Sage advice for those new to the working world - Page 2

best advice I can give regarding careers....a buddy of mine passed it on to me...

We all like to think we are going to become doctors, lawyers etc, but somebody has to end up being bikers and strippers.

* How should I differentiate myself to start my career on a solid note?
dress neatly, if you can, do something simple and distinctive - always wear a pink shirt, for instance.
no metal in the face, no facial hair for now
don't say no
be on time
figure out something that us old farts don't know - like be really good at excel or powerpoint, and help people out with it.


* Transition from college to work
no idea
* Work/Social/Health/Family balance
set time every week for your friends, gym, dating. everything else is work

* Saving for retirement

start saving a little bit now - also, get life insurance while you are young. this is important.

* Etc...

good luck

Did this guy say he was working at a bulge bracket? Seems sort of excessive to say that "everything else is work" unless you're working in some crazy industry like MC or IB right out of college. Maybe I'm just not working hard enough...

I am to young to be responding to the "sage advice" thread but this has served me well (though depending where you are, basic excel/ppt is probably not enough to be distinctive...then again...a lot of people are level morons when it comes to this stuff)

One other thing- never discuss your salary with your colleagues at your level. One of you will leave the conversation really disappointed.

about 18 years ago, I worked for a company whose manufacturing manager didn't know how to use excel. I did. I had absolutely nothing to do with his department, but I would do his production forecasts every month for him. he owed me big time. it wasn't' a bad arrangement

Wish I had an opportunity like this...my boss knows more about excel than the college professors that taught me. The best I can do is learn from him and hope my next boss is more Office-challenged.

/thread

Seriously though, Globe is a pretty successful dude..

I'll give you a couple random pieces of advice from what I've observed, what's helped me, and what old timers have told me about "our generation".

1) Never forget that you aren't owed shit. I mean this in the best possible way but dudes our age think we're entitled to all kinds of shit, we'll get a $60k job right out of undergrad etc. You aren't and you won't. Just work hard, shit'll fall into place

2) BE ON TIME. For whatever reason, we think its ok to be five minutes late even. No, show up on time.

3) This is something I need to work on but be organized. Have all your shit organized and obviously together will not only help you but it makes you look good.

4) DON'T RELY ON EMAIL FOR COMMUNICATION. Its not as effective as we think. Call people.

5) Letters are incredibly powerful. Someone helped you out in a big way? Write them a letter. You just want to be nice? Write a letter. I'm absolutely serious if you put something on letterhead folk will be incredibly touched and want to do more for you next time. Google letter etiquette for proper format or get a book.

6) Always have a hard copy of something to read. This is just life advice I've found to be helpful. Trust me.

7) Just work hard, look neat, help out, don't be afraid of taking on work and helping out.

8) Can't do a task/work on something? Look at what's coming up and say "I can't do X now, but Y and Z later I can help on and would be happy to etc"

9) You aren't above anything.

10) Work hard.

11) This is probably the stupidest most useless generation ever.

12) Good luck.

13) Balancing life/work/everything else: You'll figure it out. Its not as hard as it seems. I'm in bed by 9 most nights, asleep by 10 at the absolute latest, up before 6 at work by 7/730. You'll figure it out.

14) Savings--do what you can. To start, see if you can save the equivalent of one hour's pay a week, step up from there. Find a Roth IRA add to it what you can. They say have 3 months living expenses in a savings account before investing. I say nine months is what you need. When you have that and a good IRA account, talk to a planner about doing more.

15) There aren't really too many mysteries or that much shit to figure out. You'll know pretty quickly how to strike a balance between work and living pretty quickly. If not, there was never much hope for you to begin with... saving is kind of easy... and work hard, never think you are above anything, help out, shit will be as good as you can get.

This will likely become a favorite way to kill time at work and scope out hotties on different floors.

While living at home, save the equivalent of one month of rent. Stick this in savings and never touch it beyond emergencies. It's fucking hard tohave a life, pay rent and save money once you move out.

We're a very, very distant second to the Boomers. No generation has done so little with so much.

100% serious: ALL of my colleagues in my age group (which is like two dozen) come into the office anywhere between 9 and 10...even though we start work at 9.

It's kind of sad that someone is asking advice on how to get used to being in the working world once they've already completed college.

im not someone to take advice from when it comes to real work etc. but i was a new hire during the recession in a business that took a real hit, and i stayed while a lot got fired. the key really was i always came in on time, never called in sick, and was always nice to people. i did a whole lot of nothing while i was working, but by manager absolutely loved that i was never late and always showed up. also listen to people and smile and nod. even if you think what theyre saying is utter bull shit, smile and nod. dont give people a reason to not like/get rid of you.

always have a multi-year plan for getting to the next level. start thinking about grad school now