you a chance to pick and choose the one that's best for you, it will make you feel better about yourself.

Jason Hope Goes Job Fis.h.i.+ng Even after Jason landed the job at the consumer electronics store, I urged him to keep on looking for job offers, wherever they might come from. He agreed and spent every Thursday afternoon - which was one of his days off from the store - answering ads, researching industries, and touching base with his business contacts. A month after taking the job at the electronics store, Jason was offered another retail sales position, this time at a camera store. He turned it down, but admitted it felt nice to be "in demand."

Jason also signed up with a temporary agency that specialized in filling executive positions. Seven months after starting at the consumer electronics store, Jason was offered a temporary position developing a marketing package for a health food supplier looking to expand into new retail markets. While he realized it wasn't a long-term solution to his situation, it would pay $20,000 more than he'd earn at the store. He took it...but still kept on looking for work.

No One Hires an Unemployed Stranger I believe it's vital for someone who's unemployed to work on expanding his or her personal network and use that as a source for job leads. I understand, however, that it's a far more efficient strategy when you're still employed and can give those new relations.h.i.+ps more time to develop and turn into leads. That's why, if you're unemployed, I think you should look to bring in a stream of income as soon as you can, rather than waiting for the job of your dreams to appear. Grab a job that will help you keep food on the table and your head up. But keep scanning the help wanted ads in newspapers, on Web sites, and in professional journals. Keep hounding employment agencies and headhunters. Work your business network in the traditional manner. Yes, it's a real long shot these days, but you've nothing to lose other than the time it takes. If your fis.h.i.+ng yields an offer that pays more than the job you took to keep food on the table, grab it, but don't stop fis.h.i.+ng for other offers.

While you're working hard with all these short-term, traditional techniques, make the most of your personal life. Pursue your hobbies. Get active in the community. Volunteer. Do all the things you always said you'd do if you ever had the time. Well, you now have the time, so make the most of it. Not only will it bring you psychic benefits, but it's also probably going to be the way you find your best long-term job leads. Be inquisitive, interested, and optimistic. If you have a closed mind you'll end up facing only closed doors in your life. Keep an open mind and you'll find doors open for you, sometimes in the places and circ.u.mstances you don't expect.

Jason Hope Expands His Personal Network Jason kept up his job-fis.h.i.+ng efforts after getting the temporary marketing job through the agency. In fact, knowing the position was temporary actually spurred him to step up his efforts. But he didn't let that interfere with the expansion of his personal network.

Jason took some woodworking cla.s.ses at a local DIY superstore. He dusted off the cla.s.sic Ha.s.selblad medium-format camera he'd used years earlier and joined a photo club in order to make use of its darkroom facilities. He continued on the board of his synagogue. Jason and Beth both joined the high school football team's booster club, since they went to most every game to see their son play. Surprisingly, it was at a football game that his personal network first began to pay off.

The booster club member who handled the PA announcements at the games couldn't make it one day, so Jason volunteered to take his place. Up in the tower overlooking the field he introduced himself to the man who was the regular spotter. It turned out this fellow, Sal Yamen, was a longtime friend of the coach of the football team. Jason and he got to talking during breaks in the game, and they hit it off.

Sal was the owner of a company that imported and distributed toys. While his company handled a wide variety of products, what he was most excited about was a line of highly detailed figures based on movie, comic-book, and sports heroes. The figures were more sculptured miniatures than action figures, and Sal planned to sell them through comic-book stores, hobby shops, and sporting-good stores. Jason told Sal about his experiences selling and marketing to specialty dealers in the consumer electronics industry. The two agreed to go out for drinks after the next week's football game. That meeting led to a more formal lunch and follow-up conversation at Sal's office. And that eventually led to Sal's offering Jason a job as national sales manager of the new product line. The idea was for Jason to personally lead the sales effort nationwide, and to train the existing sales staff, who were used to toy stores, to service the accounts. It wasn't the kind of offer Jason had been expecting would come along.

It's the Money...Now, More Than Ever Someone who's employed has the luxury of picking and choosing when to take another job. She can a.n.a.lyze the twenty main elements in each job offer she receives, focus on the important ones, and weigh whether or not to accept the new offer. When you're unemployed you lose some of that luxury. The secret to having some choice in the matter is to approach offers realistically as early in the process as possible.

I've found that many unemployed individuals start their job search being too discriminating and, after spending an uncomfortably long time in a fruitless search, become too willing to settle. Early in the process, flush with whatever severance pay was received, and perhaps energized by outrage and the desire for revenge, job seekers set their sights high and either ignore or turn down offers that fall below either the income or the status level of the job they held previously. Then, if they remain out of work, there's a tipping point in the process when suddenly their optimism turns to pessimism. Their severance may be gone, their savings used up, and their credit lines tapped out. Outrage is no longer expressed as revenge, but as fear and desperation. They take any job they can find. With their confidence at a new low, their finances shot, and their family's patience and understanding eroded, they feel compelled to stick with the job they took in desperation for far longer than they should.

My advice to clients, and you, is to be more realistic from day one, and accept that when you're unemployed it really is the money that matters most of all. Remember, your choice isn't between your own job and the new offer or opportunity you're considering; it's between unemployment and employment between some money coming in and none. If you reach this conclusion early on, you'll be able to target the best-paying of the opportunities available. For example, you'll take the job as an office temp as opposed to the job as a waitress, the job as a manufacturer's regional sales rep instead of the job as a retail salesperson.

I would suggest giving yourself two weeks of full-time traditional job hunting to find a position similar to the one you just lost. If there's a big demand for your experience and skills you'll see that within two weeks. If you don't get interviews within two weeks, lower your sights, find the best-paying options that are are readily available, and grab one. With that income coming in you'll have the time to start job fis.h.i.+ng. You'll also be in the position of now being able to weigh any offers you receive against an alternative: your current job. readily available, and grab one. With that income coming in you'll have the time to start job fis.h.i.+ng. You'll also be in the position of now being able to weigh any offers you receive against an alternative: your current job.

What's essential is that you compare any new offers to the job you currently hold, not the job you were fired from. That job is gone. Using it as a template against which to compare new opportunities will only prolong your unemployment. Ironically, I've found that the earlier my clients get reemployed, even with a job at a considerably lower income level than the one they previously held, the sooner they end up returning to that higher income level. It seems that it takes less time to take a step or two backward, and then another step or two forward, than it does to move forward from the dead stop of unemployment. People who are working seem to attract new job opportunities.

Jason Hope Realizes It's the Money That Counts While Jason enjoyed meeting with Sal and discussing the opportunity in the toy industry, he still felt some hesitation about taking the job. I asked him if the job with Sal's company would pay more than the temporary marketing job he currently held. It did...quite a bit more actually. It wasn't located as near to his home, but it provided far more paid and unpaid time off. And it certainly gave him a chance to learn some new things. So what was the problem? I asked. Jason said it didn't pay as much as his job with the electronics company, and, truth be told, he didn't think the toy business was as prestigious as the consumer electronics business.

I waited a moment, thinking how to answer. But then I realized it was best to be direct. Jason was a big boy and he'd shown himself to be resilient and strong. I told Jason he didn't have a job in the consumer electronics industry, earning six figures; he was working as a temporary marketing executive for hire, earning considerably less. The choice wasn't between the job he'd lost and this new one; it was between the job he had and this new one. It was time to stop looking backward and start looking forward. Jason said he appreciated my being blunt. He said he guessed he had to "bury" his old job. I agreed, but told him not to look at this as the end of something old, but the beginning of something new.

You Must Be Going Again...

but on Your Own Schedule No one is more aware of the transitory nature of employment today than someone who has just been fired. And no one should be more determined to make sure he takes charge of his future leaving.

It's vital that you not let reemployment cloud your vision. No matter how much better you feel about yourself, regardless of how much more humane your new boss seems, you were still hired to be fired. This is the way the job world works now, and the sooner you accept that and come up with ways to deal with it, the less likely you'll be to experience unemployment again in the future.

Keep looking for work, even though you've got a job. Remember the rules I outlined in chapter 9. If you get another offer that represents an improvement in two important factors (income, proximity, paid time off, unpaid time off, or opportunities for learning, or perhaps health insurance, disability insurance, life insurance, tuition reimburs.e.m.e.nt, or retirement plans), grab it, regardless of how short a time you've been at the other job. If you've been at a job for between a year and two years, grab any offer that's an improvement in just one of your important factors. And after two years on the job, take any offer that represents any improvement at all.

Don't think that you're d.a.m.ned to change jobs every two years for the rest of your life. If your current job continues to offer more than the alternatives out there, that's great; stay there. But the moment it doesn't offer more is the moment you should move on.

Jason Hope Sets His Own Schedule Jason knew his job with Sal selling the toy figures wouldn't last forever. One of the things he and Sal had in common was an understanding that the consumer product business today was inherently unstable and insecure. Today's hot toy or electronics product in a specialty store was destined to become tomorrow's loss leader at a discount store. Sal said all he hoped was to be able to keep riding the wave for as long as possible. Jason agreed. For him it meant that he'd have to keep on looking for work, albeit primarily through his personal networking, even while trying to build up the new product line across the country. And if he found a better job, he'd take it.

But as he and I discussed, that wasn't such a bad prospect when you a.n.a.lyzed it. He had a nice steady income. His work was actually interesting, since he was learning something new. Besides, he was back taking photos again. His woodworking cla.s.ses hadn't turned him into a master carpenter, but he was able to redo the molding in his den. The high school football booster club had asked him to become the full-time announcer the next season, his youngest son's senior year. He had gotten a lot of kudos for his work on the synagogue board. When he looked at his life, rather than at just at work, he realized he was actually a lot better off now than he had been before he was fired. He was back working again...and this time he was working to live, rather than living to work.

Chapter 11.