Radio Interview

When I received a call from WBEZ (Chicago's public radio station) to appear on "848" as an employment expert, I knew that I would say "yes." Although I haven't done much media lately, I am most comfortable with radio appearances and I especially like call-in shows.

Yesterday's show was no exception. Of course the callers are always the "wild card." It's impossible to know what anyone will ask. The first caller is just the kind of caller that I dread. He was a machinist who'd been laid off from his job and was absolutely furious at everyone and everything. He was enraged with his ex-employer about the layoffs; he was also enraged because so many companies are outsourcing jobs like his to other countries; and finally he was enraged because the promise of "retraining" was, in his words, "a joke."

While I sympathize with his frustrations, I also think that all of that rage is misdirected. Regardless of how he feels about these things, companies are going to lay people off, they are going to outsource jobs overseas, and retraining packages are going to be inadequate. Once he accepts those realities, he will be ready to help himself. In the end, he is responsible for his own career.

Of course a certain amount of venting is cathartic. But it can also be counter-productive. At some point (hopefully sooner rather than later) this man is going to need to diversify and/or upgrade his skills, and reinvent himself in a way that fits with what the job market demands and wll buy. All the resentment in the world won't change his situation and it certainly won't make him happy.

So what I advised him to do is change his attitude and accept more responsibility for his own career. That's what it means to be an adult in this job market and that's one important piece of what it takes to be successful. I'm not sure that he heard me; but I hope that anyone who reads my blog will hear my message and act on it.