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They Don’t Teach Corporate in College

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They Don’t Teach Corporate in College

A Twenty-Something’s Guide to the Business World

Career Press,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Learn how to get and keep your first professional job, and how to advance your career.

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Applicable

Recommendation

Alexandra Levit shows people in their 20s how to thrive in the corporate world. She discusses how to get your first job, survive and thrive amid office politics, set goals, network, manage your time, advance your career and even become a boss. Levit offers excellent advice for those new to the work world. getAbstract recommends her comprehensive guidance and tactics to those who are trying to land their first professional position and to the HR professionals who hire them.

Summary

Getting Hired for the Right Job

Congratulations on finishing college. Don’t take any job you can get. Contemplate what you value most. “What type of work would make you want to sit in traffic for hours just for the privilege of showing up? What would you do even if you never got paid?” When do you work most effectively? What’s your preferred work environment? How do you define success? Where will you be 10 years from now? If you’re employed but unhappy, consider meeting with a career counselor or taking self-assessment tests, such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator.

Create a public and online “professional persona” that reflects your competence and integrity. Potential employers will check your social-media sites, so delete anything that detracts from your persona. Most jobs come by referral, so network to meet the people who make hiring decisions. Most managers spend five seconds or less reading a résumé, so put “power statements” on yours that specifically describe how you can affect the bottom line. Instead of, “Passed out free ice-cream-cone coupons at nearby shopping mall,” explain that you, “designed and distributed ‘Snack on Us’ coupons targeted to mall shoppers...

About the Author

Alexandra Levit, the author of six books, also has written for The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times.

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