Author Biography | Full-Length Samples
workplace911
by Bob Rosner
workplace911, a weekly Q&A column by Bob Rosner combines attitude and information to help people come up with their own solutions to work-related problems and concerns. The column offers advice for everyone who has ever looked for, held, or lost a job. For more than a decade, award-winning journalist and best-selling author Bob Rosner has delivered thoughtful and actionable guidance to millions of Americans with workplace challenges in his column. He offers practical advice in a light, breezy tone that helps demystify the complexities of the contemporary office. workplace911 fields questions like, "How do you criticize someone at work?" and "How do you deal with information overload?" Readers e-mail questions directly to Rosner, and he answers them in his trademark “three do’s and a don’t” format with well-researched information, while also offering additional sources of reference.
Rosner is a unique workplace authority. He has personally responded to over 50,000 e-mails from employees, bosses and entrepreneurs. He's written two best-selling business books, The Boss's Survival Guide and Gray Matters: The Workplace Survival Guide. He is a nationally recognized observer of workplace trends who has been featured in People, The Wall Street Journal, Fortune and Glamour and as a regular contributor to the "Today" show, NPR, CNN, CNBC, Fox, "60 Minutes," "Good Morning America" and many others. He's conducted more than 500 workplace surveys at ABCnews.com.
Current Samples
September 8th, 2010
Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2010 United Feature Syndicate
WORKPLACE911
Keep your friends close and your enemies closer -- career strategies
By Bob Rosner
Let's face it, for many of our parents a career was simple. Start doing something when you're young and do it until you retire. Today, careers are much more complicated. Most of us will have multiple careers before we're done. Which reminds me of when German police reported that a couple of hungry pigs digging for food found a long-buried World War II anti-tank weapon. They found the single shot "panzerfaust" on private land, just south of Dresden, more than 65 years after the end of the war.
Just as those pigs made an amazing discovery after digging, you too need to keep digging when it comes to your career. Chances are if you keep networking and exploring your options, you'll unearth something just as amazing, an incredibly satisfying career. I've included three Dos and one Don't to help keep you hungry and your career on ...
September 1st, 2010
Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2010 United Feature Syndicate
WORKPLACE911
GRASP -- the negotiation process, explained
By Bob Rosner
Anyone who is a regular reader of this column knows that I'm a big fan of everyone at work becoming a better negotiator. Which reminds me of when a New Bedford, Mass., substitute teacher was taken to a hospital after drinking tainted iced coffee. As you can imagine, school officials were very concerned about the safety threat to its staff. Well they had to look no further than the substitute teacher himself. According to police, it turns out that 27-year-old Chad Wunshel was depressed about breaking up with his girlfriend and apparently admitted to tainting his own drink. Police charged him with filing a false police report.
This substitute teacher was too focused on his own needs as opposed to those of his students, police or hospital staff. And that is the same mistake that many of us make during negotiations, we don't put enough effort into lea ...
August 25th, 2010
Wednesday, Aug. 25, 2010 United Feature Syndicate
WORKPLACE911
Pay attention to what's going on around you
By Bob Rosner
We all face a ton of challenges each day at work, and it's easy to get buried by them. Which reminds me of a friend's story from a recent job fair. He was standing on line preparing in his own head the answers to questions he thought he'd be asked by the recruiter. And then suddenly he realized that if he just listened to the people ahead of him in line, he would know exactly what would be asked. Even better, he could watch the recruiter's face to learn what responses were working and what responses weren't working.
I know our moms taught us to not listen to other people's conversations, but there are plenty of times when listening makes everything easier. That's why I've listed three Dos and one Don't for learning how to be a better listener. For more, check out "Getting to Resolution" by Stewart Levine (Berrett Koehler, 2009).
-- DO be pres ...
August 18th, 2010
Wednesday, Aug. 18, 2010 United Feature Syndicate
WORKPLACE911
It's all about me: Listing your accomplishments on your resume
By Bob Rosner
Many people struggle with how to clearly document their expertise and accomplishments on their resume without boasting or appearing to be conceited. This reminds me of when a Florida high-school freshman bet his Spanish teacher that the student would wear the same pair of shoes to school each day until graduation. Well, it's now four years later and the student's toes stick out the front of the shoes, but Ben Hedblom is on track to win his bet. And his Spanish teacher will have to shave his hair and eyebrows to hold up his end of the deal.
Four years in the same shoes -- OK, most of us don't have such a spectacular accomplishment on our resume. Not even close. But most of us do have many impressive things that potential employers should know about. The key is how to communicate it. I've included three Dos and one Don't below to ...
August 11th, 2010
Wednesday, Aug. 11, 2010 United Feature Syndicate
WORKPLACE911
99-ers: Dealing with friends who've exhausted their unemployment insurance
By Bob Rosner
With the stock market and corporate profits slowly returning, it is easy to believe that the worst of the recession is behind us. Unfortunately, that is not the case for millions of people who have used 99 weeks of unemployment but still can't find a job. The New York Times branded these people the "99-ers." Which reminds me of Mark Seamands, of Port Angeles, Wash., who was accused of second-degree assault for the hot-iron branding of his three kids. However, the kids testified to the judge that they not only consented to the branding, but that they thought it was cool to have "SK" (for Seamands kids) tattooed on them. You just can't make this stuff up.
People who've used up their unemployment insurance also feel branded. These people lost jobs, savings and their dignity. That's why it's the job of the rest of us to prov ...
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