Flawed System/Flawed Self: Job Searching and Unemployment Experiences

Bravo Professor Sharone!! He hit a grand slam with this book! I am so glad that someone out there finally got it right! His research into the exact experiences of the older white collar long-term unemployed trying to find work in the U.S. (as well as in Israel) is spot on.As of this writing, I am a 49-year-old unemployed engineer who has been out of work for over 7 years (long story there). The unbearable feelings of loss, loneliness, betrayal, and emotional trauma that I have experienced throughout my working life from my job losses are validated and verified in his research and interviews with other unemployed workers. My only constructive criticism of the book is with Chapter 1. It deals with mostly many previous theories of other authors which I found a bit too heavy in the wording, like reading a bunch of legalese. However, once I got to Chapter 2 and thereafter, I found the reading so much more understandable and useful. It took me many hours spread out over ~2 weeks to finish the reading because of the emotional response the rest of the book gave me. The sense of our flawed inner selves in the U.S. (self-blame), the sense of a flawed system in Israel (system blame), and the similarity of the U.S. blue collar unemployed worker experiences to the Israeli white collar unemployed worker experiences are an eye-opener for me. One point I would like to make in regards to the inner self-blame is that I also have received so much external blame from others due to my plight, which are the major contributors to my feelings of worthlessness and shame. I wonder if other research subjects received this same external blame, since Professor Sharone did not really mention this.The very last three sentences in the last chapter mention of how we can change the institutions that cause these unemployment experiences. I have my doubts there, because once the powerful minority hierarchy in the corporate world have that power, they will never let go of the system that is rigged in their favor, and leaves the rest of us completely screwed. I honestly believe that nothing can be done to change the institution as it is constructed now, and I am doomed to a lifetime of sadness and failure. Maybe Professor Sharone and his research team can figure out how to revolutionize the job market and the corporate structure, so that all those people who want to have a productive career and working life, leading to a complete, fulfilled life, can authentically do so.Nevertheless, all professional people, from workers to CEOs, to career counselors, to mental health counselors, to university professors, must buy and read this book.

Great read.