Advice

The Poison of Negativity

by

It's hard not to be negative in the Great Recession.  Unemployment is insane (actual unemployment much higher).  Greece may destabilize the Euro for a decade.  Wall Street appears to be run by spoiled children.  You're not sure what to do with your career, and hope you can make ends meet, let alone live your dreams.

On top of all of this maybe you're unemployed, or your city or state are in the dumps, or your friends are facing career meltdown.

It's hard not to be negative.  It's hard not to rant or white or get angry, it's hard not to vent constantly because there's so much built up.

And for the sake of your career, I recommend you be bloody careful with your negativity.  Why?  Because Negativity in all its manifestations, from the screaming tearful rant to the mopey self-absorbed withdrawal, can poison your Network.

Read more

Don’t Let Employment Define Your Identity

by

I remember my first layoff in 1996.

It was weird and traumatic.  I'd been let go before, I'd had temp assignments run out, but this was a case of everything just ended.  The company I worked for was gone, my co-workers scattered to the four winds, and I was out of a job.

I'd like to say that immunized me against future layoffs.  It didn't.  There's really something about your job just ending, and not because of anything you did – but because a company collapses, or runs out of money, or just decides to cut staff.  Your job is just gone.

In some cases, it feels like you're gone too.  You're not making money, not doing anything, and you don't feel like anyone.  Like it or not, we define a lot of ourselves by our jobs.

Read more

If Instead of Cannot

by

Many years ago, when I was a Senior Programmer with a consulting company, one of my clients commented that I never said anything was impossible – I never said "No, it cannot be done."

Now of course there are times in my career I have said no.  And when I said things could be done, I also noted the costs – which is a way of saying "I can do this, but boy is it going to cost you or disappoint you."  However the fact is that in your career, "it cannot be done" is not something you want to say to anyone – including yourself.

Read more