There are few very lucky people who get to do a job that is perfectly aligned with what they always wanted to do. For the rest, it is a mirage on a long ride through the work life. There was a time, or perhaps still is, when being ‘passionate’ about your job was the most important thing. I have been advised to treat each day on the job as if it is my last day on earth and give a hundred percent. To tell you the truth, if it is my last day in this world, the job will be that last thing I will care about – and I am pretty sure, a practical you too will.
The truth, according to the author, is that people are in it for the money, and that is what this book tells you. Mind you, it is not asking you to be complacent in your work or not perform well at the workplace. It is asking you to do just that and be businesslike. The author is asking you to accept the reality and treat your job as an agreement that it is. You do your part, and the employer does theirs.
The Perpetual Paycheck: 5 Secrets to Getting a Job, Keeping a Job, and Earning Income for Life in the Loyalty-Free Workplace
Pages: 194 Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (April 21, 2015) ISBN: 1508793522, 978-1508793526
In The Perpetual Paycheck, Lori Rassas talks about what employers really want from their employees. She is an employment attorney with two decades of experience in helping employees and employers find solutions to tricky work situations. She regularly gives career advice to students as an adjunct faculty at various schools including Columbia University and Cornell University.
Passion is good. It is the driving force that keeps you engaged. And if it’s powerful enough, it can keep you going without expecting too much in return because the job itself is the reward. But passion is a double edged sword. If the job becomes the reward, there is little the employer can do to motivate the employee to do what they want them to do.
Passionate people are too attached to their passion and often lose sight of what is really expected of them. The job ad may say ‘candidates with passion for . . . ’ but what they really mean is candidates steady enough to just follow the brief.
But before you adapt to the functioning of loyalty-free workplace, you need to get in. Every job-seeker is advised to network. But to begin ‘networking’ when you need a job is like digging a well when you are thirsty. You will most probably die of thirst before you get to the water.
In Expand Your Hunting Grounds, Rassas tells her readers that networking is an ongoing activity and there is nothing to be ashamed of networking even if you are unable to mask this subtle skill. The trick is to find the networking style you are comfortable with and then develop that style.
The advice in the book is as practical and straightforward as it can get. There is no beating around the bush. The author seems to say “This is how it is. Get this in your head and plan from that point on.”And then she goes on to tell you how to plan and execute the steps you need to succeed in today’s workplace.
Win a Copy of The Perpetual Paycheck
before 13th May 2015
Reading The Perpetual Paycheck as a job seeker and employee will help you keep your expectations from your job and employers grounded in reality. Specific advice and tips will help you adjust and flourish in the real world.