St. Patrick’s Day Friday Semi-Humorous Career Tips

Happy St. Patrick’s Day one and all!

Usually it’s Michael who’s trying to get you to laugh Friday morning. Today I have a couple of career tip articles that try to appeal to a certain type of sarcastic sense of humor, while still making serious points.
(Oops, I just realized Michael beat me to the punch with some really great stuff! No fair publishing for Friday before the stroke of midnight, buddy! ;-) )

Funny or not, here I come!

The articles are entitled:

“How to Get Fired”
“The Boss And You” (with links to the funny parts, “Seven Ways to Tick off Your Boss and Kiss Your Career Bye-Bye” and “How To Work For An Idiot “).

First up we have “How to Get Fired,” from About.com’s Career Planning Guide, Dawn Rosenberg McKay.

Great suggestions, like “Arrive late for work” and “Don’t ever go beyond your job description.”

The P.S. is useful, in case you don’t get her point: “P.S. If you came here looking for advice on how to stay employed, just do the opposite of everything I tell you here.”

Second, we have “The Boss And You,” by Scott Reeves at Forbes.com.

Full of great stuff, like:

“The smart employee understands the boss’s temperament and style.”
“Remember that your boss is under constant pressure from above and doesn’t need endless yammering from below.”
“Know when it’s wise to shut up and leave your boss alone.”
“No one, especially your boss, is perfect. Learn to work around your boss’s weak points or blind spots.”

But the best parts are “Seven Ways to Tick off Your Boss and Kiss Your Career Bye-Bye” and “How To Work For An Idiot “

The former describes various loser types, like “The Back Stabber” and “The Attention Grabber,” with somewhat funny cartoon sketches accompanying each.

The latter starts with this punch:

Idiot bosses exist only to stomp the life out of their intellectually superior and more innovative subordinates.
This keeps many good workers up at night. Some can’t figure out why their ideas are rejected and their work is denigrated. Others sink into cynicism about their careers. A few devote all their energy to plotting revenge against the dummy in the corner office.

Instead, use a little jujitsu: Turn your boss’s cluelessness to your advantage. Call it idiot engineering.

At the end, you’ll find a link to another little cartoon collection, this one of “idiot boss” types.

Photo credit: Mr. Greenjeans via flickr