Why read Down and Out in the New Economy?

Book cover of Down and Out in the New Economy: How People Find (or Don't Find) Work Today

Book description

Finding a job used to be simple. You'd show up at an office and ask for an application. A friend would mention a job in their department. Or you'd see an ad in a newspaper and send in your cover letter. Maybe you'd call the company a week later to…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Down and Out in the New Economy as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Peter Cappelli

Author

There is an entire industry that talks very positively and upbeat about finding jobs, and we tend to think of job search as a good thing–good for people and good for organizations–that helps us grow and develop.

Ilana Gershon is an ethnographer, and she moved into groups of people trying to find new jobs. These aren’t the hot-shot computer nerds who happen to have the very specific skills in demand right now; they are average people looking for all the other jobs.

She finds the process is full of snake-oil advice (“find your superpower”!) and false optimism from pop-psychologists who…

From Peter's list on The best books if you hate your job and dread job hunting—here's what's wrong.