Landing on the Right Side of Your Ass : A Survival Guide for the Recently Unemployed

Rating:
Summary: A True Guide
Review: Michael Laskoff's book was immensely helpful in all the stages I faced as an laid off, unemployed worker. The chapters on "Getting Dumped" helped me evaluate my behavior and how it contributed to the unfortunate outcome. Once I admitted that I had some responsibility for that outcome, I was able to put the negative experience behind me and move into the job search mode. His guidelines for resumes and the interview process were terrific and led to success: I got three job offers! Then the tips on offers and negotiation were helpful. I especially appreciated his candid admissions of his own employment history, making me feel I was not the only one to have traveled this road.

Rating:
Summary: A pratical, humorous, and different approach -- MUST READ
Review: Refreshing. I've been dealing with employment related issues for the past two years, and I'd all but given up hope of ever finding something that was written by an adult and for an adult. But out of habit, I always check out the "Careers" section whenever I'm in the bookstore, and this time I found "Landing On The Right Side Of Your Ass." Then a strange thing happened, as I flipped through the introduction, I started to laugh because some of the author's vignettes reflect the same sort of screwy and tortuous mishaps that have beset my own career. And as I read more, I discovered that he'd actually written about subjects that I hadn't seen elsewhere, like how to deal with the anger of being unemployed and manage the impact that your joblessness has any on your family. But I found two chapters later in the book to be particularly helpful. In one, Laskoff compares resumes to the personal ads, which sounds crazy, until you read about why this actually makes sense. I learned enough from this to make some very good changes to my resume and people seem to be responding better to it. And finally, there's a great chapter that urges job seekers to approach interviews from the perspective of the person doing the interviewing. (Think about his problems and present yourself as a solution.) All in all, I found this book to be quite different from the usual career book; it's pragmatic, easy to read, and often funny. I strongly believe that it will be of great help to anyone struggling with unemployment.

Rating:
Summary: Cheaper than a shrink and A LOT funnier!
Review: This is a must read for anyone who has to work for a living. Chances are, especially in todays job market, you're livelihood is at risk because of reasons you may or may not have control over. This guy has lost more jobs than I've ever had in every imaginable way. He has experienced the full range of emotions (his wife is a saint) and despite some amusing self-destructive releases of grief and anger, has always landed on the right side of his ass. As someone who's been out on his ass for more than a year, I totally empathized with MLBs experiences. The advice contained herein is not only informative and very applicable but also very entertaining -- common sense served up with a side of humor. In addition, it was very comforting to see someone who has experienced the same emotions I have. I thought I was weak; it turns out I'm human. In addition to his book, check out his WWW site: http://www.askyourass.com. I learned about this guy's work through his column in Business Week and am eternally grateful for the advice and humor during a very stressful time. No affiliation whatsoever; just a very satisfied customer...