Are You About to Be Fired?
By Stephen M. Pollan and Mark Levine From 'Fire Your Boss'
There are always signs you're about to be fired. Most people, however, fall into denial and refuse to pay attention to them. By the time you finish reading this book (Fire Your Boss, Harper Collins 2004) you'll be a practiced job fisherman, so you'll always be looking for work. But until then here's a checklist for spotting impending termination. Check off each that applies.
You are asked to compile a report on all your ongoing projects.
You are pushed hard to finish one or two specific projects.
You are encouraged not to do your usual long-term planning.
You're neither informed of nor invited to meetings.
You receive a critical review for the first time.
Your expense reports are questioned.
Your typical expenditures are criticized.
Your direct superior keeps his or her distance from you.
Conversation stops when you enter a room.
You have a vague sense of unease.
If you checked one or none your job is probably safe for the near future. But don't let that lull you into complacency. This is the best time to start your job-fishing efforts, since you've earned enough time to rely primarily on long-term efforts.
If you checked two to five your job is in danger. Your boss is laying the groundwork to terminate you at a time of his or her choosing, though it may not be for weeks or months. This is the time to accelerate your job-fishing efforts, both short- and long-term.
If you checked more than five you're already fired . . . you just don't know it yet. The decision has been finalized, and you're just a "dead man walking." Unless you've got enough money in the bank to keep you and your family afloat for six months, find yourself a stream of income as soon as possible. It will be easier to get another job while you've still got this one.
By Stephen M. Pollan and Mark Levine From 'Fire Your Boss'
There are always signs you're about to be fired. Most people, however, fall into denial and refuse to pay attention to them. By the time you finish reading this book (Fire Your Boss, Harper Collins 2004) you'll be a practiced job fisherman, so you'll always be looking for work. But until then here's a checklist for spotting impending termination. Check off each that applies.
You are asked to compile a report on all your ongoing projects.
You are pushed hard to finish one or two specific projects.
You are encouraged not to do your usual long-term planning.
You're neither informed of nor invited to meetings.
You receive a critical review for the first time.
Your expense reports are questioned.
Your typical expenditures are criticized.
Your direct superior keeps his or her distance from you.
Conversation stops when you enter a room.
You have a vague sense of unease.
If you checked one or none your job is probably safe for the near future. But don't let that lull you into complacency. This is the best time to start your job-fishing efforts, since you've earned enough time to rely primarily on long-term efforts.
If you checked two to five your job is in danger. Your boss is laying the groundwork to terminate you at a time of his or her choosing, though it may not be for weeks or months. This is the time to accelerate your job-fishing efforts, both short- and long-term.
If you checked more than five you're already fired . . . you just don't know it yet. The decision has been finalized, and you're just a "dead man walking." Unless you've got enough money in the bank to keep you and your family afloat for six months, find yourself a stream of income as soon as possible. It will be easier to get another job while you've still got this one.
Recognize some of them from my last three years before I was fired.
