I will go into more depth, but the real reason I hate corporate life so much is that little, or no value is being produced in an overly bureaucratic system, surrounded by your average coward who is more interested in looking good than producing something tangible. Kind of a mouthful, I just wanted to sum it up.

Corporate life represents everything I despise. From the environment to the people, and of course the overall mindset. I already discussed the risks for men in corporate life, let me just rant as to what I despise further. I usually do my best work angry, maybe I should grab some Whiskey… oh well, here goes why I hate my corporate job.

#1 Reason I hate My Corporate Job: The People

God, I really hope I hid my name on this site, I can’t remember. Interacting with the people who work in a corporation is depressing. 9-10 hours a day of superficial conversation and business speak. It is enough to drive one insane. Look around at the average corporate man, he is out of shape, weak, and always looks scared. Sucking up the free supermarket cookies that he gets as a reward like he is a fifth grader.

People in corporations always have a dead look in their eyes. Like they aren’t real people, just drones in a video game. They have this deluded idea of their own importance and walk around as such. Listen to someone at a party talking about what they do. Watch as the person they talk to slowly drifts asleep. You see most corporate lemmings do not realize they are only “important” to the other drones of their organization, no one else on earth cares about what they do.

Worse than their total lack of personality is the positioning and arse kissing to get on top. I hate corporate life because these people will take every opportunity to stab you in the back given half the chance. They give fake laughs at the lamest jokes of their superiors while throwing you under the bus to look better. Win the approval of your master good little lap dog. We are all in this together, slowly dying while realizing our dreams are coming to an end, yet instead of working with me they shimmy for position and approval. These are not men (or women) of honor. God, I hate corporate life.

#2 Reason I hate My Corporate life: The feeling of uselessness

I hate corporate life because it feels like we produce nothing. Three major companies and 20 years later, nothing seems to get done. Many will agree, there are few things as unsatisfying as working a corporate job. A welder finishes most days welding. A farmer is growing something. What do I do? Well today I rearranged the wording on a power point, making hours’ worth of revisions. I also moved numbers from one spreadsheet to another, so I can soon put them into a third spreadsheet. Somewhere a product is being built in my company I just know it!

The presentation will be forgotten as soon as it is shown. Maybe discussed for 15-minutes before it is cast a side. The work will be a memory by days end, its only use is to give my boss a false impression that he has a reason for employment. Sure, we can condense it to one page and hit the major points. That would help the company just as much. Then who would be able to present some grandiose PowerPoint to showcase how “valuable” they are?

You see I hate corporate life because it feels like there is no value being produced. We are so far removed from the finished product that there is no connection. No feeling of accomplishment. Sometimes it feels like my job could disappear and no one would notice. Wait that has happened. Not just to me, I have seen it multiple times. Someone leaves and no one does the main task the person was doing. You know what… no one cares either. Corporate life has produced a class of workers that not only feel superior, but also add very little of value.

#3 Reason to Hate the corporate environment: Death by 1000 cuts

You know it isn’t the fact that our Security updated and erased what I was working on for the tenth time this week. Nor the time that our out-of-date system froze up my computer. Nor is it the god-awful smell I get when I walk into the men’s room. It is all of it and so much more: death by 1000 cuts or shall I say annoyances?

It is the little things like that guy talking right behind you or the fifth bake sale email that all build up. Any one of them gets a response like, just ignore it, such a small nuisance. When your day has nothing but small issues then it becomes a big one. All together it just grates on me.

Every unfixed system that crashed an email. Every file that cannot be found is a symptom of a more bureaucratic issue. It also screams “we don’t care”. It is easy to fix so many of these problems, yet management would rather hold some sort of pep rally than solve issues.

There is a mental drain that happens when you work for a corporation that is hard to explain to those who never have. I have worked construction, painting, and many other what I call “real” jobs. Jobs that produce something of value. I am more tired working after a 9-hour shift in my company. These little annoyances all add up and take the life out of me.

#4 Why I hate corporate life: The environment

Only the brain trusts in a corporation can somehow equate looking out a window with a view of a parking lot as a perk. It is hard to imagine a more uninspiring atmosphere than that of a corporation. Everything must be safe. The entire setup adds to the before mentioned drain. I don’t need to work in the Alps, but it is like a Dementor from Harry Potter decorated it, your entire soul leaves your body as soon as you walk in.

Those florescent lights that are in so many middle schools have found their way to your office. The same terrible carpet can be found in most places along with the same god-awful paint job. Cubicles line the office in a way that scream “come on in lemmings!”

Then there is the break room, where all the different “worker’s rights” signs are posted. Dear Government official who dreams them up: Nobody reads them. If this is supposed to be a place for a “break” then I give up. Most don’t even have vending machines anymore, take all the fun out of it why don’t you.

Let us not leave out the bathrooms, perfectly designed to maximize smells and minimize privacy. Corporate offices are not set up for human beings, they are set up for robots (who use the bathroom). From the tacky corporate posters to the dollar store Christmas decorations, it all sends the message… you are nothing but a cog in the machine.

#5 Reason to Hate the corporate environment: It is all fake

Maybe this is the real reason I hate the corporate environment so much, it is all an overhyped illusion. Nothing they do or say has any real substance. To the high ups social virtue signaling, to the financials, everything seems like it is made up. It is all a game to make somebody look better.

Anyone with half of a brain should see right through their pathetic attempts to put the company in a good light. No they don’t care about your work life balance. No, they do not care about diversity. They care about looking good. The underlings want to look good for their manager. The managers want to look good to the executives, the executives to the CEO. OF course, the CEO has to kiss the arse of the media and shareholders, all to keep the machine afloat. They say what they are supposed to say, the safest most socially responsible thing. What the sheep want to hear.

Have you ever heard this saying “my job is to make my boss look good”. Think about that. How is that a job? How can anyone feel any satisfaction working in that type of phony environment? You cannot. This is why I feel like I do about corporations, because they do not live in reality.

Conclusion: Why I Hate the Corporate Environment

Admittedly I am burnt out, after two more years of corporate BS, I have less and less energy to do my job. My actual job is fine, the things that help make the company money (when doing them). It is the above I hate. I have more, which you will get. For now, if someone asks, Why do you hate the corporate environment send them this post.

The post Why I hate Corporate Life: 5 Reasons appeared first on A Reinvented Man.

Before the Pandemic changed things most companies outright said people must be in the office, but it is different now … or is it? As of late there has been a huge push to get people back in a physical location. So, why do companies want you back in the office? Companies want you back in the office for at least two reasons A) Control B) To use you as a commodity for society.

You may have thought that your job was to produce X and get Y in return. I provide a requested service or duty and they pay me for this work. It seems straight forward on paper until you realize that the motivations of companies (or more accurately the people that are layered into them) are completely different. Companies are not content with just obtaining what value you provide; they need to be involved in every aspect of your life.

Control

One of the primary reasons companies want you back in the office is so you can be micromanaged. To be fair in these examples it probably isn’t always the board of directors that is calling for this, rather the overbearing middle managers. They realize their job has no value, in order to look important they need someone to boss around. It is not what you produce that interests them, it is what they see you doing.

You might say “they are the boss, and you are the employee, do what your told!” That logic is flawed. Yes, they are the boss, but their job is to manage productive employees, that is what the company pays THEM for. If their own power trip is making you less productive, they are failing.

You would think it is the outcome that matters, and it should. If productivity does not fall if your working from home, then maybe the question is: Do we need the manager? Work, especially in an office, comes in waves. You are deadly busy some time periods and others you are updating spreadsheets. It needs to be that way; we can’t operate at 150% for 60 hours a week.

Managers want to control you and create busy work when they feel you are “slow”. Another useless meeting, a presentation that no one reads, etc. This gets in the way of real problems that need to be solved. When home you may be trying to streamline your work or take a walk after figuring out a tough problem. Not when you are in the office, you are treated like a cow to be repeatedly milked. Who cares about the number of distractions you face in the office or the fact that you cannot concentrate on actual work… there are useless meetings to be had, aren’t there?

You are more than an Employee

In a greater sense companies want to control every aspect of your life. How you dress, what you say and especially how you think. Most HR departments are nothing more than left wing think tanks. You better get in line with this way of thinking or else lose your livelihood.

It is a lot easier to put someone in a diversity seminar if they are in the office. Conversations are not any deeper than the weather, for fear of saying the wrong thing. From the moment you swipe in until the moment you leave your thoughts are being controlled. Does what you wear or your personal beliefs make you more or less productive, well no, but that’s not the point. In fact, trying to force feed you the “right” way to think actually takes you away from work and makes the company less money. Unimportant, companies want you back in the office in order to have an army of lemmings just like them.

Personal example, we were told outright that free speech only applies to the government. If you question whether a Trans woman is really a woman, they can fire you (even on your personal Facebook account). Sure they can legally, but how does that help the shareholders? One again Irrelevant, companies do more than make money for those pesky investors, they are the voice box for the woke. And you must be as well.

People like this can’t control you effectively if you are working from home. Not every conversation can be monitored and they can’t check if you have your pronoun card handy. Companies want you back in the office because you are more than an employee to them, you are their source of power. It is hard to justify their place in the organization and their own self-worth if you aren’t there to answer their demands.

You are a Resource for Society

Worse than these individual bosses trying to rule your life are the elites, whether it is the company heads, or politicians, people claim you “owe” something to society for simply having a job. If you aren’t working from the office, you aren’t eating lunch out, needing a dry cleaner or, worst of all, there is no need for all that real estate. So what, you have to sit in traffic for an hour, at least the gas companies are getting money. In the grand scheme of things we are nothing more than a piggybank to keep these companies running.

Don’t believe me? Here is an old, but relevant article calling for a 5% tax on remote workers. Since you save money on clothes and gas you are “privileged”. You are never allowed to get a benefit without someone trying to milk you for it. It is as these people just sit perched and wait for any little advantaged gained. Apparently, you should have to sit in traffic for hours a week for the good of society. Therefore companies want you back in the office so you stay part of the machine.

Who says I am responsible for propping up the economy? I work, perform a duty and get paid for it. Besides the output I produce I do not owe anyone a thing. Not the tax collector, the owner of commercial property, local restaurants (or more likely fast food) and especially not the cities.

It amazes me how these politicians are dying to force people back into this unnecessary situation. They are so desperate for tax revenue (so they can buy votes) they are willing to sacrifice your time, money, and mental health. Most of these people are so called environmentalist yet are willing to put tens of thousands of more cars on the road for their own selfish goals. Once again you are a cow to be milked and they care only about their own power.

Conclusion: Why Companies Want You Back in The Office

Maybe I have been on my soap box a little too long. As of now the spread of Omicron has slowed all this “return to office” crap (although there are rumblings once again). Do not think it is going away forever. The powers that be need you under their boot to feel superior. The elites need your money, the less money and time you have the easier you are to control. As of now the workers are revolting, once the economy turns and the virus is ignored companies will be putting you under their boot once again.

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Although everyone is in a unique situation, there are certain steps each of us can take to mitigate the damage of a job loss. It is a scary time, especially these days. you may need to know how to survive without a job for months because of the current economy.

I feel you; I am going through it now myself and it is not easy. To be frank, unemployment sucks. You watch your savings get depleted and you feel your productive days are being wasted. The goal is to hold off any collapse of your life until you can get back on your feet. Follow the below on how to survive without a job and the steps you should take, and it will help ease the pain.

There is No Magic Bullet

You may have come to this post hoping for some secret formula for surviving without a job. As if we can pull pennies from heaven and use them for rent. The truth of the matter is job loss is A) terrible, B) a call to action; there is work to be done and it must be done quickly. The number one thing we need to remember is to act. Hoping things get better while ignoring our bills is not a solution. The steps below are what actions I took (or more accurately am currently taking to survive my job loss).

Before the Job Loss: Plan Ahead

This first step might be a little late for some of you, but the best way to survive a job loss is to plan for it. My hope is I reach a person or two before the inevitable happens. Trust me job loss will happen, sooner or later most of us who are in corporate America will be laid off. Sounds bleak, but I do not know anyone who has not experienced a painful termination.

It is old advice, but it holds true, have at least 3-6 months savings on hand. We need to get serious about this, having cash available is crucial. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, then cancel cable, get rid of your expensive cell phone plan, do anything until you have an emergency fund that you do not touch. It is bizarre how many people cannot live two weeks without a paycheck. Not having an emergency fund limits your options, making you extremely vulnerable.

Pay Down Debt

Once again obvious advice, but a reminder to do everything you can now to get rid of any loans around your neck. The goal is to only have a mortgage and no other debt. Everything else is to be paid off as soon as possible. You need to live like you know you are going to lose your job. Surviving a job loss is much easier when there are fewer bills. The advice will not all be this overt, but you would be surprised how many people do not know these basic steps.

After You Lose Your Job

Once you get called into the office or carted off to human resources this is where the fun begins. I took a day or two to let it sink in, after this I needed a plan of attack. First, you must have the knowledge of where you are and how much money you will need to survive.

Prepare a Budget

This is not I sort of have an idea as to where my money is going, this is more like down to the nickel I know everything that is going out. You need to understand how long you can survive without being thrown into the streets or have your lights turned off.

This may be eye opening, knowing where your money is truly going may make you kick yourself for not starting a budget sooner. Americans on a whole do not realize how much of their cash is being wasted through both small and big leaks. We need to plug these leaks if we are to survive without a job.

Eliminate the Unnecessary

Time to whip out the sharpy and start crossing things off your list of expenses. If things are getting scary, nothing is to remain that is not essential. This includes any kids sporting teams or activities. Cable, Netflix, nothing should be sucking money out of your pocket. Think like the people on extreme cheapskates (the T.V. show). The goal is to buy as much time as possible.

Assess Your Assets

It is time to start looking at your liquid and non-liquid assets. Once again, we are in survival mode, everything is on the table. If it is not involved in keeping things moving forward, then it is a target to be liquidated.

The next step is clear, look at your bank accounts and take stock of your cash and liquid assets. Take every nonretirement account into consideration. You do not want to touch any retirement you have unless you have exhausted all other avenues.

Now that you have both your monthly expenses and your liquid assets you have an idea as to how long you can survive without a job. Is it 6 months, one month, a week; how long can you go until you are on the street? Whatever it is, the quicker you face the reality the quicker you can mitigate some of the consequences.

What Can you Sell?

If it comes to this, you need to know what you can sell quickly to keep yourself afloat. Do not sell things that are essential, like your interview suit or the family car (clearly). Still nothing else is off limits when it comes to survival. Clothes do not really fetch much, electronics can if they are new enough. I know it is not ideal to get rid of your things, but things can be replaced, and we need to buy time. This is (hopefully) temporary, it will get better.

Downgrade When Possible

Our biggest expenses are our cars and home. It is time to look hard at moving into a smaller place away from a big city. Easier said than done if you are in a house with a family, but it should be at least considered. If you are single and paying month to month rent then look into moving into just a room or smaller place in a less desirable location.

This also goes with cars, that BMW should be traded in for a used Kia until you get back on your feet. I may sound like a broken record, but you are trying to survive without a job, survive being the optimal word.

Do Not Skimp on Essentials

It may be tempting to go a few months without health insurance, but this is a terrible idea in my opinion. You are risking your entire future to save some cash (as needed as it may be). The same thing on basic maintenance for your house and car, I know things are tight, but whenever possible assets need to be maintained, so you do not create bigger issues down the road.

Work with Creditors

As a (former) landlord myself, you will be surprised how flexible many of us are in terms of delaying rent payments during difficult times. These days with the disease that shall not be mentioned, many creditors are good at working with people who have experienced job loss. I received a note today from my student loan company saying they will delay my payments in case I became unemployed… I did not have to ask. Do not just stop paying your bills or rent because of some moral outrage, you have obligations that must be fulfilled. The problems associated with this job loss are yours to fix. Most people will work with you to get through these times, creating good will in the process.

Alternative Incomes

We need to get some money coming in after a job loss. Unemployment paid a lot earlier but has tapered off, and rightfully so. Three-hundred dollars a week in unemployment will help a tiny bit, but let us face it, that is peanuts and there is a need for something more substantial. We cannot (and should not) rely on the government to help us, they seldom do anyway.

Surveys/Writing/Focus Groups

I have done focus groups in the past and had success. I usually use the company 20/20 research and was always paid well. One time I made around $500 to be a store secret shopper after the survey. These days many are online so you will not have to leave your home.

Survey sites are technically a way to earn some money, but I find them to be somewhat of a waste of time. I am a member of survey junkie, I have cashed out of it before, but the pay is painfully low. You probably can spend your time doing something better. That being said, if you are doing nothing, it could bring in gas money every month.

If you are a writer, take advantage of sites that will pay you up to $100 for a post. I came across this article here that talks more about the process. Even if you get $50 an article and can write one daily, that is $1500 to hold you over. I believe you should still be able to collect unemployment.

There are plenty of miscellaneous sites to make money online. For example, you can be on a mock jury, cases up to $60/hours’ worth of work. There are sites where you can review books or hook up with someone to deliver groceries. If one looks around, they will find some interesting ways to make a side income on the internet.

Uber/Postmates

I do not know how this will affect any benefits you get, but a lot of people drive for these companies to make spare money. It is good because you can set your own hours, leaving time to interview for a real job in your field of expertise. I understand coming from making close to 6-figures to driving around drunk people might be humbling. This is about surviving without a job; we do what we need to for survival.

Inventory/Night Work

I see a lot of night jobs out there for part-time packers or warehouse workers. The pay is not great, and sometimes either are the hours, but it can help you float by until you can find employment. What is good about these jobs is that you work them at night, therefore you can interview during the day. It is difficult to find the time to job hunt when working a normal schedule. There is the bonus of not having to see anyone you know, if you are like me this time is a bit embarrassing and you do not want to run into someone from your past.

Assess (and Use) Your Skills

Do have any abilities that you can pimp out? If you are a handy man go on to local Facebook groups and mention your services. You can also use sites like Taskrabbit (link included) to hook up with someone looking for help. Lastly one can advertise their online services at Fivvar, which matches online tasks to people that can perform them (pay starts at $5, but you can ask for more).

One thing you should have a lot more of now is time. Take advantage of this, as we get older we do not always try to learn new skills. There are many places that help you become an expert in various expertise. I currently use Skillshare, the cost is about $99 for a year, but the first year was discounted to $60. There is also strive , but this is a lot more expensive. The point is to gain some marketable skills which you can turn into a supplemental income.

Start a Side Hustle

Everyone should have a side hustle that with a little work can be used to replace your income down the road. This is not something that will automatically help you survive without a job, it takes time to learn how to do any business correctly. Still, since you have more time on your hands this is when to start throwing ideas out there to see what sticks. This way during your next period of unemployment you are not in survival mode or coming from a place of desperation.

A few money-making ideas are things such as learning to blog, setting up a shop on Amazon or eBay. If you do not want to sit in front of a computer you can become a handyman, help people move etc. In the future, when you have money again, you can learn how to buy and sell rental properties to have a stream of cash coming in. Whatever it is, get good at it so you are no longer at the whim of a useless human resources department for your standard of living.

How to Survive Without a Job: What Not to Do

I think I touched on all the major points when you experience a job loss. There are also things I believe you should not do unless they are necessary. Do not destroy your future to take care of your present. Make the hard decisions, like getting rid of assets and downgrading as opposed to taking the more comfortable route.

1. Do not Touch Your Retirement: It may be tempting to raid your 401K and you may not have a choice, but it is a horrible idea to do this. I am divorced and childless, personally I will live on the streets (the tent cities are getting nice) rather than raid my future. I understand if you have kids and a family this is difficult, just make sure there are other options before sacrificing your future. You may think you will make it back later, but you will not.
2. Do Not Just Stop Paying Things: Unless you want your credit to be decimated than do not just stop paying your bills. If you make payments in good faith, you may be able to keep your credit score relatively intact. If you just do not pay people, the bills will pile up and you can find yourself on the street.
3. Do Not Cancel Insurance (or get some): I mentioned this earlier, but it bears repeating. These days health insurance is a must. One accident or illness and you can end up in bankruptcy. I lost my health insurance when I lost my job, but there are some decent plans out there for not too much money, especially if you are healthy. These can help you get through this difficult time without adding too much risk.

Conclusion: How to Survive Without a Job

As mentioned, there is no magic bullet to surviving without a job. You must work at moving things forward if you want to be successful. You must take action and do what is needed. It is easy to curl up in a ball and not face your problems, but you will regret it. There is the old saying “This too will pass,” just keep working at finding a job while doing the above and you will get through this.

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It is bad enough to be treated poorly by your old company and thrown to the wolves, but to add insult to injury and treat job seekers like dirt when looking for employment is additionally humiliating. Maybe this is a rant since I am going through this hell currently. I want to point out some of the ways the hiring process is broken.

Hopefully some good will come out of this; if I am lucky a recruiter or two will read this and fix their ways (unicorns exist also). Some recruiter or hiring manager may stumble upon tmy post and realize they are doing one (or more) of the things on this list. Read further to see at least a few of the ways the hiring practice is broken and what can be done to fix it.

The Hiring Process is Broken: #1 Resume Scanners

It used to be the manager of a department would read the resumes. Then it moved to human resources. After a while, this job was outsourced to an outside firm or even India. Now, to save even more money many resumes are put through a computer and the key words are matched up. This is done to eliminate those without enough similarities between the resume and posting.

I realize that with the internet and the ease of applying to a job it may be impossible for a hiring manager to read all the resumes. My problem is when you take out human decision making you are eliminating good candidates. It is terrible that your resume will not even be seen by real eyes and you are already eliminated from contention.

The scanner may not pick up some skills making a good candidate miss out on a job they are qualified for. Example, the scanner may read Microsoft Excel, but you have advanced Excel on your resume. A human would see this, but a robot may not know the skills are the same.

The perfect solution to this would be hiring managers reading every resume, but as mentioned, I know this is impossible. You could make sure that each resume is at least glanced over by a human. This way you could guarantee that a qualified person does not miss out on an opportunity because of a machine. Instead of HR creating one more diversity project they can do their jobs and look at potential candidates.

# 2 Ghosting

There is nothing ruder than someone who cannot follow up with a simple email or phone call. Do not give me this “we are too busy”; I worked alongside of recruiters they are not doing that much. The hiring process is broken if you cannot even have enough consideration to let an employee down or tell them where they stand.

Ghosting does not just happen after one speaks to the recruiter; it happens in all aspects of the job hunt. I applied for a job with Campbells soup, they canceled the interview on me (the job disappeared). Afterwards I reached out and contacted the same recruiter about another position and we agreed on an interview. She kindly stood me up for the job interview and she did not answer my multiple attempts to reach her.

There have been instances where I have taken the time to go on multiple interviews and then heard nothing back from the employer. Some recruiters forget me an hour after we talked (or met). The list of times I was ghosted goes on and on. People are cowards, they would rather not talk to you then give you a little courtesy.

#3 Low Balling the Salary

I love when this happens. You find a job; the salary is in the description given on Indeed or you are told the salary by a recruiter. It is perfectly in your range. Get through the interview process and they change the compensation. Sometimes by twenty thousand dollars or so. These days they are trying to get you for a Groupon, even though they “prefer” five PHDs, they want to pay you like you just got out of high school.

I have heard stories where two people doing the same job had a 70-thousand-dollar difference in salary (yes that is written correctly). Personally I worked in a department where my coworkers were all making 20K more than me. I was given a ton of reasons why they cannot compensate me more after I was supposedly promoted. It is a bait and switch; they are banking on you lowering your own value. Every company wants a college degree, then pay their people 30K after they get the job. I would rather be unemployed then pigeonhole myself into a poor salary for life.

#4 Asking How Much Do You Make

Another clear example of a company trying to screw you is the following, the question… “how much do you make now (or at your last job)”? This is a blatant attempt to low ball you given the opportunity. I once had a rather well-nourished recruiter shake her head and wag her finger at me and tell me no one is going to pay me more than 10% of what I currently make. This regardless of what job I got.

Any company that bases their decision on what the company before did has incompetent people working for them. The reason I was leaving the above job was due to being vastly underpaid. I guess according to them, since I took the wrong job during a recession my life should be spent making a mediocre salary.

You should get paid what the job is worth depending on your skills and experience. Your current salary plays no part in your salary negotiations for your next position. I have learned to ignore this question because it is offensive to even ask me. Companies that do this are only hurting themselves, because if you do not pay employees what they are worth they will (hopefully) leave.

In the above example, a couple of weeks after the recruiter told me no one would pay me more than 10% of what I currently make, I was able to move jobs to one paying 35% more. Moral of the story do not let other people pigeonhole you and avoid answering the above question directly. It is better to give a range or keep quiet.

#5 Dumb Red Flags

Like dating, companies use red flags to weed out employees. Using red flags is yet another way the hiring process is broken. Some red flags make sense, such as he has three arrests for murder. Others not so much.

Probably the dumbest is asking why you have not worked in so long. Gaps in employment should not be used against someone, especially in a recession. Why does me not working for four months affect my performance on a new job. I was asked this on a application the other day, “explain your job gap”. I just wrote Covid. Could the worst recession in modern times be responsible for me not finding a job in a week?

These are not the only red flags companies use. I have been turned down from jobs because I was not in the exact industry. In finance the skills are transferable and the industries were not that different. Then there were the multiple times I lost out on employment because I was overqualified. That only encourages me to dumb down my resume. Dear Hiring Managers: Hire the most qualified, intelligent person first. It is better to have someone competent than someone who checks idiotic boxes. The company is better in the long run to have smart, proven people, not only someone who avoids irrelevant alarms.

#6 Wasting Our Time

Think about all the time that goes into preparing for an interview. Dry cleaning your suit, researching the company, printing out resumes etc… it is not a small amount of work. The effort is worth it if you finally can snag a position, especially if it is one that you want.

Unfortunately, so many of these interviews are knowingly wasting our time. All the work and hope that you put into means nothing to them, the company has no intention of hiring you. They already know who they want to hire. How many times have you heard; “we went with an internal candidate”? That is right, you are competing for a job with someone the hiring managers knows personally and sees on a regular basis. It is also assumed they like each other, or the internal candidate would not even apply to begin with. You never stood a chance and they know this.

I believe human resources puts a position externally because it is a check the box policy. This means they have to be able to say they interviewed a certain number of external candidates. It is all a game, but your time, money, and mental state are the victims. Once again, I will reach out to hiring managers and say, please if you know you will be going with an internal candidate, DO NOT WASTE OUR TIME!

#7 Multiple Extensive Interviews

Yet another example of how the hiring process is broken. I understand wanting to get to know a candidate, but there is no reason to put this person through ten hours of interviews. I have, on multiple occasions had 4-hours’ worth of interviews in one day. This was after two or three other interviews. If you cannot figure out if I am a good candidate by reading my resume and talking with me for over an hour, then maybe you should not be working in a recruiting capacity.

I feel as if the hiring managers want to do the impossible task of removing all risk from the equation. All it really does is burn out the candidates. Once I lost my voice after 4 hours of talking to multiple people. The best is when these giant interviews are combined with ghosting the candidate. Proof again your time means nothing to these people.

# 8 Jobs That Never Materialize

Another common occurrence, you apply for or go on interviews for jobs that do not really exist. This is one of the ways the hiring process is broken, and I have no idea why this is being done. More than once I went on interviews and then was told “sorry they decided not to backfill the position”. Was I interviewing for a job that was unnecessary? If this is the case, why have the position at all? There are many unanswered questions in my head.

Regardless of why, it is another way that candidates are having their time wasted. Related to this is when a position will be on a job board for 6-months…it may disappear for a week then come back as new. Meanwhile we are spinning our wheels trying to get hired applying for something that will never materialize. Early in my career, I was showed my desk during the second interview. While waiting for the official offer my recruiter calls me and says they are not filling this position. It is another way corporate America treats men like garbage.

# 9 Unrealistic Requirements

Have you ever looked at a job description and asked, “who the hell can possibly have these attributes?” You could have been doing similar work for years and still not have half the qualifications. Numerous times, for example, company specific computer systems will be on the requirements. That pretty much rules out anyone who does not work for the organization

Most of the time it is filler bullsh*t that has no real relation to the position. I cannot tell you how many jobs I got that had very little to do with what was on the description. This is what happens when millennials from HR fill out requirements.

Another note to hiring managers, hire someone with relevant experience and who is intelligent. I know you think you can get away with not training a person, but it takes time to learn a new job. This brings me to the next point.

#10 No Onboarding Plan

Once you get employment many times the companies do not know what to do with you. I have sat in more than one position where on my first week I did not have a computer. Heads of departments have no idea how to use new employees once they get in the door. These days in corporate America there is almost no training or support.

Just a warning, most of the time you will be figuring it out for yourself. This is especially true today when everyone is working from home. Many times, I do not think even the hiring managers ever knew what they wanted. Maybe get a couple of reports off their plate, but there is little direction. You must create your own path once you get hired. This is why, there is so much busy work, because most jobs are not necessary to begin with.

# 11 Discrimination

Why on every job application is there a box for race and gender? What difference does my race play unless you want to use it to disqualify me from a job? Yes, there was a time when women and minorities were the victim of these practices. These days it goes both ways and sometimes men (especially of European descent) will be openly passed over for characteristics they cannot control. This may rub some people the wrong way, but I have seen it happen (it happened to me as well)

Companies more than admit it today. They have diversity training and initiatives to hire more minority candidates. Well, if I am not being hired because I am not a minority candidate, that is discrimination. It was wrong in the past and it is wrong now.

I have a friend who was told flat out the job he was being groomed for will be going to a minority woman solely because they wanted a more diverse company. He was basically doing the job but was being passed up because of something he couldn’t control. This is yet another obstacle in the broken hiring process. How about we just hire the best person for the job?

Conclusion: The Hiring Process is Broken

Trying to get a job reminds me that I must work harder on my side projects. Being treated like cattle is not conducive to being a free man. The process is enough to break someone especially in times of economic downturns. We are expected to grovel and beg for a job where we are killing ourselves while making the organization richer. All most of us want to do is work hard and get ahead in life, yet we are degraded by a group of people that never added any real value to their companies. The hiring process is in a sad state and it is only getting worse.

The post The Hiring Process is Broken: 11 Shady Tactics by Recruiters, Companies and Interviewers appeared first on A Reinvented Man.

You have no control over your livelihood when working for a large corporation. In addition, your potential will be capped, not to mention you will have your soul sucked out on a regular basis. I am not saying go out and quit your job today, as mentioned you do need to sustain yourself. What I am saying is if you do not have a backup plan you will run into some problems down the line.

The workplace used to be an area where a man can go, work hard, and get ahead. His efforts at least seemed in some part to produce positive results for his own life. These days it seems corporate life is just a mirror of how our government is set up.

Identity politics have replaced hard work. A company is no longer an area where a man can feel pride, in fact the opposite is true. These days, with enhanced human resources departments, a man is being neutered by his company. Corporate life is not conducive to our growth and development. I have seen too many guys have their lives ruined by being loyal to their employer. Below are some risks and negatives of corporate life for men.

Harassment Accusations in Corporate Life

You knew this one was coming, but it bears repeating. These days a man could lose his job and reputation by a woman merely accusing him of wrongdoing. I mentioned this in my article here , but I will share again a situation I witnessed first-hand.

In my last company a new employee “was befriended” by two women. One day he is scrolling his phone, out of the blue, one of the girls grabs it from him to look at a picture. She proceeds to go through some other images and sure enough finds something she did not like. He was fired two days later.

Let us be clear, there is no trial today. Men are guilty and that is that. All those weeks or months you spent securing a job. Throw that out the window, it is over because of an mere accusation. Some social justice warrior does not like what you are saying, you are back on the unemployment line. Regardless of if it’s a reality, a misinterpretation or some hag who thinks you are toxic…your career could be ended. I am not saying harassment never happens, I am saying show me the proof before destroying a man’s life.

This Includes Raising Your Voice …

As a side, women also will get you fired if you are mean to them. Seriously, my old boss fell victim to this. He took over for a woman who was useless, never showed up to work, yet held the position for 10 years. This man was in the position for 6-months and gets fired because he loses his temper a here and there. He did it to me about 20 times and I brushed it off or went back at him, this is what men do. The ladies tattled to HR and he lost his job. So what he doubled revenues in the short time he ran the department, he was mean to the women!

Clear Discrimination Towards Men

Did you know that because some other women were screwed over by a man in the workplace, it is perfectly acceptable to screw YOU over now? Apparently, that is the case. There is a push to move women up the ranks. I have no problem with a woman having a high up position if she is capable. My problem rests with choosing a woman over a man to fill a quota.

This happens a lot, I know I was the victim of this sort of favoritism. Corporate life has allowed men to be overtly discriminated against. My former boss (the useless woman I mentioned earlier) created a role for her yoga buddy (literally) that was exactly the same title as a male coworker of mine. By all accounts he was doing a good job, but this role was added anyway…doing something “different” was the company line. 4-months later he was laid off, a guy who was with the company for over 15 years, the yoga buddy remains.

I have heard this story time and time again. Companies basically state it with initiatives to push women forward. What does that mean? Men are to take a back seat in corporate life. This will go double if there is a woman in charge. I guess discrimination is ok in corporate life if the right people are being discriminated against.

Corporate Life Makes You Fat

If you are a man in the office, look around, how many well-nourished people do you see? There are many reasons for this, but the result is the same. Corporate life is terrible for a man’s health.

You are expected to sit for 9 hours at a time, at least, just looking busy. Humans are not built for this type of sedentary lifestyle. We evolved to move, but in corporate life you are basically chained to your desk. Usually by the time you get home from the office after fighting through traffic you are too tired to go to the gym. It almost seems purposeful, how they mentally wear you out.

Let us not forget how corporations “reward” their workers. No need for money when you can buy Costco pizza and supermarket cupcakes. A friend of mine once did an experiment. He wanted to see how many days he could walk through the office and get free food. I believe he gave up after 8 months…there is always some slop that is being handed out. Like I said I almost think it is done on purpose. Fat, weak men are easier to control.

Trading Time for Money

In corporate life, really any job, but especially corporate jobs, you are trading time for money. When I owed rental properties, I went on vacation or sat around on a Sunday and I still got paid. There is still work in owning rentals, but at times I made money in my sleep once all the upfront things to do are complete.

In a job you do not show up, you do not get paid. You may burn through PTO, but for the most part you only get money when you are physically there. Here is the worst of it, it does not matter if you produced anything of value when you are at the office (or home these days).

I think the reason this is the worst part about trading time for money, is it gives you a false sense of productivity. How many people slave away in an office, and get almost nothing accomplished? People brag about working 60 hours a week, but they do not really do anything. Trading time for money is rewarding people to be less productive.

Not Paid for What You Create

A related outcome is that since you are getting the same amount of money day in and day out you do not get rewarded properly. If I save my company 5 million dollars, I may get a phony blue-ribbon award or some other made up hack corporate trophy.

You get paid the same amount if you provide millions in value or if you provide squat. You may argue, “but I will get a bigger raise and bonus”. Managers do not remember the work you put in 5 months earlier, you will get the same standard 3% as you always did.

There is No Meaning in Your Work

How many people in corporate life feel a connection to what they are doing? More likely than not you are just trying to mindlessly get through the day. I am not saying you need some great passion for your job.

I do believe we have to feel like there is some sort of meaning to what we are trying to accomplish. There is no greater hell than putting in nine or ten hours a day, for years or even decades and feeling like you did not make one bit of difference. Like all you did was push papers around and there was no purpose to your work. That is what corporate life has to offer.

Much of the reason for this is the fact that there are so many jobs that are just bull. Jobs that seem to add no value, if (and when) these positions are cut no one even notices.

Then there are the jobs that do provide some purpose but are filled overwhelmingly with minutia. Meetings and projects that go nowhere and reports that no one reads. Sometimes I think that shoveling horse manure would be better. At least at the beginning of the day I saw a pile of manure and at the end of the day it would be gone…I would feel like I accomplished something. In corporate life there is no sense of accomplishment.

You Associate with Losers

If you are back in the office, look to your left and then to your right…what do you see? Most likely overweight losers. The men especially seemed to have given up on life. They wear their khaki pants and short sleeved collar shirts with the company logo on them as their belly hangs past their waist.

Their conversations are especially boring, god once football season starts up these overweight losers take pride (or feel shame) from their team where they happen to live. These guys wear the jerseys of 24-year old kids who make thirty times what they make for playing a game! On top of that they tie their sense of accomplishment to how these kids do on the field. How else can they be seen, but as losers? I like football, but my happiness does not equate to how the Giants do.

Now you are associating with these awful people daily. They say you are an average of the five people you spend the most time with. Do you really want to be an average of the idiots at your job? These men who get bossed around by their wives, who are weak and in debt? Most have no goals outside of hitting Taco Bell after work. They bore you with stories of little Johnny’s little league game because they have nothing else going on in their lives.

Your Stress is Through the Roof

There is a reason why men are having heart attacks more frequently these days, and it is not only our diets. I touched on health earlier in terms of weight gain but let us take it a step further and talk about stress. Stress is a huge factor in many diseases and health. Read here to learn more about this. Corporate life causes much more stress than is necessary

There is a constant pressure to perform as well as deadlines for projects that will go nowhere anyway. You go from looking for work to do to running at full speed. Much of the stress is when something happens that is out of your control. Your boss will come down on you about a problem that costs the company money. The CEO should be blaming himself for the policies that he (or more likely she) implemented. Yet, somehow everything is your fault. You are under pressure to fix it.

You may go days trying to look busy, then a report that takes a week to do will be given a deadline of C.O.B. Now you are sitting there until 9PM working, taking a toll on your body.

Then there are the backstabbing coworkers who try to throw you under the bus. A bad boss or colleague can make your days into a special type of hell. Combined this stress with the lack of exercise and “treats” you get, it is no wonder so many men are having heart attacks at such a young age.

Forced Indoctrination

More and more companies are forcing their propaganda down our throats. As additional college kids graduate the HR departments are turning into social justice wings of corporate America. The problem is, you accept this or leave. When did it become OK for a company to control our thoughts? I have taken 50 of those computer courses on diversity, sexual harassment, and gender. Now we have been trained so we can all walk on eggshells around our colleagues as to not say something offensive.

These are nothing more than someone pushing left wing politics on to their employees and customers. Starbucks used to sell coffee, now they want to have a conversation about race. The main culprits are a bunch of elitists at the top of the company combined with millennials trying to push society the way they want. These people seemed to forget what the purpose of a company is, and that is to make money for shareholders.

As a man you are now forced to accept the reality of the your employer or lose your livelihood. God forbid you admitted you were a conservative or your religious beliefs have you thinking that a penis makes you male. Your “white privilege” is showing if you disagree and it could be career killing. There is no better way to neuter a man than to make him betray his core values…this is what corporate life does to men.

It is a Purposeful Waste of Time

So much of our day could be wrapped up in about two hours. Let us face it in corporate life you are either racing to finish a project or wasting time to fill the void. The fact that so many have so little to do creates a class of employees obsessed with busy work.

Time is a valuable resource for a man. Yet how many useless company town hall events are we expected to attend? How many stupid corporate computer courses are we forced to take? People know when you are busy, yet they cram yet another meeting down your throat.

I feel like this is all planned, if you had down time, they cannot control you. Therefore, you are inundated with useless emails to read and respond to. We spend so much time doing busy work that we must stay late just to finished are needed responsibilities.

Worthless employees also do this to justify their own jobs. Let us face it you can probably fire half the people at a company (if you choose correctly) and not miss a beat in terms of profitability. Employees will run from meeting to meeting and send useless emails to show everyone that they are important. They drag you down the time-wasting bunny hole with them.

In a perfect world, you do the productive labor in the time it takes. Then the rest is up to you…you do not have some slob making up things to keep you busy.

They Control Your Life

A man is not free when his existence is dependent on a corporation. I found this out the hard way. Being cast aside in the worst recession of modern times is humbling. I gave the company control of my life and paid for it.

When you work for a company everything you do and say is under their foot. Post the wrong thing on social media? You lose your job. Want to take a two-week vacation? Ask permission like a child. So many people will not even use their paid leave because they feel obligated not to leave the office. Work for 50 years, never take a vacation…retire, die. Some life.

Even your free time is not your own. How many of you had to work during the weekend or went on a business trip where you were expected to sit with your boss after hours? Company events and happy hours are additional examples of how they take what little spare time you have left.

More and more these days companies want to have control over your freedom, what you say, think, and how you dress. If you depend solely on a company, you cannot control how much money you make. Like I said earlier, hard work does not equal more money. This is why they take so much of your time, if you had free time then you could work on something that makes you financially independent. Your independence is what they fear.

There are some companies that literally microchip their employees. These weak men allow themselves to be chipped like they are a dog. I guess if you already have been neutered then getting chipped is a simple step.

Conclusion: Corporate Life: Negatives and Risks for Men

If you are working in a corporation your focus needs to be on escape. Use them now for a livelihood, but you do not want to be living like this for the next 40 years. Build something yourself. Have some faith in your own abilities, find a path forward and keep working until you no longer need your company to survive.

The post Corporate Life: Negatives and Risks for Men appeared first on A Reinvented Man.

Why is it that too much socializing in the workplace can hurt you? There are many drawbacks from both a professional and personal standpoint if we socialize too much with coworkers. We risk upward professional movement by letting our guard down and take away from our personal lives by wasting time with people we work with.

It sounds counter intuitive to say that socializing in the workplace can hurt our careers in the long run. Anytime you present aspects of your personal life you allow the vultures and backstabbing coworkers to gain ammunition that can later be used against you.

It is important to distinguish between company sanctioned events with coworkers (Christmas parties, team building, etc..) and just general fraternizing in the workplace (casual conversations, random happy hours). Although there are different consequences for both, I personally think each should be limited. Below is how too much socializing in the workplace can hurt you.

General Socializing in the Workplace

I understand, the days in the office can be miserable. It is tempting to joke around with your work “friends” or talk for hours about Game of Thrones. Personally, I have seen too many situations where casual conversation in the office as bit someone in the rear.

Today more than ever we need to limit what we say in the office. I have been guilty of this, if the environment now were like this years ago, I probably would have lost my job a while back. Treating coworkers like friends in general is a bad idea. The below are the reasons why I believe we need to keep them at arm’s length.

Coworkers are not Friends

Please repeat after me…your coworkers are not your friends. If you get nothing else out of this post, I hope you remember this. No matter how much you joke with them, no matter how many hours a day you spend with them most will disappear after you are done working at the company. There maybe are a handful you see from time to time, but any close relationship you thought you had will have ended. If you are socializing with coworkers to make friends, you are wasting your time.

I have worked in the corporate environment for almost twenty years. I have may be one or two people that I would still consider a friend from the thousands I have met. Even those I may speak to once a month. Once you leave a company, you are forgotten. If you are laid off or worse fired, see how many happy hours you are invited to. These are fake friends out of convenience. Most likely these are not people you would voluntarily hang out with unless you are forced into the situation anyway.

You risk Making Enemies

Not only are coworkers not friends, but they can turn into adversaries. Say the wrong thing or not agree with left wing public opinion and you could find yourself being a target. Too much socializing in the workplace can allow a personal unpopular opinion to be revealed. This in turn can make people come after you professionally.

Why risk making yourself a target in this heavily PC environment? Especially in drinking situations. Have one too many cocktails and say the wrong thing, good luck explaining to your next potential employer why you are looking for a job. It is better to keep your head down and not say too much. You can drink and socialize with people you trust.

Wasting Time with Inferior People

They say you are a combination of your five closest friends. Most likely most people in the corporate environment are going to be your average Joes who have an obsession with football and television. They know nothing about politics or economics except what Facebook teaches them. These people are sheep. Do you want to be a part of the mindless herd? Excessively socialize with coworkers, you will soon have all their characteristics.

How about finding better friends? Better yet hang out with loved ones who enrich your life and not some phony pal who will rattle on about the Panthers third string quarterback.

Another option use your free time to start a side project so you can escape the hell of corporate life. Time is more valuable than money; you can waste it away with Jim from accounting or use it to try to move forward in your life. Too much socializing in the workplace can take away from living your life more richly.

It may Hurt Work Performance

Sitting around the office talking about BS can distract you from your actual job. Not that climbing the corporate ladder should be anyone’s goal, but if it is yours, then you may want to dial back any socializing at work. If you go too far, the joking around will be noticed. Some may act as if you do not take your job duties seriously. Your entire group can be typecast as slackers and moving around (or up) may be difficult. I know this from personal experience.

Company Sponsored Socializing

There is nothing worse than being forced into socialization by your boss. Usually these events are “recommended” using the term loosely. It is bad enough that you must spend 8-9 hours a day with these people, now you are compelled to go to events on your off time. Even something as simple as wasting my lunch break irks me to no end. Below is why planned socializing in the workplace will drain you mentally.

You End Up Talking About Work

Let us face it, when you are being forced to hang out with your boss and coworkers you will be speaking about work. That is not time off it is just a sneaky way for them to increase your workday. Lunch is for decompressing and research, not hanging out with colleagues and discussing spreadsheets.

It is better to spend one’s time after work thinking about anything but your job. This is especially true about events in the office, half the time you are still just working, only you have some stale supermarket cake in front of you. Really, what else are you going to talk to these drones about anyway?

You Must Be on Your Best Behavior

I cannot tell you how many reminders you will get when you either go to a work event or have one in the office that involves alcohol. Long drawn out emails about appropriate behavior are the norm. That is not time off for me, I want to be able to say and do what I please without feeling as if I am being monitored.

To avoid problems one usually, as mentioned, talks primarily about work. Or you discuss useless mind-numbing topics with sheeple who you cannot stand. I do not see any benefit from this kind of socializing with people. Even going to a casual team lunch takes away from my sanity.

Set Boundaries

I think it is important to start on the right foot with a company. Saying no often and early will help you set a needed precedent. I personally avoid going to work lunches or parties, whether it is company sponsored or not, because it is my time. Unless there is a cash prize to be won at a party, I am not attending. My time is too precious and short to just give to my employer and coworkers.

Conclusion: How too much socializing in the Workplace Can Hurt You

Whether it is in the office or at some sanctioned (or unsanctioned) offsite location there are few upsides to socializing in the workplace. In too many instances it takes away from the things that are important in life. Time is more valuable than money, spend it on what you value. You are not the property of the office, when the workday is done split from the people in your job. Do your work, be friendly, but leave the work colleagues behind when the day ends. Hang out with people that expand your life, not corporate drones that suck the energy from you.

The post How Too Much Socializing in the Workplace Can Hurt You appeared first on A Reinvented Man.

It does not matter what their motivations are, backstabbing coworkers can make life in an office hell. This is just one of the many reasons to get out of corporate America. So how do you deal with a backstabbing coworker? First, you must identify them, secondly you learn to avoid them, lastly you must expose them if need be.

One of the worse things about these rats is they are usually corporate hacks who kiss so much arse they need a lip replacement surgery by 40. If you are the new guy or you rub someone the wrong way your future employment may be in jeopardy. I have been there; this is how I have dealt with this problem in the past.

Identify a Backstabbing Coworker

The first thing you need to do is find out who these people are. Keep your ears and eyes open and one’s true nature will reveal itself. If your coworker continuously does one or more of the following you maybe dealing with a rat.

1. Gossips or Bad Mouths Others: If you have a coworker who is talking badly about someone else yet will not say it to their face, they are probably a backstabber. If this is what they are doing as soon as someone else walks away, what are they saying about you when you get up?
2. Sends Emails Complaining About Something You (or someone else) Did with EVERYONE CC’d in: This is one of my pet peeves. So many employees do this, they publicly point out an issue instead of talking to you in private. They are not interested in getting the problem solved, they want you to look bad.
3. Ambush People in a Team Meeting: If someone repeatedly points their finger at someone else in front of the team, this person is a backstabbing coworker. Once again it is not about results it is about trying to make someone seem incompetent.

Motivations to Be A Backstabber

A backstabbing coworker can have many reasons why they participate in this kind of behavior. Knowing their motivation will help you deal with them better. Today the office environment has some unique challenges, especially for men. One’s motivation for backstabbing can go far beyond getting ahead in a job.

1. Social Justice Warrior/Feminist: The workforce is all controlled by men, at least that is the lie we are being told. Some Women (and men) will befriend you then use information you reveal to get you fired. I have an example of this a little later. They may do this to get ahead or are simply part of a “movement”. Unfortunately, you can be fired with just an accusation these days.
2. The Ladder Climber: These people think that by making you look bad it will deflect from how poorly they are at their job. There is a sense they will be seen as a leader, so they point and criticize the mistakes of others. Of course, this type of backstabbing coworker will also be a huge arse kisser.
3. Jealousy or Just a Wretched Person: Some people are just wretched jerks who love drama. Many times, there is jealousy of your personal life or they are simply hateful. They may undermine someone in the office, getting others to follow suit. Once that person leaves (or is fired) they immediately move on to someone else. Their lives are miserable, so they go after others.

These are just a few of the motivations, but there are certainly more. A backstabbing coworker may not always make it known as to why they plot against you. It is important to note these people can be anyone, from a high up manager to an entry level employee. Expect all levels to come for you.

Dealing with a Backstabbing Coworker

Knowing the motivation of a backstabbing coworker can be helpful to nullify their behavior. Keep the below in the back of your mind and it can help you avoid any unnecessary issues in your career. For me, I am in corporate America to give me stability until I can live off my side income. Your motivation may be different, so we want to keep you employed as long as possible. Remember the below:

Coworkers Are Not Friends

With a few exceptions you need to keep this in mind, just because you are interacting with a coworker daily, this does not make them your friend. Too many times men let their guard down and invite trouble where there does not need to be any. I remember a man was in the office for about a month. Two girls befriended him, and he thought they were his buddies. One day they literally grabbed his phone from his hand to see a picture. They proceeded to look at other pictures (without his consent), some of which were a bit uncensored. These “friends” saw their me-too moment and got this man fired. This was his private phone, he received no trial or warning, just lost his job.

Keeping coworkers as coworkers avoids a lot of problems. Limit the personal information you give them, do not make jokes with them etc. Do not assume because they are starting a conversation that you can speak freely. People will use this sick PC environment to destroy the career of those who do not agree with them. Avoid giving them ammunition to do so. Be friendly, but not friends…there is a difference.

Document Everything

I like this strategy, because if used properly you can publicly put a backstabbing coworker in their place. Keep all the emails they send regarding whatever useless project they are discussing. More importantly anything spoken to you confirm via email. This way if they verbally tell you we have another week to finish that report, follow it up with a paper trail. When they attempt to throw you under the bus you can steer that bus on top of them. You may enrage them after this, but they will think twice before making you the target of their malice.

Be Helpful and Do Your Work

It is probably an obvious strategy to keeping a corporate backstabber at bay, but it bears repeating. When a person is looking for reasons to make you look bad, we cannot give them any. Many times, in the corporate world there are useless projects or reports that slip our mind. Too often this can come back to bite us. If you are in a busy period, at least have some answers as to where you are with any outstanding items (no matter how useless). It also is always a good idea to be helpful to everyone, including the backstabber. Pick up extra slack if you can. This is not to try to win them over, but it makes it harder for them to treat you like an enemy if they rely on you.

Confront Them Publicly

Like rats when you shine the light on them these people tend to back off scattering and stuttering. If someone is coming down on you in a meeting, come back at them with something like…”Karen, this is the third time you called me out on something minor, can you explain to me why you could not have just stopped by my desk? We sit 5 ft from each other”. Her name had to be Karen. This will make everyone aware of who they are dealing with. Also, others will applaud you, they may have been her victim in the past.

Ignore Them Until You Move On

I personally think every man’s goal should be to start a side project that will one day replace his income. This way you no longer must rely on a “safe” company paycheck and never have to worry about corporate Karen again. You need to keep these people at arm’s length until you move on, and it may not be worth even playing their game.

Even if you do not have a side income, you should be leaving a company every three to four years anyway, to maximize your salary. Sometimes it is better to deflect their efforts and keep your head down when you know you will be gone shortly.

Do Not Be A Backstabbing Coworker

It may be tempting sometimes in your career for you to play the game and become a corporate backstabber yourself. Shady behavior of this type is not conducive to being a man. When stuck in corporate America you will be a better person trying to lift others up rather than cutting them down. Be the change you want to see. I am not saying let others walk all over you with laziness. What I am saying is if you are all stuck in the rat race, help others when you can, do not hold them back. You will sleep easier and be a better man for it. Men do not grovel and hurt those who are weak, they use their strength to support others.

Conclusion on Dealing with a Backstabbing Coworker

Men have many reasons to try to escape corporate life. Still, certainly there are times you are stuck there. Until you sustain yourself with any side business you must play the game. Do not let the rats that come with work life risk your career and livelihood. Deal with them, but work so you do not have to.

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