Five ways to be better prepared for a job layoff

Of all the things I wanted to be considered an expert in, being unemployed wasn’t one of them.

Since my cut in mid-July and the subsequent collapse in the economy (of which state leaders and finance experts have blamed on me), I’ve been contacted by old friends and acquaintances who have aired their own concerns about possibly getting laid off. In the past month alone, two friends got the pink slip and unfortunately, I think there are more to come. Good people are losing their security every day and you could be next – happy holidays.

But maybe you’re bulletproof and maybe you don’t have to worry about losing your job. If that’s the case, it’s always good to review what’s going on with your professional life in the case that you do or are thinking about leaving your gig.

Here’s five suggestions I have based on my experiences, both pre and post layoff. Some of these you may be doing, some of these you may be doing not so well and worse, some of you might not be doing any of these.

Waving good-bye to MTV’s TRL, part of our youth

I was surprised to read last week that MTV’s afternoon staple – Total Request Live – came to an end with a three-hour finale last Sunday. Perhaps coinciding with the seemingly-impending death of music videos, the show’s end truly marks the end of an era for myself and millions others that grew up watching it.

Actually, ‘grew up’ might be a little much as the show debuted in September of 1998 while I was entering my junior year of college. Still, it was a staple of my 20s (god, I feel old saying that) and provided a look into the world of pop music for more than 10 years, better or worse.

Carson Daly owes his career to TRL and now has a late-night talk show on NBC. Eminem and Kid Rock really came to form on TRL, as did a bunch of boy bands and their spinoffs, Britney, Christina and others. It was a proving ground for how well a band was marketed, what was hot and was the perfect ‘This is what we are’ show for MTV and the teen audience they pulled in. But after 2,247 episodes and a decade on air, TRL is now done.

About Last Night: What Obama’s Win Means For All Of Us

Publicly supporting a presidential candidate in such a polarizing campaign like this can be tough. If you’re

Barack Obama: the next President.

discussing who you like with someone that agrees, it’s a lot easier conversation than with someone that doesn’t…and man, this was a very difficult time to choose one way or another.

From The Vault: Looking Back At Homecoming

As I’m relaxing and reminiscing after a somewhat tame UMaine homecoming, a post I did a few years ago popped into my head. From October of 2006, enjoy this post from the JoshNason.com vault:

Home(coming) is where the beer is

“It’s good to be home.” – myself to a friend at Pat’s Pizza this past Saturday at ’round 5 pm.

If you went to college (or a really cool high school), you know about the word Homecoming. It’s a pretty simple theory: people want to return to a place where they spent a favorable portion of time. For most, college is it. I mean, c’mon. You spend four, five or even seven years at an institution based on learning but really, learning is just as much outside the classroom as it is inside. It connects people and helps them figure out who they are, or at least, where they’re starting out the adult part of their life.

For the rest of the post, click here.

Unloading October’s shipment off the update truck

Good. Lord.

I don’t think I’ve ever cranked out this much content in my life…the only problem is that nearly none of it has been here. On the other side of my ever-growing media universe, I write and maintain two sports blogs and an email marketing blog, in addition to a fun new side project with my buddy Ben on comics. I write and write and write, so it’s time to give y’all some updates.