Archive for the 'Perfect Job' Category

Until fairly recently the main measure of a company’s success was determined by its financial bottom line. Was it making a profit or was it sustaining losses? Although companies have been managing their activities by using their financial profits as their guiding light for a very long time, many stakeholders have sustained losses while the…    Continue reading

In a weak economy the tendency is for workers to hold onto their jobs a bit longer than they would otherwise prefer. Is it possible that in a downturn the best thing to do is counterintuitive – quitting corporate America to freelance, start a business or return to college? Better now than never – even…    Continue reading

In his latest book Punching In Alex Frankel a journalist and “brand observer” recounts his recent experiences working entry-level jobs for some of America’s best-known employers: UPS, Starbucks, the Gap and Apple among others. Unlike those of us who prefer to learn about companies by reading academic case studies or magazine articles, Frankel discovers firsthand…    Continue reading

Do you think of climate-change management as a legitimate career possibility? Today, the money fueling climate-change management is found in scientific research and government sponsored grants. But corporations may consider hiring specialists to help them anticipate and mitigate the business impact of climate change. Not only is climate-change management a relatively new course of study…    Continue reading

Beyond the razzle-dazzle of beer bashes and company play days, “every company needs a signature experience that sets it apart.” That’s the thrust of a Harvard Business Review article called “What It Means to Work Here” by Tamara J. Erickson of the Concours Institute and Prof. Lynda Gratton of London Business School. In other words,…    Continue reading

Here’s a profitable way to mine your static social networking connections. Morgan Stanley’s Rainmaker program takes mid-career professionals who travel in upscale social circles and trains them to become financial advisors. Rainmaker’s stated “goal is to transform you into a successful financial advisor running your own profitable practice in just three years.” On the other…    Continue reading

Have you ever wandered into an office staffed by 55 employees who are mostly 24-years-old and in their first job out of college? It might be kind of fun, right? And in this particular office above Union Square in New York City, they throw the occasional staff party billed as the “Thursday Night Hang.” The…    Continue reading

Back in the day, enterprising housewives earned “lipstick money” peddling beauty products to their neighbors. Men were relegated to lugging around brushes, Bibles and vacuum cleaners. Flash forward to 2007. That knock on the door is your Avon man. One of Avon’s more successful male sales reps is Bobby McKinney, a 58-year-old fire code inspector…    Continue reading

One of Silicon Valley’s cleverest blogs, Valleywag, features a special report called Tech’s 10 Worst Entry-Level Jobs.  How bad are the jobs? Not that bad, really, and at about $50,000 – $80,000 a year they pay way above the national average for 2008 college grads. “Soon America’s most bright-eyed graduates will enter the workforce and…    Continue reading

Amid the billions of dollars China has accumulated by underwriting our national debt comes a new initiative – a giant investment fund to be staffed in part by western financial services professionals seeking a global career opportunity. The China Investment Corp.’s $200 billion sovereign-wealth fund is looking for “global talent” to join them in Beijing. Apparently…    Continue reading

A political pundit is a thankless job – when you’re right it was obvious and when you’re wrong everyone points a fickle finger at you. But unlike a weatherman, who studies meteorology, science and maybe broadcasting communications, political pundits take divergent paths to become gurus. Some wags are old pols; some are TV talking heads…    Continue reading

In a piece called The Worst Jobs in Science, Popular Science magazine takes us places the angels at the Discovery Channel would refuse to tread. After reading this list, to which I have added some commentary, tell us about your worst job! 10. Orangutan-Pee Collector Apparently an analysis of Orangutan urine is a leading indicator…    Continue reading

In a piece called The Worst Jobs in Science, Popular Science magazine takes us places the angels at the Discovery Channel would refuse to tread. After reading this list, to which I have added sage career commentary, tell us about your worst job! 10. Orangutan-Pee Collector Apparently an analysis of Orangutan urine is a leading…    Continue reading

You know Labor Day is coming when the media publishes more careers stories than you can stuff into a Transformers lunch pail. Earlier this week we spotlighted BusinessWeek‘s cover package on “The Future of Work“. Fast Company also weighs in with some cool thoughts about pursuing “Dream Jobs“. The piece that I’m commending to you now is MSNBC.com’s…    Continue reading

In a CNET article called “Wooing Interns to Silicon Valley,” we learn that there’s a “shrinking pool” of tech graduates who are spoiled by MiGoYa (Microsoft, Google, Yahoo) among others in summer internship programs that are fueled by mass quantities of ice cream, baseball tickets and dodgeball tournaments. How much coddling is enough? Will these…    Continue reading

Are you curious about what it’s like to work at Google, Yahoo or Microsoft? You’re not alone. Even people who work or have worked at one of these cyberspace giants speculate and debate about the merits of one versus the others. And there are media mavens, including yours truly, who keep tabs not only of…    Continue reading

Deepika Bajaj’s new site, Invincibelle, spotlights fascinating multicultural women finding their way in America. Few of the women she profiles are more global savvy than Bajaj, however. Born in Delhi, she studied in Bangalore and New York, and she has lived and worked in multiple countries as a telecom consultant. The high-achieving women she profiles…    Continue reading