Published in 2005, this book seems even more relevant today. I would love to see an update on Ehrenreich's contacts from this book, if she could re-locate them.

In this book Ehrenreich turns her attention to the unemployed white-collar managerial class--those with college degrees/graduate degrees, houses, families, and often decades of experience--who have been laid off due to outsourcing, consolidation, and moving sections overseas. As these people began running down their savings, running out their unemployment, downsizing their homes, even moving back in with their own parents, Ehrenreich decided to put herself into their world, and find herself a corporate job.

In short, after a year of searching, attending networking events, sending out gadzillions of resumes, reading online lists, job coaching, a makeover, reading books on the topic, and having her resume professionally done--she had no job.

My biggest problem with this book is a problem she acknowledges on page 215. As she created her semi-fictional self, she had no true business contacts to network with. Though she made up a semi-true employment history and had people lined up to vouch for her, she did not have former co-workers or contacts she could call up for help. And as everyone tells her repeatedly, networking is the key. But she had no network, since she wasn't exactly who she claimed to be. This is not really different than someone looking for work in a new area (geographic or topical), or a stay-at-home parent looking for work for the first time in a decade. But for the executive positions she was hoping for, those contacts are necessary. I think. Not that they would help the 1000s of IT professionals whose jobs have been sent overseas.

Definitely interesting, but I found her fellow searchers' stories more interesting, as they were more real.