Today is a great day to think about independence.  Not just our Country’s but your’s.  My kids ask me “do you HAVE to go to work today?”  I tell them “no, I do not have to, I GET to.  Many people do not get to go to work.”

We have heard the phrase “perception IS reality” and oh, how true it is.  Ever heard of first world problems? We need to keep in mind that we are blessed to have many of our “problems.”  I was talking to a neighbor’s child that is a recent college grad the other day.  I asked him how the job search is going.  He said he was not sure what position he wanted to take.  He said it like I had asked him which ugly girl he was taking to the prom.  My response?  “First world problems, yours is a good problem to have.”  He still did not get it.

Many people take on a victim mentality in life.  I think we/people learn this as children.  We even have a tendency to teach them this as parents: see what you made me do, you made me mad, you make me crazy, etc…  I try to tell my kids AND remind myself the old adage: “You can not control what happens to you, only how you react to it.”  Look up happiness on Ted Talks and you find 515 results.  I highly recommend viewing many of them.  First one to watch? Shawn Achor.  Watch it, you will thank me later.

Back to being a victim.  As a recruiter and HR person I try to actively monitor and manage what we call our “Employment Brand.”  One place a lot of people go to find out about companies is Glassdoor.  They are a great resource.  Just keep in mind that many people are victims of their own stupidity.  Here are a few examples.  The names and specifics have been changed to save me a headache from dealing with one of these idiots finding some idiot employment ambulance chaser to sue us.

Glassdoor review: The company does not understand that stuff happens in your life and sometimes you have to miss work.  They are not flexible and don’t care about their employees.

Reality: You were only with the company about three months and were late more times than you were on time.  You did have a family issue (sick family member you needed to care for) but we have customers we need to take care of and we are unwilling to let you work whenever you can and not when you can’t.

Glassdoor review: I was one of the best sales people they had and this new manager just came in and fired me without regards for my years of service.

Reality: You are a sexist pig that more than once hit on your new female boss.  Making comments about how good looking they are (on several occasions) to her, to co-workers and to clients is unacceptable.  We even gave you a few chances to change you behavior before firing you.

Glassdoor review:  The company has old technology and makes it tough to sell.  They need to lower the cost of their product.

Reality:  We told you in the interview process that we are upgrading many of our systems as previous management had not kept up with the times.  Also, if you want to sell on price go to Wal-Mart.  Again, we told you all of this in the interview you idiot.

Glassdoor review:  They expect too much out of people and work you too hard.

Reality:  We told you that the job involved dealing with difficult customers.  We even had you shadow people and they gave you examples of tough situations.  Also, sorry that we expect you to be on time, ask for days off in advance, and don’t let you take hour and a half lunch breaks.

OK, as you can see, this is a bit of a sore-spot for me.   Yes, I understand that some companies flat out lie to people in the interview process.  Yes, I also understand that people have bills to pay, I do too.  Yes, I get it that some places just flat out suck to work at it and some bosses’ management styles would have gotten them put in prison at Nuremberg.  But guess what?  If you have a job then count yourself blessed.  If you do not like it….  You have two choices: do something about it or shut your pie-hole.  Celebrate your independence, it is YOUR choice.

THE Man

Be with someone that makes you happy.
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