My daughter wrote the book Earth Hates Me. Own It! Please.

More layoffs. More people struggling. More chipping away at our souls. For those of us, like me, who are freelancing and in-between paychecks, it is a brutal time. I have a lot of friends in the same position, wondering, who, who out there is going to hire, is going to respond, is going to join forces. So I’d like to offer some challenges for those of us who are in sitting in offices with job security and health insurance. I’d like you to know that you have the power to change a person’s life. And that, that is a special gift you have at the moment.

1. Be Mindful. When I worked at Fuse (best job ever), I got daily requests from vendors and freelancers looking for work. I made it a point to answer every email, whether it was to welcome the opportunity to showcase their work or to tell the inquiring mind that I appreciated the reach out but I had nothing available. I knew how difficult it was to reach out, I knew how much pride was at stake and I knew that if someone was networking, it was because they needed work. So. Answer the emails. Even if it means telling the person that you can’t help them.
2. Be Open. Recently, I applied for a job that I could do with aplomb. I didn’t have a particular keyword in my tool kit; this prompted the recruiter to dismiss me, outright, even in our conversation. In general, resumes are designed to market a person’s abilities in one page. But there is always so much more to that page, to that person. When you’re reviewing a resume, know that that person has so much to offer you as a hiring manager and the role you are planning to fill. Be open to meeting that person face-to-face. Be open to knowing that if you dig a little deeper, you can find something rich and fulfilling in that person.
3. Pay It Forward. There will be a time when you too are looking for work. The people who will remember you will be the people you helped in their time of need. And their staffs too. Everyone remembers the supervisor that changed their lives, that influenced them in some manner, that supported them. You are most likely that person. And you will always be remembered for being awesome. And that, that will help you too.
4. The Power of Yes. Yes, it seems like everyone wants something from you. You were once a person who needed something from someone—a job—and were hired because someone said YES to you, either early in your career or in the position you have now. That you can say YES is a tremendous and special power. Use it for good. The good of giving someone a chance to shine, to be employed.
5. Oh, Those Shiny Objects. And when you hire, open yourself up to everyone, not simply the people brandishing the shield of a coveted demo. Experience goes a long way, and those that have been working for a decade or so know how to conduct themselves in an office environment, know how to support a staff, know how to be accountable for the work they do. In today’s world, being accountable will go a long way to making you look like the genius you are.

So those are my challenges to you. Keeping yourself open to the people looking for work is not easy, but it buy you a lot in the long term: peace of mind, and somewhere down the line, a job available to you when you finally need one.

Have a great weekend!

Marcelle Karp

What I want for the Holidays:

What I Want, Jill Platner.

Amber Ruffin, as always, on it.

bell hooks: “I think romance has the total different feeling of “it’s easy, it comes and goes,” so I think that people would rather settle for a counterfeit of love than to actually do the work of love. Because the work of love is first and foremost about knowledge and knowing a person. It is not easy to get to know somebody. You don’t get to know somebody in a minute.”

Patrice Tanaka: “So my purpose in life is to choose joy in my life every single day, to be mindful of that joy and to share that joy with others.”

Jessica Bennett: “I see gender as a lens through which we view global storytelling. So that certainly means writing about feminism and women’s roles in politics and culture and economics, but it also means covering masculinity and sexuality and gender fluidity and race and class and looking at science and health and parenting and sport all through this lens.”

Ellen Ullman: “One of the things I hope for is that we’re able to open more doors for people like you and people like me, who come from varied backgrounds and bring different concerns into what’s going on.”

Gail Collins: “We truly could be seeing a new wave of feminist reform.”

Check out my interview with musician Cindy Alexander!

Having fun, later in our lives, is an actual reality.

Should you buy a vibrator for your consensual sexual partner?

And now have a laugh with Aparna Nancherla.

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