Thank You for Firing Me! How to Catch the Next Wave of Success After You Lose Your JobKitty Martini and Candice Reed (Sterling; 232 pages)
Since the U.S. has lost 8.4 million jobs in the Great Recession, this hopeful guide to life after the ax would seem to have a ready market. The authors offer valuable tips for keeping yourself together (exercise, sleep, a sound diet, socializing and staying active) and plotting your future after a job loss.
While Martini and Reed can sound Pollyannaish, given the bleak job market ("If you were unhappy or in a job that wasn't right, your boss did you a favor"), this spirited book should help the immobilized find some footing.
You've lost your job. Now what? That's the question put forth in
Candice Reed and Kitty Martini's Thank You For Firing Me!: How to
Catch the Next Wave of Success After You Lose Your Job. Granted
there are dozens and dozens of books offering advice for people who are
out of work, or those looking to change careers, but none of these
really tell you it's okay to be out of work for a while. It's okay to
take the time to figure out what you really want to do with your life.
It's okay to sell your possessions and travel the world to take some
time off. Thank You For Firing Me explores this side of being
unemployed.
Sure the statistics now are daunting: the Dow is in turmoil,
unemployment is eking toward 10 percent, nearly 300,000 people sought
unemployment assistance in April, and quite simply, people are
struggling to make ends meet. The situation becomes even more daunting
when you are faced with being laid off, fired, or simply take the risk
and quit to try to find something better. People self-identify with
their jobs and people make perceptions about others based on what they
do. Assumptions are made if you're a lawyer, a banker, a waitress, or a
construction worker. Are these assumptions fair? Maybe not, but they
exist nonetheless. When you lose a job, you also lose a little bit of
your identity. You ask questions, similar to those of a break up, and
certainly go through the same emotions: what did I do wrong? What am I
supposed to do now? How dare they do this to me; I don't deserve it.
The authors themselves come from this world. Following a series of
careers ranging from waitress to mortician, Reed finally found what she
wanted to do with her life after landing a writing gig with a community
newspaper in San Diego. Unfortunately, she tapped into her passion just
as this industry was struggling to find revenues in an era of digital
media and advertising. After struggling to find writing jobs after the
paper folded, she and her husband decided to chuck it all and leave
their native California for greener pastures. Martini is an
entrepreneur and comedian, two worlds that have never been easy for
people to "make it." While their advice partly comes from a place of
personal experience, they have also done their homework to identify ways
to conduct research, new and emerging industries, and educational
resources that provide retraining opportunities for those looking to lay
a foundation for a new career path in an entirely new industry.
This book isn't about starting over again in a job that you really
don't want just because you need the paycheck, or about continuing in a
career because you don't know what else to do. Thank You For Firing
Me! is about the process of learning about yourself and
translating that into the career of your dreams. What are you
passionate about? What motivates you? What did you love best about
your past jobs? What didn't you like? Being honest with yourself and
tackling these tough questions is step one.
For many, the most challenging part about finding a new job is where
to start. Reed and Martini explore new and emerging industries and
challenge readers to think outside the box: are you a casual surfer
whose worked a desk job all his life? Open a surf shop. Are you a
woman who got laid off from a mid-management job at a financial services
job but has always loved working outdoors? Throw those suits away and
get outside. Thank You For Firing Me! is really about that -
it's about taking a devastating experience and turning into one of the
best things that can happen to you.
Taking an often lighthearted and comical approach - Thank You For
Firing Me! is full of resources for people trying to get back on
track, personal anecdotes from people who really turned their lives
around after being fired, and is likely to become a great resource for
those looking to find the job of their dreams.
Self-help tends to elicit love or hate. In our fifth Book Cheer, Elenita Chmilowski offers the former with her praise of Kitty Martini and Candice Reed's Thank You for Firing Me!, a sound addition for the job-hunting shelf.
Name: Elenita Chmilowski
Title: Director of Library Sales, Perseus Books Group; visit the Perseus Library Services website or sign up to receive a monthly library newsletter at perseus.promos@perseusbooks.com.
Favorite Genres: Truth be told, I love a good book; genre is not always so important. The strength of the publishing house I work for is nonfiction, specifically politics, science, current events, history, cookbooks, and childcare.
Favorite Books and Authors: Mary Catherine Bateson's Composing a Life, Jasper Fforde's "Tuesday Next" series, John Lawton's Second Violin, and Isa Moskowitz and Terry Romero's Veganomicon
The Winner: Kitty Martini and Candice Reed's Thank You for Firing Me! (Sterling) is a practical, useful, and timely book that grew out of the authors' own experiences of being out of work and wanting not just to survive, but thrive and succeed. Martini, a writer, stand-up comic, and entrepreneur, and Reed, a journalist who runs a PR firm, take a realistic look at job hunting, from the fears to the triumphs. In a personal, humorous way, they discuss the different worries that come up when we're out of work. Readers will appreciate the sensible coverage of prospects and how to reconnect while getting the most out of this time. There are also resources for each phase of the search, including interviews with those who have been in the same situation and how they got back on their feet.
To boot, the book collects great web and print resources. For instance, Chapter 8: Big Waves Ahead; Hot Green Industries Coming Your Way! has a strong and informative collection of resources. Thirty-four pages of resources that coincide to each chapter are included in the back of the book as well. Just as the authors moved on to success, so will readers who use this book.
-- Library Journal, 2/1/2010
Martini, Kitty & Candice Reed. Thank You for Firing Me!: How To Catch the Next Wave of Success After You Lose Your Job. Sterling. Mar. 2010. c.240p. index. ISBN 978-1-4027-6956-6. pap. $14.95. BUS
For readers who have lost their jobs, are thinking about venturing forth as freelancers or consultants, or are searching for a new career, this is an invigorating and very helpful book. Martini is actually a stand-up comedian—"and an expert on being fired"—while Reed is a veteran freelance journalist. Their book is clear, enthusiastic, and, most importantly, loaded with direct, uncluttered advice with tons of specifics. A resource guide in the back lists almost 30 pages' worth of web sites and some print materials, corresponding to the chapter topics, which range from how to develop a support network and how to tune into Gen Y job networking to specifics on global, artistic, and green industries, among others. A great choice for most job hunters.—Margaret Heilbrun, Library Journal
Publishers Weekly- Non-Fiction Book Reviews 01/11/10
Thank You for Firing Me!: How to Catch the Next Wave of Success After You Lose Your JobKitty Martini and Candice Reed. Sterling, $14.95 paper (240p) ISBN 978-1-4027-6956-6
This funny and energetic guidebook for the recently (or repeatedly) fired from entrepreneur and comedian Martini and journalist Reed begins with a sympathetic but no-nonsense plan for picking yourself up after you've lost a job, and moves swiftly into the brainstorming and planning necessary to start the next—and more satisfying—career. Readers are challenged to answer the all-important question "What are you passionate about?" and strategize from there with an eye to becoming a self-employed independent contractor. Martini and Reed investigate such potential growth markets as green industries and the Gen Y market as well as the new outcropping of nontraditional jobs for women. Advice on finding community and places to get help and a plethora of resources elevate this cheerful, encouraging book into an invaluable resource. (Mar.)
book; genre is not always so important. The strength of the publishing house I work for is nonfiction, specifically politics, science, current events, history, cookbooks, and childcare.
Reed, a journalist who runs a PR firm, take a realistic look at job hunting, from the fears to the triumphs. In a personal, humorous way, they discuss the different worries that come up when we're out of work. Readers will appreciate the sensible coverage of prospects and how to reconnect while getting the most out of this time. There are also resources for each phase of the search, including interviews with those who have been in the same situation and how they got back on their feet.
