Browsing Category

Career

Career, College

The College Hangover

June 17, 2009

As the alarm buzzes so begins the debate. The debate whether or not getting up and getting ready for class is really worth it. As you weigh your options you debate over the following: (a) You can skip class and get the notes from someone else or (b) go because your class grade depends on it. While the responsible choice is to go to class, not everyone is responsible.

For many recent college graduates, it appears that nothing has changed. You still want to sleep in and you don’t want to get up yet. The big difference is that if you decide to sleep in and ‘skip’ class you can’t just make up what you missed by getting the notes from a fellow classmate. Instead you are missing out on your future. While it is easy for many of us to just hit the snooze button, and sleep for what seems like an amazing 5 minutes, too often do recent college graduates carry over this mentality into life after college.

It what can be described as a sort of college hangover, what many fail to realize is that time waits for no one, and the sooner you can ‘sober’ up, the better. Reminiscing about all the good times you had during college is great, but it is even more important to look toward the future. Continue Reading…

Career

Aspire To Be The Leader, Not The Follower

May 4, 2009

When you first enter a job, one of the first things that you need to understand is your role within the company. Are you the leader or are you the follower. While their are obviously more followers than leaders in a company, that doesn’t mean you should accept that role and not try to be more. One of the biggest complaints that I hear people say is that they hate their job because their is no chance for them move up. To this I ask: Have you done everything you can?

If they answered yes, that means that you have put in the extra hours, you have offered to help out in areas that aren’t your own responsibility and you have taken an active role within the company to try and bring value. If not, then it you need to ask yourself: Why? While their is nothing wrong with being a follower, people remember leaders, not followers. In the workplace when a project has positive results, typically the leader of the project will get most of the credit. It is true that those involved in the project get some credit as well, but the bulk of the credit will go to the leader. When a project goes bad, the opposite will happen. Someone has to take responsibility for a failure and that means one of the ‘followers’ are subject to scrutiny.

Why Be The Leader?

Continue Reading…

Career

It’s Nothing Personal, It’s Just Business

April 5, 2009

For almost a decade, John Calipari led the Memphis Tigers Men’s Basketball team to multiple NCAA basketball tournaments, several Sweet 16’s, was named the Conference USA coach of the year four times and most recently was named the Naismith College Coach of the Year. With a resume like that, it makes you wonder why people now consider him a ‘traitor’ and ‘sellout’ after all that he’s done for the University of Memphis and its basketball program. While there are obviously two sides to every story, what happened between Memphis and John Calipari leaving for the University of Kentucky happens everywhere.

John Calipari saw an opportunity. Not just any opportunity, but the opportunity of a lifetime. The opportunity to coach one of the most revered college teams in the NCAA and one marked with tradition and full of history. When the University of Kentucky came calling, John Calipari packed his bags. In the perfect world, coaches would fall in love with their schools and never leave, but as everyone knows, nothing is perfect. The University of Kentucky gave John Calipari a chance at something he so desperately wanted: a Championship.

In the business world, most everyone can relate to John Calipari’s situation in one way or another. When a job opportunity comes your way that pays better and gives you a chance to put yourself in a better situation, instinct says you should take it. If that is the case, then what did John Calipari do wrong? He will make more money and with a bigger name school and John’s name on the Mens basketball program, getting recruits to come to Kentucky will be simple. From the business perspective, John made the right choice in leaving, but from the fans and others views, he is simply a ‘sellout.’
Continue Reading…

Career, College, Economy

Who Says You Can’t Find A Job?

March 23, 2009

One of the most common complaints that people have is that they just can’t find a job. Largely, if not entirely due to the economy, unemployment is at an all-time high and more and more individuals are finding themselves at home. Many of my friends have told me that they have applied to several jobs only to never hear back from them. So what is the problem here? When people say that they can’t get a job, the first thing I ask them is “where have you looked for a job?”

Saying that you can’t find a job should mean that you have tried every possible job opening available and still can’t get an offer. What most people mean when they say is that they can’t get a job is that they can’t get a job they feel they are best qualified for. Take for example the recent college graduate. After 4 years of hard work, they would expect to be rewarded with a full time job that somehow justifies their hours of studying and hard work. In reality, because of the economy many recent college graduates are finding themselves unemployed and back at home.

Graduating college, you come away with some expectation of what life post-college would be like. You expect to have a job that you have prepared for all during college and expect to have some sort of ‘plan.’ With the economy the way is though, you should expect nothing and should be ready to change your ‘plans’ at any moment. The point I am trying to make is that Yes, you should apply to all those jobs that you feel you should get but that you should also be flexible in the jobs you apply for. Just because you were an accounting student in college doesn’t mean you can’t apply for jobs you are overqualified for or out of your focus.
Continue Reading…