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I’d never heard of Don Dodge until about a week ago, until he was one of the people laid off in Microsoft’s latest round of layoffs. He took it with great class, you can read the blogpost here.
I didn’t subscribe to his blog before, but his blogpost about his departure went viral on Twitter. A week later, the fact that Google has hired him went viral as well.
First off, well done him – on the new job and on handling the transition with grace. In his exit interview with TechCrunch he refused to say anything bad about Microsoft. Right the end, all he said was, “I was just surprised… I don’t… y’know, when I’m emperor I won’t do it that way”.
Second – this is a great example of blogging being good for your career. Working at Microsoft might have contributed to his personal brand, but when he left he took his personal brand with him. Handling it with class, built his personal brand up more. Now, a week later, he takes his personal brand to Microsoft’s nemesis – Google.
Talk about the best revenge being a life well lived!
I read a lot about how companies worry about their staff using Social Media. Microsoft was rare in that it allowed it’s employees to blog and identify themselves as working for Microsoft. It’s dawning on me that companies are going to have a new problem – when they lay off someone and that person announces it on their blog (what better way to let your contacts know you’re in the market for a new job?) they will have to deal with the fallout from that as well. That person could be bitter, and justifiably so, but maybe if they say no more than,
However, laying off 5,000 people when you have $37B in cash and huge profits is not cool.
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Comments
11.17.09
I heard about this controversy of sorts and was also impressed with the personal brand leaving behind the corporate brand. This is definitely something that is really crucial when we think about who we are on the web, as well as in our careers (if the two don't directly correlate).
Great post!
11.17.09
Thanks! I saw at a talk the other day called "You Inc" which talked about the new reality - that we can no longer exchange our services as an employee for the illusion of security, because that security just doesn't exist any more. This guy's story is a great example of that security not being gone (even in a very profitable company) and I think he sets a fantastic example to our generation as we take on "the new reality".
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