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JobBuster Monk Gives Employment Advice

Written by on June 10, 2015 · 6 Comments

Dear Mr. Monk,

I’ve been a claims adjuster for a large insurance company for the last ten years. Last week I gave my two week’s notice, and I felt great! Then I talked to my uncle who is an accountant for a nationwide firm, and he asked me how many car payments I will be able to make without a job. How will I explain the possible employment gap on my resume. He said I violated the most important rule of job changing, to get a new job before quitting the old one.

JobBuster Monk

Now I’m having second thoughts. Should I?

Larissa in Lincoln

Dear Larissa,

He’s just doing his job. He has been trained to sit in large important meetings and thwart all the crazy ideas that come from the marketing department.  He does that with numbers. He asks the idea person to produce a budget for the project. He will do a cost benefit analysis to show how silly the idea is.

The problem he has with your giving notice is that he can’t put a number on the benefit of your lowered blood pressure, or your better relationship with your family. He doesn’t understand the cost of a miserable life.

You’re having second thoughts? Stop counting.

JobBuster Monk

 

My dear readers: I need help in writing and promoting this advice column. If you have suggestions, advice, or even workplace questions, you could comment on this post, reply on facebook, or email me at danezeller at yahoo dot com. Thanks for your help!

Categories: employment advice

  • Todd Feeback

    When all you can see are beans, you only count beans. Great column! Great advice. Too many people do the ‘rational’ thing for too long. As a good friend of mine told me as i entered the world of the self-employed – trust your network. You’ll be fine!

  • http://www.danezeller.com Dane Zeller

    Todd, thanks for your generous comments. May I steal your beans statement?

  • James

    Sorry, but I must disagree.

    Her Uncle was right and his comments were not clouded by his
    vocation. Like it or not, they are grounded in reality. That’s not to say a new position might well be in order but the trauma brought on by facing the new realities of a job hunt I can assure you will far out weight the displeasure she was facing. Many people dislike, even hate their current job. But talk to those who took the path noted above and found the only job possibilities even more distasteful than what they had or worse yet, no job at all and then weigh the consequences.
    Think this scenario will make for lower blood pressure or a better life? Ask
    her when she’s been evicted from her home and now her next meal must come from a shelter. Let’s hope it doesnt come to that but to try and lesson the severity of the consequences simply because they are ‘already done’ does a disservice to those looking for help right now before doing the same thing. Hence the hard, but truthful, tone.

    I’m afraid that while your attempt to appease Larissa is commendable, the support of the move taken is not. I wish her well and hopefully, she will be the exception to the rule.

  • http://www.danezeller.com Dane Zeller

    James, thanks for the comment. You make good points. Our difference is not only in our advice, but on the assumptions you and I make.

    Unfortunately, we don’t have Larissa here to find out more about her. Therefore, we have made assumptions about her savings, her assets, style of life, job skills, budget, and sources of income.

    Here is the real difference between us: you see eviction in her future, I see her buying a Ford to replace her Audi. You see her desperate to get a secretary job, I see her as a nurse. You believe she is a single mom, I see her husband working at the GM plant.

    We don’t know, so we rely on our experiences. That’s where we agree. From my experience in the business world, I think there’s a strong chance your assumptions are right.

    However, we’re like the crazy idea man and the bean counter in the important meeting, generating ideas and proving their worth. Absolutely the best process for an organization.

    In the short space of a column, I can’t be thorough in my advice. I would hope to open the possibility of leaving a job before finding another one. I would not recommend it for everyone.

    There is a tendency in our world to think of the unemployed as beggars for jobs; I prefer to see them as talent. And, I don’t appease, I encourage.

    Thank you, James, for the opportunity to think through my ideas. I value that.

    Tilting at windmills, I remain,

    Dane

  • James

    Thank you for the comments, Dane. No doubt there are many assumptions at work here. Ultimately it comes down to her financial need and if her job provides financial resources she must count on.

    The other perspective I bring is my experience as I have studied this area
    extensively. So much so, I created a linkedin Group, invited over 2,000
    of the nations top employment experts and began discussions of precisely
    all this about 5 years ago. Over 2,300 experts joined and we have been
    analyzing the issues and creating solutions ever since. Those solutions
    ultimately were packaged into a software program which was named ‘Top
    Careers Program’ by Forbes Magazine in the fall of 2013. So it is from a
    unique angle I proffer my thoughts. Surprisingly perhaps I am also the
    eternal optimist. I always look to encourage and motivate. However, from
    the Groups I have on linkedin (one of which you belong to) and the
    thousands of people completely open to any advice, particularly when it
    sounds appealing, I have seen countless times where the consequences to their decisions take a back seat to acting prematurely and ultimately,
    massive regret rules the day. Unfortunately its a very common scenario
    and I’d rather ‘dramatize’ the downside to make the point than
    trivialize it and see more people end up there. Thank you for the
    discourse.

  • http://www.danezeller.com Dane Zeller

    Thank you James. I appreciate some grounding on this. This is a column I’ve started recently. It’s designed to include employee relations, not just unemployment. I teach management at a Kansas City university and try to see the basic management principle in all employee/employer issues. I’ll check out your software. See you around the internet water cooler.