FAQs

Well, only a few entries along and the questions are starting already. Take a look at these & feel free to post some comments. If I get a lot of the same, I may even answer...


Who are you?
I'm a "pre-employed" management consultant currently living in Virginia with my wife and our German shepherd, Iris. I was laid off from my job last year and have been trying - without success as of this writing - to land a new position. I figured it was well past time to start a blog about my experiences, and I'm also assuming one of two things will happen: I'll either get a LOT of material for further entries as the job search progresses, or I'll find a job and have to write about what that's like. So, either way, I guess it could be thought of as a "win."


Why should I follow your blog?
Why not? I'm writing about the same things millions of us are going through, but I'm trying to share what I learn along the way. I'm not claiming that I'm the most well-known expert on this, I'm just one of the folks who's trying to document the process as he lives it & have a bit of fun along the way. (Because if you can't laugh about being unemployed, the only other thing to do is cry...)


It's been a while since high school, my friend - who was Sisyphus again?
For those who don't have their faded copy of Edith Hamilton handy (or who spent their college years in practical & useful fields of study instead of English literature like this author), Sisyphus was the poor soul condemned by Zeus to forever roll a boulder up a hill only to watch it roll back down whenever he neared the top. Apparently, he divulged one of Zeus's secrets and supreme deities can hold rather supreme grudges. For anyone who's ever been oh-so-close to finally landing a job after months of searching only to have it yanked away for some ridiculous, undisclosed, or nonsensical reason, it feels pretty much the same.


How come you don't mention any of the firms you interview with?
Because I want to have a job again someday, that's why. Look, I promised myself when I started this blog that I wouldn't post anything specifically denouncing a particular company - no matter how badly I feel it mistreats me or people I know through its interview screening and processes - but also that I would always be as 100% honest as I could about whatever I experience. That means if /when some company mistreats me or someone I know, I'll write about it, but I'm not going to name names because the last thing you want is for someone at a prospective firm to Google your name someday & find a blog entry criticizing another company by name. (Career suicide, anyone?)


But don't blogs have to be provocative and controversial to generate readers and publicity?
Probably, but that's not my goal here. My aim is just to share job hunting tips & experiences that people can identify with, not to land myself in some kind of Internet infamy.


So you're just chicken, is that it?
Pretty much, yes. Thanks for noticing.


Anything else about you we should know?
Yes - I have a background in content management, marketing & communications, and two years of change management training. Spread the word.