Employment Rage [Kindle Edition]

With just the right tone, Howard Adamsky manages to lay out the ugly panorama of today's job-searching environment that robs the strength required to get up every day and move forward toward uncertainty. He offers great insights from the personal to the professional, letting you in on some vital secrets rarely, never revealed outside the hiring fraternity. Though painful, it clears away many expectations you might have harbored and internalized releasing you from falsehoods and expectations we feel we are owed.

With the audacity to tell it as it is Howard creates a recipe for right attitude, self-assessment, and courageous action necessary to sustain an out-of-work individual and most importantly get them moving forward --- everyday. Perhaps most critically he reiterates that you are not the failure - the insidious cancer that paralyzes some, and spins others into a whirling dervish obsessing and fixing and tweaking everything; resume, contacts, LinkedIn profiles, and Facebook pages is wasted energy. We all know the truth about the economy --- the external forces that have put you where you are - but railing against them steals precious energy. Say that over and again - that's Adamsky's contribution to all job hunters. Accept reality, bury your revenge fantasies, and "do for yourself" as Grandma Lillie used to say.

Can we say a book like this is enjoyable? I wish the topic were unnecessary but today's reality is harsh and expectations for immediate job offers are negligible. But Adamsky, while a realist (all too rare in those who write 'cheerleader-type' books) is also a positive guy - and his writing style is, if not breezy, friendly, sympathetic and well matched to his message.

Finally, he discusses the symbiotic relationship that exists among those who hire and their pressures to succeed and your need for a paycheck. This is roulette with the highest stakes. Not only self-esteem, but your mortgage, car payments, college tuition, and the drive to recapture your former life are at risk. Do not - he says clearly - expect that your former life will return. A different life - a better one waits.

And make no mistake, as he reminds us, often the best candidate, the best fit for a position - and you're sure it's you - will too often be passed over for any dozen reasons having nothing to do with you, your resume, interviewing or the color of your tie.

Much more can be said...but if you've gone through the canon...Parachute, Harvey McKay and even Jeff Gitomer (Who can help you sell, well, you), this tome must move to the top of your queue.

Bear this in mind as I have come to learn: The first job of any manager - from director to CEO is to hold on to their job. In the shark tank that is corporate America, knowing what constitutes live bait from dead fish is a necessary skill. Adamsky announces: Give value - get value. Connect in order to help a colleague, build and seduce your network (my words) pay it forward and eventually - in this game of big numbers - you will succeed.

Howard makes that clear, offers hope, and for that, we thank him.

Rich Shadrin
[...]
Foundation Group Owner & Moderator at Heroes of Learning Foundation
Executive Producer - VP Learning & Development for Computer Generated Solutions at Wonderful Brain LLC

Howard Adamsky's "Employment Rage" is one of the best books I've read. I know, that sounds corny but that's how I feel and let me tell you why. Regarding the employment game and oh what a game it has turned into, Howard presents the real deal on the inner workings of what goes on in today's hiring dance.
Gone are the days where the game was fair and you get hired based on basic human logic, experience, proven work ethic, we are now just "Human Capital". Mr. Adamsky is outraged at what the game has become and he is here to tell it straight pulling no punches. I've got to tell you, I just couldn't put this book down! Howard has over 25 years experience as a professional recruiter/employee and has seen how the industry has morphed over the last couple of decades. He tells a compelling story how employers create absurd hiring criteria like if you're unemployed you must be no good! Another one is how the job description can morph with each candidate that's interviewed and then no one gets hired anyway for fear of if the person doesn't work out then it's " Who hired this guy anyway, Your fired! " Would this make your blood boil? It makes Howard's boil. I know makes the veins in my head stick out... And the list goes on.

When you think you've hit bottom and things can't get worse, listen to Howard's own personal story of employment strife and remember, everything and I mean everything in life is relative. This guy must be tough as nails and have the faith of Moses.

Towards the end of this book you'll get some practical advice on how to play the employment game within today's rules using the tools of the modern media world. Embrace it! Howard explains how it can help and what not to do!

Howard Adamsky, I applaud you for having the guts and fortitude to write a book like this in today's times where most cower and sheepishly follow the flock for fear of getting their heads chopped off and you did it in 23 day's, talk about an emotional catharsis...

I found Employment Rage to be one of those rare "hard to put down book" like a great spy novel (my guilty pleasure).

It combines great storytelling with practical, no nonsense advice from someone who has been in the trenches on both sides of the employment hunting experience.

Sharing his own sometimes painful story of "unemployment rage" --along with the callous and inconsiderate ways he and others get treated while employed--didn't just make for riveting reading.

I felt it made the book infinitely more valuable than a cold, dispassionate, "just the facts" book, because of how it connects with the reader at an emotional level.

Howard's level of self-disclosure made reading Employment Rage cathartic. It's raw authenticity couldn't help but make you, the reader, remember your own similar experiences. Having someone put voice to the anger and outrage we've all felt at times in our relationship to the work and out-of-work experience, helps remind you at a visceral level that this is part of the human condition.

That's one of the reasons I highly recommend someone who has been trudging along the job hunting road read it. It will help you realize you're not alone, and that you have a wise, strong friend in Howard.

If you have a friend who is struggling with unemployment, I recommend getting them a copy.