Disappearing Toilet Paper

Some years ago, Dilbert.com had a forum where fans could post tales from the workplace, usually at the prompting of the forum’s conductor. One of my favorites was “How do you know that it’s time to put out your résumé?” A common answer was, “When the toilet paper disappears from the restrooms and the snacks disappear from the break rooms.”

I thought about that the other day while having lunch with a friend who recently left a doomed institution. He said, “I knew it was time to hit the market when the food disappeared from all meetings and I got yelled at for leaving the lights on in a lecture hall. When the president started sounding like my dad complaining about the electric bill, I knew we were in trouble.”

So, whether facetious or factual, how do you know when it’s time to dust off the CV?