Following are the stages one goes through in these modern working days.

00. After months of aggressive job applications, finally one of them replies and asks you to come for an interview.

01. You get interviewed by a manager, who tells you how working for the company will be a challenging and exciting career.

02. You get an offer from the HR manager, with a lower-than-expected salary -- but fret not, she says, as you will get stock options as well; when the company goes public -- which won't be too long now by the look of it -- you'll virtually double your salary.

03. Well, the salary's not something to be too excited about, but what the hell, market's been bad; so you accept the offer and come in to work in a month's time to find that the manager who interviewed you has left the company.

04. As a new guy you try to be nice to everyone and to your surprise everyone is actually rather friendly to you as well -- then you find out that half of them had just joined the company before you did.

05. Soon, the other half of the company -- save the directors -- also leave.

06. After a few months, those who joined about the same time as you did start resigning one by one -- before long you're the 5th most senior guy around.

07. You and your best friend at work (read: the guy you go for lunch with) keep saying to each other it's time to update that résumé and start looking around.

08. The directors also leave; the CEO is now the only one more senior than you -- and you still haven't done anything with the résumé.

09. More people leave -- and this time they're not replaced; your workload doubles.

10. Your best friend -- who all along said he had not updated his résumé, either, to your relief -- tells you he got a new -- and much better -- job and next Friday will be his last day.

11. You panic and at very long last open that friggin' résumé and start updating it.

12. Minutes later -- as you're contemplating whether you should be generous and self-promote yourself to a project manager -- the only guy more senior than you that is the CEO gathers everyone and says he has some bad news.

13. Back to the old, familiar aggressive job applications -- and stage 00.

Well, at least this time those who left are still replaced. I think.

Current music: Eagles - Hotel California
Current mood: happy