Whether you're just coming out of school or are mid-career, searching for employment in the corporate world is more challenging than any assignment you'll be given on the job. Not only do you have to decide exactly what to look for, but you also have to find a way in the door and make that doorstop hold until you have an offer in hand. Fortunately, like any game with rules, job hunti…
Now that you have the big-picture view of your new company, it is time to get to know people one-on-one. Establishing strong on-the-job relationships will drive your career growth and give you a reason to come to work in the morning. When you first meet new colleagues, it's hard to imagine having an informal lunch meeting with them or talking reality television in front of the watercooler. …
Setting goals, generating visibility, solving company problems in the blink of an eye—these all sound great in theory, right? But when you're a newbie in the corporate world, you consider yourself lucky if you can just make it through the day without dropping one of the 10 plates you have spinning in the air. Besieged by a constant influx of new assignments, it's unthinkable t…
The most disgruntled employees in today's companies are usually the twenty-somethings. Why? I think it's because the people running the corporate world are of a different generation. Parents in the late twentieth century were instructed to tell their children they could be anything they wanted, consuming a steady diet of “how to raise a happy, confident, socially skilled, psyc…
One company I worked for offered a course designed to improve employees’ interpersonal skills. I was in public relations and interacted with people all the time, so it was a no-brainer for me to sign up. On the first day of class, I was surprised to see that I was the only marketing person in the group. Most of my classmates were computer programmers and graphic designers. Later, I asked on…
There may be no greater challenge in business than getting promoted. For every factor you can control (such as your skills and attitude), there are at least two that you can't (such as the economy and your company's infrastructure). Career author Harry Chambers tells us that in the era of streamlined organizations, companies have been flattened and downsized so that there are fewer m…
