Linda Nelson

When an Employee should keep their mouth shut or stay off Facebook

Image courtesy of creative commons license By: db Photography | Demi-Brooke – CC BY 2.0 via flickr.com

There are those on Facebook who will post just about anything and wonder why it comes back to bite them in their ass. The ones who do this all the time appear to forget that their posts are visible to the world. Nothing is private when it comes to the internet. When are they going to learn this? If you want a private site – don’t friend anyone. That’s private.

I’ve seen those who will get their job back and turn around a few days later and begin bashing their employer. Get real. Do they really think that none of this is going to get back to any of their bosses?

They claim free speech. Would the individual like it if employers began posting on Facebook about how slow of a worker they were or how incompetent they were in their job? I think not. But these people will post about their employer regardless and wonder why they are terminated.

Maybe businesses should claim free speech and make similar posts. Let’s see how these people fare in the job market afterward when all their crap is out there for future employers to see.

Yup, so and so, showed up late again for work. They never work a full week and wonder why they never make their deadline. They’ve never finished on time. How many days off can they take in a month? Is it possible to be out 8 days a week?

My favorite – If they worked any slower, they’d be going backward.

I could come up with many more things an employer could say about their employees.

How about, if your hands worked as fast as your mouth, you’d get your work done on time.

People need to think before they post their vents on social media. Every finger point at your boss will lead to ten pointing back at your faults of imperfect job performance.

Over six month ago I faced a life-changing event called unemployment. It was a terrible dilemma to face after working for the same company for almost ten years. The longer a person is employed by a corporation, the more they begin to focus on the little benefits they can take advantage of that is there for those who are dedicated to their work. But when that moment comes along and yanks those sought after benefits away, you begin to ask why?

Why did I stay so long if this was going to happen to me?

Did I just waste ten years of my life for nothing?

Image courtesy of creative commons license By: Eli Christman – CC BY 2.0 via flickr.com

I hate being pessimistic. I’m optimistic. So I took full advantage of the unemployment services and paid attention to those we were to report to once a month for that monthly meeting. When the employment counselor said that I had become unemployable, that hurt. I had all that experience and nothing to show for any of it. Were all those core competencies I had learned been in vain?

Apparently, I had obtained more skills than I knew. This I learned when I went back to school and was questioned what I wanted to do with my life. Here I am, six months later reflecting on what I have learned from my Career and Image class.

All those years, as George Martin quoted to Jon Snow, “You know nothing,” I learned that I know more than I thought I knew. All those things I took for granted as skills that everyone must have, but don’t.

My unemployment experience has made me make the decision to bridge the gap in my employment skills. This gap wasn’t as wide as I once thought it to be. My journey in education is exciting, more so than I had ever dreamed of it to be. I may not have the time I once had to do all the things I want to do, but this will change. I only need to give up about six years of my life to dedication to my education.

In the meantime, I can’t cut off my writing career. There appears to be a bridge between having enough time and no time. How odd.

The more time I had on my hands, the less I wanted to write. The less time available, the more I am dying to put words to white screen.

Journeys are nothing more than wandering paths of crossing rivers, streams, and mountaintops. I recently crossed that bridge and now I hope my path will lead me to the peak of Mount Works of Satisfaction. It will be a long hike to the top, but I know I can make it all the way with determination and discipline, and any encouragement I find along the way.