The Lonely Office Glassdoor

Don’t trust the headlines: whether you’re a new graduate or a seasoned professional, the job market feels anything but robust. This week, inspired by a story from “Roland,” a recently-laid-off knowledge worker who finds himself receiving thoughts and prayers in lieu of offers on LinkedIn, we’re talking about the recession hitting white-collar workers—and how to make the most of it.

From the vault of The Lonely Office is one of our greatest hits—a horror story for the remote work era: going through endless rounds of interviews, wondering whether you’ve wasted your time. On this episode, we dive into a real 11-round-interview incident endured by one candidate named “Mike”. We’ll debate the risks and merits of a lengthy interview process, getting caught in the crosshairs of a company’s misaligned objectives, and whether it’s all a sign to get out of the corporate matrix. We’re also joined by special guest Azhar Usman, comedian and writer on the Hulu show, Ramy.

We’ve all worked with great communicators. On the one hand, they razzle and dazzle during presentations, woo the C-suite, rally the troops. On the other, they can overinflate their own achievements, and take credit where no credit was due. This week, inspired by the story of “Maria,” a flaky strategist who’s earned a reputation as a great actress at her company, we discuss the role of communication in the workplace, who it benefits, and how it might just be the key to future jobs in the age of AI.

As the unemployment rate for recent graduates climbs higher than the national average, qualified white-collar workers are turning to unlikely sources for their next job. This week, we discuss a sticky situation involving “Mark,” an Ivy League marketer, and his stint at a Canadian adult entertainment company. What are the moral implications of taking a job in a taboo industry, and how does it impact one’s career? And what exactly is responsible for the dearth of jobs? 

Have you ever been ghosted by an interviewer, only to be officially rejected a year later? That’s the story of Karen Young the recruiter. Hers is the inspiration for our episode this week, and in an unprecedented first, she’s also our special guest on the show. We discuss ghosting as an industry-wide plague, how to bring your humanity to these interactions, and the wider cultural phenomena at play.
Connect with Karen on Linkedin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/kareneyoung/

“Harold” is a disillusioned quiet quitter who finds himself impassioned to act after the House passed a bipartisan bill to ban TikTok. Harold represents some of the younger 175 million Americans fighting to keep the app around, whether as a source of information, entertainment or livelihood. On the other side of the generational divide, there are those who perceive TikTok to be, at best, an app drugging America's youth, and at worst, a means of surveillance for foreign adversaries. Why can't we agree on this ban, what might it mean for our freedom of speech, and what regulatory measures can we put in place to avoid it? That’s our conversation this week.