This is the third time in my life that I've experienced a boss quitting. The first time it happened I was in shock but also very excited as that boss was not the greatest to say the least. The second time I was just surprised (I had only been hired three months before). The third time happened recently. My emotions about it aren't mixed. I just genuinely feel sad and a bit worried. This person is a friend but also a really valuable employee and I doubt it'll be easy to replace her. Part of me wants to ask her to reconsider, give us another chance, have a talk ... but then I know that once a resignation is in, it's final. There’s no going back.

This summer has been a summer of breakups for me. An unusual number of family members and friends ended their relationships, or at least attempted to. I've spent lots of time on the phone talking to dumpees or dumpers about how the other person was thinking, doing, coping. And, in a way, I want to talk to my most recent former boss to find out what went wrong and tell her how I'm coping, although I know that, unlike a romantic breakup, there will be no hard feelings and I'll even feel hopeful and excited for her. And, unlike being a romantic breakup survivor, I'm interested in knowing where she's going to go next -- not because I want to burn that place down -- no, I just want to sincerely wish her all the best.

Finally, because of the high standards she has set, I now know what having a good boss is like and I know that just because you have the title it doesn't mean that you have the skill. I thought I'd never experience working for a good boss -- I come from a long tradition of working for [beep]holes -- but then I have, with her. So after working with Josée, I can tell you today that a good boss is someone who listens, treats you equally, offers advice and guidance, but also considers your input to be important and puts time and effort into getting to know the people he or she works with. A good boss is knowledgeable, resourceful and easy to approach. Losing a good boss is a bit like a heartbreak -- I may never completely get over this one; she's the one who got away and just spoilt me for the future ones.

Jowita

No comments yet. Start the conversation.

The other day I was at Sick Kids hospital with my kid and I tried to put on a brave face as dozens of kids in wheelchairs and with IVs, bald heads and bruised eyes passed by. I couldn't help but notice the little boy curled up in a chair in the waiting room, looking way too familiar with the surroundings or the wispy-haired girl who wouldn't smile and clung onto her mom.

Then a clown girl showed up with a ukulele. She slumped down on the floor and started to sing things she obviously just made up on the spot -- her voice wavered all over the place and she couldn't play her ukulele at all. But she played on and sang off key and rolled her eyes and commented on kids' outfits and such, and joked and made funny sounds, and all the little feet pattered over to her and soon she was surrounded by a big crowd of kids. It included the sad girl who was now smiling a little and, of course, my son who I suspect is a bit of a clown himself.

We came home that day with cautiously good news about our son. After I put him to bed, I Googled "clowns" and "Sick Kids" and learned about the Therapeutic Clown Program. It's a job! And, despite appearances, the job does not just involve clowning around: according to The Canadian Association of Therapeutic Clowns, it's a regulated position with specific training that is abided by a code of ethics. In the article Clowning at Sick Kids Lucia Cino, manager of the clown program, explained how the work is done: "Therapeutic clowns are not entertainment clowns. In the hospital environment, therapeutic clowns at Sick Kids work solo with patients and partners who lead the play. Patients decide if, when, how and where this safe play will occur, empowering the children when they feel least empowered."

I don't know how these clowns are able to deal with such depth of misery that is a sick child but I have nothing but admiration for them. In the short documentary Prescribing Play, Teegan Jones (Rose, the clown) said that it's only the moment that matters and that all you have to focus on is what you do now, even if it's something as seemingly trivial as a twirling around with a little girl. There's no point of thinking that the same little girl is in palliative care -- all you need to do is make that day special for her. It was actually Rose that played ukulele for the kids when we were there. Despite the stress of being there, she certainly made our day at the hospital special.

Jowita

No comments yet. Start the conversation.

After being laid off from my full-time job in early 2009, I ended up being unemployed for a big chunk of that year. Because I'm extremely self-disciplined, I would set my alarm every morning and try to be at my desk (at home) by around 9:30 a.m. I treated my job hunt like an actual job (as the experts say you should). But after months of acting out what felt like a charade, I was getting demoralized. I'd applied for, like, a gazillion jobs, had been on a handful of fruitless interviews and, by the end, couldn’t quite remember what I had to offer a potential employer. On top of all that, when I mentioned to a new acquaintance that I was unemployed, she joked about how she wished she were in my position and didn't have to go to work. I felt like punching her in the face.

Let's face it: unemployment is no picnic. But when things are at a breaking point, it just might be time to go on a picnic to get away from it all. As Cindy Krischer Goodman reveals in an article in The Miami Herald, taking time away from your job search can ease your stress levels and do wonders for your mental health. So why not take a Friday off or go for a mid-week fishing trip? (Just remember that if you're on Employment Insurance, you're expected to spend your weekdays looking for work. So don't skip off for a little vacation without notifying Service Canada first.)

And while you're walking your dog through the park or standing in line at the movies, take advantage of any networking opportunities that pop up. Who knows? While casting your fishing line and chatting up lakeside acquaintances, you might end up catching more than fish.

Veronica

No comments yet. Start the conversation.

Quitting suddenly and creatively is already being referred to as "pulling a Jet-Blue" in reference to former Jet-Blue Airline attendant Steven Slater.

If I were to pick one place (out of a few) that would cause me to pull a Jet-Blue à
la Steven, or another recent famous quitter, Jenny, it would have to be the publishing company I worked for three years ago. In fact, when this letter surfaced, many former colleagues and people familiar with the magazine wrote to ask if that was the magazine I worked for. The former colleagues and I concluded that it wasn't, despite many similarities. We too had to deal with barely literate editors, bizarre office politics, serious abuse of power, and a horny -- albeit quite charming -- company president. For weeks now, magazine people in Canada have been racking their brains trying to figure out which publication the letter writer worked for.

Today, I'm closer to believing that it was a hoax as nobody's been able to figure it out despite so many people following the case. At the same time, it doesn't really matter if it's true or not -- what matters is that the letter proves that something needs to change in how we work with others. As fun and heroic as all those quitting stories seem, behind them are people who have to put up with stress and abuse. There are thousands of people out there still who will continue to put up with poor working conditions because they don’t have the temperament or the means to throw in the towel and scream: screw this.

Some of my former colleagues quit on the verge of nervous breakdowns and more than two were mistreated till the absolute last minute of working there. I quit with another job lined up but it took every bit of sanity to keep my head from exploding before I left. And to this day I find myself stumped when I think back about what went on and also remember the countless times when I was ready to just get up from my desk and walk straight through the succession of glass doors, never looking back.

Jowita

No comments yet. Start the conversation.

A recent account of employee rage reads like the beginning of a satirical novel: "He got on the intercom, let loose a string of invective, pulled the lever that activates the emergency-evacuation chute and slid down, making a dramatic exit not only from the plane but, one imagines, also his airline career. On his way out the door, he paused to grab a beer from the beverage cart. Then he ran to the employee parking lot and drove off, the authorities said."

Earlier this year, I met a woman who has worked as a flight attendant for 15 years. She said that one of the hardest aspects of her seemingly glamorous job is dealing with horrible customers. She said that good manners often seem to get checked in with the baggage and she's had more than a few moments where she almost snapped.

Recently, I was on a plane and experienced some awful flier behaviour -- mine and others'. Mine stemmed from being the token parent with a screaming toddler. There isn't much you can do when a pit-bull-sized human boy tries to frantically and incessantly eject himself from your lap but to hold him as tightly as you can in the vice of your arms. So I was that parent and he was that kid. And the tighter I held him, the louder he screamed.

The other bad fliers were the people who complained to flight attendants (and later the ground airport personnel) about having to change planes and the flight being delayed. I'm looking at you, pretty family of five with well-dressed parents. Upon shaky landing and unexpected plane change, the dad announced repeatedly to everyone how great this was, just [beeping] great. Then, once on the ground, the mom stomped over to the boarding desk and proceeded to very loudly let the woman at the desk know -- JUST TO LET HER KNOW -- how dishonest she was for not telling her when the next plane was going to be (because I'm sure the woman knew having just shown up for her shift 10 minutes prior ... yeah, right).

Flying is still a relatively new way of traveling and many people are new to it, but does it really give us excuse to act crazy? I'm not surprised that the flight attendant snapped and although I'm happy to read that he doesn't regret getting fired I think that he was simply a victim of nightmare customers. My 14-month-old can be easily excused. The 40-something mom and dad? Not so much.

Jowita

No comments yet. Start the conversation.

For years now we've been hearing about internships that don't pay students, use them to do menial, unrelated tasks and even require that the applicants pay for their placement. Karen* (see Poss Exclusive: One Intern Reveals the Truth!) didn't have to pay a penny to work at the Royal Academy of Arts but there were some major challenges that have made her experience somewhat frustrating. Here she outlines things she didn't like about her internship:

• Reports! Writing reports is tedious.
• Applying theory to work. Sometimes theory is hard to apply. Things happen and you cannot go by the measures of a textbook to explain them.
• I found getting involved difficult. It's hard to network when you're just thrown into a situation and expected to become personable and chatty.
• Making sure people take you seriously and give you a combination of practical and research-based tasks. Know what you need to make it a successful internship and don't be afraid to ask for it.

Karen found the actual process of looking for internship quite challenging, too, and the actual placement a little disillusioning. She says, "The frustrating aspect of this entire thing was the realization that people may not want your free work. The idea sounds awesome -- in theory -- but the reality is that even if you want to work for free it will cost you a lot of time and effort including countless applications, references, interviews and so on." She says that after coming to Royal Academy she realized that there was no guarantee that she'd get to do what she needs to do to get specific experience.

Overall, however, Karen seems to be happy with her experience and says that it taught her one extra lesson she never expected to learn: "Finding an internship was an eye-opener to the realities of the working world. I can only worry about how hard it is going to be to get a job with a salary," she says.

Either way, as hard as it all seems to be, I think nothing beats getting home via a double-decker bus.

Jowita

(*Not her real name -- she asked to protect her privacy as the internship is still going on.)

No comments yet. Start the conversation.

Karen*, a 23-year-old Canadian student, works for one of the top art institutions in the world: the Royal Academy of Arts (RA). She had applied to a few places and never counted on even hearing back from her first choice despite being a top student. When she did hear -- they wanted her -- she squealed in delight (her words), arranged a flat rental, booked her ticket and off she went.

Two months into the internship we checked with her to find out how things are working out.

What does she like about her internship?

• Being invited to awesome events. I have only gone to a handful of events but they were great for meeting people.
• I do what I want. I walk into my office, do some work and then I can go have lunch and walk around. The freedom given with doing free work can be good.
• The location is awesome! Being situated in the heart of London is amazing. There are galleries and auction houses everywhere. Sotheby's and Christie's anyone? It is important to consider where you will be placed for your internship. Even if things do not work out and it gets boring, if you are in an awesome place then you can make up for it.
• What's in a name? Considering the name of the institution and the reputation is important.
• Working in a medium-sized institution means I got to dabble in the entire Collections Department. A smaller museum would likely mean more tasks and a larger one would translate into more focused tasks.
• I was able to combine my internship with the chance to make my own work (a print). I am working on an edition and I get to put up a work in the staff exhibition at the RA. The fact that I can build my artist CV while pursuing a museum studies degree is amazing.

Sounds great but there must've been some things that annoyed her, no? Yes! Tune into our next and final installment.

Jowita

(*Not her real name – she asked to protect her privacy as the internship is still going on.)

No comments yet. Start the conversation.

Internships are meant to teach young people about the work environment they're interested in. And, hopefully, they put theoretical knowledge into practice and test all the assumptions people may have about their goals. So it makes sense that internships would be accessible and should at least partially reflect what a person wants to do for living. Sadly, according to Summer Interns: Few Jobs, Modest Pay, Less Partying, working as an intern means little (or no) pay coupled with menial and often unrelated tasks. Occasionally, applicants even have to pay for their placement.

I was always encouraged to get experience in fields that I wanted to work in. First, during my undergrad Psych degree, I volunteered as a counselor for a distress centre and discovered I was not cut out to deal with people's mental health issues. It was a gratifying experience but I just wasn't that committed to it. Second, I worked at a small-town paper as their Arts & Culture reporter on a very short stint, which, in turn confirmed that I enjoyed telling more than listening.

In both cases, it was the hands-on experiences that gave me a glimpse of what my possible working environment could be like and I'm grateful for it. Over the years, I volunteered and interned at many other places, using what I learned to deduct what worked and what didn't. For example, I couldn't spend a whole day on the phone dealing with people; I needed quiet time. I couldn't do data entry for long periods because I needed variety. I dealt amazingly well with deadlines, however, and produced a lot in a short period of time. I learned all of this by actually doing it.

This is what I think internships are meant to do. I'm curious to find out if things really have gotten so dire -- is it really all about making coffee, copying papers and being broke? Tune into our next two blogs to read about one Canadian intern's experience working for the Royal Academy of Arts in London, England.

Jowita

No comments yet. Start the conversation.

During Toronto's recent heat wave, I didn't once turn the stove on in my apartment-turned-inferno. I figured if I couldn't stand the heat, I'd just stay out of the kitchen. But not everyone gets the choice.

One sweltering morning, on my way to my air conditioned office, I was riding the streetcar through Parkdale and passed Yummy Stuff Bakery, whose front door was wide open. As I sat perfectly still and continued to profusely perspire, I began to wonder what it's like to work a full day in the heat.

As you might imagine, doing "hot" jobs during a heat wave is no fun. Pavers, roofers, construction workers, dry cleaners, bakers and firefighters (amongst others) are practically playing with fire during heat advisories. Without taking proper precautions, like drinking lots of fluids and taking reprieve in cooler areas every hour or so, workers run the risk of developing heat stroke.

The Montreal Gazette reports that the City of Toronto suspended road work during the unbearable flare up, while Montreal road crews were forced to toil on in the scorching heat. And, while several construction companies allowed employees to leave early, some workers were hesitant to do so since they'd lose out on pay.

A friend who plants trees throughout the city of Toronto told me that during the heat wave her crew would start at 6 a.m. and finish at noon, although even working those hours was trying. Outside of calling in "hot," if you’re stuck working outdoors, your best bet is to take it easy and try to keep cool.

Veronica

No comments yet. Start the conversation.

At least five times a day I get a message in my inbox that begins like this: "Hey bud!! Do you want a superior future, soar in money, and pat on the back :)?" It goes on to offer: "a 100% verified Degree: Doctorate, Bachelors, Masters" and it tells me that I may be already qualified but am only lacking that piece of paper, which these people will be happy to provide.

I never investigate further as I just don't have the time to do a PhD this summer, but maybe I'll find a weekend or two in the fall when I'm feeling less lazy. Or maybe I won't have to get that PhD after all. According to Carol Goar's recent editorial on the G20 Summit, the International Labour Organization (ILO), a Geneva-based United Nations agency, asked the world leaders to make skills upgrading a part of every working environment. This is so that employees will be able to keep pace with technology and other on-going upgrades. So, you might not need that PhD but your skills can always use a little brush-up.

Some other issues that ILO brought forth are:

• Making new graduates job-ready.
• Refocussing on vocational training and fighting the stigma attached to non-academic training.
• Better forecasting of skills needed in the future.
• Not skimping on workforce development.

Jowita

No comments yet. Start the conversation.

A few years ago, I worked on a contract for a company that boasted great employee morale and frequently organized events devoted to entertaining their employees. There were golf matches, movie nights, fun lectures on wine tasting and meditating, yoga classes, dancing lessons and a number of BBQs throughout the year. One Friday, at the end of the workweek, a cart filled with beer rolled through the building and stopped at everyone's desk! The company often landed on the list of best employers in the city and even in the country.

Recently, The Toronto Star published its 50 Best Employers list. The ranking is based on a study that is supposed to figure out how much of a company's workforce is truly engaged, according to Neil Crawford, the leader for the annual Best Employers in Canada survey. Engagement is measured according to how well employees speak about their company and whether they show "eagerness to be part of the organization and the degree to which they are inspired by leadership, the culture and what the company is doing for stakeholders and customers."

A company I worked for while in university is currently on the list but the one I did contract work for is not mentioned. Why? It doesn't exist anymore. The coddled and courted workers got the shock of their lives when this Canadian company's president and founder sold it to a U.S. conglomerate. The conglomerate quickly ate it up but not before spitting out all of those ever-so-satisfied employees.

Jowita

No comments yet. Start the conversation.