Escape from Corporate America

One This Is Not Your Father's Job Market If you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work. Kahlil Gibran So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life. Ron Livingston as Peter Gibbons inOffice Space Some of the most seemingly successful corporate movers and shakers have a dirty little secret. They hate their jobs. Bob in Accounting is burned out and on the verge of going postalbetter stay away from the mailroom. Diane the VP of sales just got downsized for the second time in two years, and Ted the new marketing guy is counting the milliseconds until five o'clock. The corporate career path can be exciting, well paid, and highly prestigious. On the flip side, Corporate America can also feel like a creativity-destroying, soul-deadening maze of politics and bureaucracy. While some thrive in the rat race, others feel trapped. If you're sick of trying to conform to the corporate dress code, the corporate mind-set, and the corporate "culture," you're not alone. If you picked up this book, it's because there's a part of you that dreams of a career more fulfilling than your current nine-to-five rut. A little voice inside has been telling you that something has to change. So why haven't you made a break for it? Wiggling free from the golden handcuffs of a "good job" that's making you miserable isn't easy. The idea of walking away from a steady paycheck and health benefits can be terrifyingespecially if you're not 100 percent sure what you really want to do with your life. That's how millions get stuck in lives of quiet corporate desperation. But it doesn't have to be that way. You don't have to choose between cubicle slavery and abject poverty. Today there are plenty of job options beyond the corporate ladder. And there are plenty of waysboth practical and radicalto make the leap from a life of daily distress to a career that inspires you. I Hate My Job Recent surveys show that a record 50 percent of American workers are dissatisfied with their jobs and 80 percent fantasize about leaving their current gigs. Surprisingly, despite higher salaries and better benefits, corporate workers are more miserable than those in other types of jobs. Studies have revealed that employees of small companies are more than twice as satisfied as employees of large corporations. Meanwhile, free agents and entrepreneurs are even happier, with 87 percent reporting they are satisfied with their jobs. "Corporate America is not aligned with the needs and requirements of its increasingly diverse workforce, and radical changes in attitude mean that a growing number of young Americans are dissatisfied, disengaged, and unproductive," according to a report by researchers from The Concours Group, who conducted a survey of more than seven thousand U.S. workers. "Sometimes I fantasize about getting hit by a car," confides Dina P., a midlevel manager for a large financial services corporation. "Nothing too serious. Just bad enough that I have to miss work for a while." Of course, millions of people in other professions experience similar issues, but corporate types face unique challenges. After years of ascending the corporate ladder, most have attained a certain salary level and a certain degree of career success. Feelings of identity, self-worth, and belonging are all tied up in their job titles. TheySkillings, Pamela is the author of 'Escape from Corporate America', published 2008 under ISBN 9780345499745 and ISBN 0345499743.