Five signs your career is undergoing the zombie apocalypse…

I had a fantastic conversation with my boss this week joking about how shows like “The Walking Dead” are kind of a funny analogy for work.  Well, we were laughing but it’s probably not that funny if you are in a dystopic professional state...but hey, no one said this blog is for SERIOUS advice.

Anyway, it got me thinking about how when you sense the zombie virus is invading your career….it’s time to run.  So, to help you out...a few signs your career may be going zombie:

You wander around aimlessly - It’s probably time to find a new job is you find yourself wondering around from task to task and not really engaging your brain.  What are you doing?  What are you looking for?  Work is a chance for you to use your brain and exercise your smarts.  You’re probably in a culture or company that doesn’t value thought if you find yourself aimlessly staggering through your day.

You eat brains - This one is important.  You are no longer to accept good ideas or engage in real conversations...basically, you eat brains.  You laugh, but it’s true.  We’ve all meet with someone who just says no to everything, never adds what we should do...and just destroys the conversation.  Zombie Brain Eating Coworkers...get a new job.

You take weapons everywhere - Well, not literally but you get the point.  If you find yourself always getting ready for battle or an ambush at work...not good, beware.  You really want to work in a place where you can debate issues on their merit and have a robust conversation...not have to bring your weapons to keep you safe from the brain eaters.

You’re constantly overwhelmed - Ok, so did you see World War Z?  The scene where the zombies totally overwhelm Israel freaks me out….crazy.  Anyway, a lot of companies with bad cultures have this kind of crazy non-sensical hoard mentality where one person gets infected with an idea….and boom, everyone goes nuts for it.  Bad corporate cultures are like cults or zombie infections…..bad ideas dominate and overwhelm anyone who gets in the way.

You’re friends keep disappearing - This one is kind of obvious.  In all of these shows/movies people die.  Friends just kind of go away or get left behind.  It’s time for a job change when all of your friends are quitting or leaving.  Attrition is the dirty secret companies don’t like to talk about...some attrition is healthy and good for the organization but bad companies have unhealthy attrition rates because people realize it’s not a great company.  If you notice friends disappearing….start looking around.

Ok, that’s it this week.  Obviously just a funny blog but the point is really serious.  Bad companies or bad cultures are just not cool and rather that fight the zombies...run and find a place you can settle down a bit and really grow your career.

Final note, if people at your company ever dance like the zombies in the Thriller video…..you should stay there because that dance is just amazing.

Four years of blogging....wow....

Ok, so I got a notice today that my blog is 4 years old...honestly, it's been probably one of the most rewarding experiences of my life.  I'm certainly no blog king or any kind of expert but I like to think in a way, I've added something to the community and helped a few folks have a better career along the way.

If you've never blogged but wanted to do it, just do it.  Trust me on this, you won't regret it and you'll probably learn even more than you share...I know I have learned WAY more than I've shared.

 Anyway, here's to another 4 years and sharing a few random pieces of info about my blog I don't generally share but think are kind of cool.  Hope you enjoy.

39 people read my first post.....thanks Mom, Dad, family......man, tough start

151 people read my blog during it's first MONTH of existence.....yeah, I rule.

About 1500 people read my blog a month when I'm not writing much (see now), when I actually write 4-6 posts a month that number jumps to about 3500.....that blows my mind.

Since I started this blog, people have read my posts 75,000 times...which is just silly and humbling.

The post "My review of The Google Resume" had about 5500 people read it, the second most popular is "Thinking about a career in recruiting?" which ironically still gets about 50 new views a week.  Weird but awesome.

Most of my readers come via www.jeffreytmoore.com which is cool.....the second most via @JeffreyTMoore on Twitter so follow me if you don't already....

The large majority of my page views are from the US, like 60% but every day and week someone internationally reads what I've got say....just today for example, people in 10 different countries read my blog.  Again, humbling and really shows how small and interconnected the world is when a dude from NH writes a blog that gets read in China......(damn!)

I run ads on the blog but have never made any money....note to self, fix that.  Anyone want to help?

That's probably about it for cool blog stats and insights.  Like I said, I don't generally share much info about the back end of the blog but I find it so amazing that after 4 years I thought it would be fun.

The only other thing I can say is THANK YOU!  Honestly, I never thought I'd get 100 people to read my ramblings and it's by far the most rewarding thing I've done. So if you're a loyal reader (you guys know who are you) or some random person in China who is wondering what the hell this dude with he laser beams is saying....cheers to you all.