Landing on the Right Side of Your Ass: A Survival Guide for the Recently Unemployed [Paperback]

Michael Laskoff (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 6, 2004

Job hunting is a different ballgame when you’re holding a pink slip instead of a brand-new college diploma. In Landing on the Right Side of Your Ass, Michael B. Laskoff—a Harvard M.B.A. who has flown high and flamed out more than once—offers essential advice for those of us who have recently been laid off, restructured, or plain ol’ fired. A tell-it-like-it-is bible of “reemployment,” it tackles both the practical and the emotional issues of job loss.

Because he’s not an academic, a recruiter, or a human resources professional, Laskoff has no ax to grind, no philosophy to peddle, and no corporate ideology to support. He’s been through the job-loss/job-search drill more than once, and since he consistently has gone on to do better in terms of compensation, responsibility, and job satisfaction, he’s the perfect ex-employee to share with you some hard-won wisdom, such as:

•How long to wait before launching yourself into the job arena
•How to channel anger, fear, and revenge fantasies into useful job-search tactics
•How to snag recommendations (and compensation) from ex-bosses
•How to determine your interviewers’ hiring problems and then present yourself as the solution

Whether you’re concerned about the emotional issues of unemployment (from denial and depression to anger and acceptance) or are looking for invaluable nuts-and-bolts advice (what to say about your ex-employer in an interview, how to handle financial issues, and what on earth you should do with all that free time between jobs), Landing on the Right Side of Your Ass is a straight-up, no-chaser survival guide for picking yourself up, getting back out there again, and winding up with a job that’s better than the one you lost.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This realistic look at dealing with getting downsized is written by an author who has "been through this crap so many times that I can rightly and truly call myself an expert." Laskoff talks readers through the process of getting angry at those who laid them off, then through the necessity of owning up to the reasons why they themselves might be accountable. With tips on rallying support from friends and family, finding meaningful activities to pursue while job hunting and keeping up good relationships with those near and dear, this book covers just about all the issues unemployed people face. The second half of the book tackles the business of finding a new, better job, and Laskoff offers solid advice for resume writing, marketing one's skills, interviewing, networking and negotiating offers. And he reminds readers not to take the first job that comes along (e.g. "What's your gut telling you? If your tummy has you seeking the nearest bar not to celebrate but to dull the prospect of impending pain, maybe you should let this one pass"). With the down-to-earth advice in this book, searching for a new job might not hurt so much after all.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Unlike most authors of job-hunting guides, Laskoff isn't a professional career consultant or empowerment guru; he is simply a guy who's gone through more than his share of firings, layoffs, and downsizings, managing to make a successful comeback each time. This guide has more humor and personal flair--and less authoritative instruction--than is typical, and is much the better for it. His descriptive nicknames for former bosses and associates (Fearless Leader, Ivy League, Peyote, and Walrus) are right on target. And the narratives alone are worthwhile reading as Laskoff discusses getting "dumped," venting his rage at the miserable creep who did it, finding support and then alienating his supporters, and finally admitting his own culpability. Though he repeats his mistakes, he eventually learns how to recast personality traits (like his big mouth) as assets instead of liabilities. Eventually, he gets down to brass tacks, sharing information about where good jobs are really found along with real-world advice on resumes and the mine-strewn interview process. David Siegfried
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Three Rivers Press; 1 edition (January 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1400051142
• ISBN-13: 978-1400051144
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,158,168 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars What if I've landed on the wrong side of my ass?, June 4, 2005

By 

Edward A. Eliason (Denver, CO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Landing on the Right Side of Your Ass: A Survival Guide for the Recently Unemployed (Paperback)

This book is basically about avoiding depression so you aren't dead meat on the job search highway. Personally, it was encouraging to find a loudmouth from Harvard MBA school was going through many of the same things I was going through after emerging from slightly lesser ranking Indiana MBA school before getting sucked up into the world of 'infinite future' telecom consulting, and sucked down by an equally weighty 'nothing available right now' telecom crash. I have landed on the wrong side of my ass. My salary went from $100K to $20K. And the ONLY material out there I can find is on how to do all the things I've already done: networking, resumes, interview prep, etc. No one gets it. No one wants to get it.

What this book did not help me come to terms with, which is really what I still want to come to terms with, is how to maintain optimism over a longer horizon. How to recover from depression once it hits, rathern than feigning optimism to yourself through a hardly affordable hedonism. Sometimes, particularly after a brutal series of experieces like several layoffs in a number of years while a market is crashing, depression wins. And if you get depressed. Are you dead forever irrespective of your abilities? Seems so. Once you lose your enthisiam, no matter how badly you feel treated, you lose your right to work.

I'm still looking for the book on what no one still wants to talk about. What if you didn't get work again in 6 months, than 12, than 24, than became underemployed because you needed the money? Where do you recover that sense of enthusiasm and hope again. That, to me, seems to be the real battle to stay on the right side of your ass.

I imagine I am not the only one out there that feels this way.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You need to read this book, April 5, 2004

By 

Kimberley Wilson (VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Landing on the Right Side of Your Ass: A Survival Guide for the Recently Unemployed (Paperback)

And you need to read it now. When I was a kid the only people who I knew who got fired were a couple of odd relatives by marriage who were generally thought of as the family nut cases. The very word "fired" was spoken the same way people used to say " cancer" or "prison." Obviously things have changed. You can be a great employee and still get the corporate shaft. The odds are a firing or whatever euphemism you want to use could be in your future so grab Mr. Laskoff's book and get ready.

The book is very funny, and is the only career book I've read so far that honestly describes how humiliating and frightning it is to be out of work but Laskoff doesn't just allow his readers to wallow in grief. As he states himself, this is not a pychobabble book. It's a pratical guide to getting back on the right side. Laskoff tells you the truth about resumes, how to really work an interview and how to negotiate when you get a job offer. It's a great book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm furious! And now I'm getting over myself!, January 16, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Landing on the Right Side of Your Ass: A Survival Guide for the Recently Unemployed (Paperback)

I read this book because I've been wanting to look for a new job and didn't know where to start. I found everything I was looking for, great tips, marketing strategies for myself, etc. And the book has such a friendly vibe, you feel that Mr. Laskoff is an actual friend who has all the answers for you.

Now I've been dispensing my own career wisdom to friends that find themselves, well... out on their ass. I've found that so many friends get so angry when let go from a job and they can't loose that. This book starts by saying, you might have been fired unfairly, or you might have totally done it to yourself... but you HAVE to get over it and move on. It's great advice that a surprising majority of people don't seem to quite get.

This book is a very entertaining read that you won't regret. His website is very very fun too. His man on the street interviews can be laugh out loud funny.

If you don't have a job, GET THIS BOOK!