Sweet Sammy — the ambitious backstabber

Jobs Will Be Job One For New President

BY JOHN A. CHALLENGER
OUTLOOK: POST-ELECTION JOB CREATION

Jobs are on the forefront of many Americans’ minds going into this election season, especially job seekers. Each candidate promises to enact policies that will help ignite a recovery and new job growth, but where that growth occurs will depend heavily on who wins in November.

A McCain win will likely mean job gains in oil and gas, aerospace/defense, nuclear engineering, insurance, automotive and financial services.

Meanwhile, an Obama win could help spur job growth in education, telecommunications, manufacturing, alternative energy industries and construction.

It is impossible to say which future president will succeed in delivering an economic recovery and job growth, primarily because so many other factors will play a role in determining the outcome of their policy initiatives. All we can forecast now is where the job growth should be, based on each candidate’s policy objectives and priorities. For example, Obama has stated his intention of funding more research associated with alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power. Meanwhile, McCain wants to lower our dependence on foreign oil by tapping our own resources and relying more on nuclear energy.

I’m a cookie monster on my own birthday!?

Dear Office-Politics,

I work in an office where there is a double standard. I feel as if I am being “picked on” by the boss (who is old enough to be my mother). It has been going on for a long time; I won’t bore you with past details. My most recent frustration came when “Boss” blindsided me with a “Can I see you in my office?” email.

Back story – “Boss” was out of the office for 3 days, so our dept Lead was in charge. The “Lead” was stressed, screaming at her computer/e-mail, slamming things on her desk, etc. while in charge. When I asked the lead a question that I knew she would have an answer to, she replied with, “I don’t know,” and a bad attitude. Needless to say, I had to call someone who used to work with us to get the information. Lead’s behavior/attitude caused added stress unto me and others, so I copped an attitude back.

So, when I went into Boss’ office, I was told that my attitude was unacceptable and my behavior (i.e. slamming things on my desk, sighing, making minor comments, etc.) was a distraction to everyone in the dept and did not make for a good environment. The day after I was reprimanded, I heard the Lead scream at her computer, “Oh, great. Thanks _____, thanks for telling me that NOW that I’ve processed your damn order.” The Lead has continued to exert the same behavior/attitude that I was reprimanded for, yet she has not been reprimanded as it still continues to this day.

Am I being demoted?

Dear Office-Politics,

I’ve been working in this new field that I really like for the past 6 months and according to my boss “performing very well”. However, one of my experienced teammates resigned and will be replaced by a very senior person who will take on a “supervisory role” – nice way to say I’ll be demoted.

When I confronted my manager with this, she said it was more a “coaching role” than an actual supervision and no additional layers will be added to the structure of the department (which I find hard to believe). My other teammate is also confirming my doubts.