Congratulations on leaving or getting ready to leave college, grad school, or your post-doc. You've learned a lot, had fun and made friends. Now you're looking for a job and the reality is sinking in...
COLLEGE HASN'T PREPARED YOU FOR THE REAL WORLD!
Admit it - you've had it pretty good. Sleeping until noon for a 1pm class, taking summers off, and you could do a half-assed job on a paper and take the C. That's going to change.
YOU'VE BEEN WORKING FOR YOURSELF
YOU'VE BEEN WORKING BY YOURSELF
"But I've had internships", you say. Sure, that's been a taste of life in the business world, but it was for a limited amount of time and the consequences of screwing up weren't huge. Now it's for real. You need to learn a whole new set of skills and a new vocabulary. You have to learn to work with other people, some of whom are assholes. And no doubt, you haven't been 'managed'. Now you'll have a boss. You'll have projects or tasks. You'll have to sit in meetings so boring your ears will bleed. You'll have to defend your accomplishments at a performance evaluation, and you'll have to argue for salary and promotion.
"HOW AM I GOING TO LEARN THIS STUFF?"
I can help. Listen to your Uncle Doug. I went to school forever and got a PhD from Harvard. I've been a founder or early executive in four startups. I was a Partner at Price Waterhouse. I've seen IPOs, downsizings and bankruptcies - sometimes all at the same company! I've had clients among the biggest pharma, tech and financial institutions in the world. I have seen it all.
I won't teach you how to write a resume or dress for an interview. There are other sites out there for that. I'm going to tell you the stuff that takes years to learn - and some people never catch on. How business really works, what's important and what's not. How working at a startup is different from working at a big company. How to deal with your boss and with lazy or annoying co-workers. There are so many resources to help people learn how to become a boss or manager - this site will help you learn how to be an employee.
WHO NEEDS THIS?
You do, if you're a recent or impending graduate. Whether you are a science, engineering or liberal arts major, you'll need to understand how the business world really works.
Finishing graduate school? Then you really need the guides. You need information on the kinds of business cultures represented out there by startups, corporations and partnerships.
Done a post-doc? You have great technical skills but this is your first job. You may be a success in the academic environment but you're going to have to develop some new habits before you get into that job.
Been working for a couple of years? I'll bet you still could use some help working with crazy people and a demanding boss. And it never hurts to get help on how to ask for a raise or promotion.
Yeah, it's tough to get and keep a job these days. And it's not going to get easier any time soon. Maybe this information will give you some insight that will help you out.
