Tag Archive for 'career'

Commentary: Netflix on Freedom & Responsibility Culture

Netflix takes its corporate culture seriously. Probably the first and only time I would recommend or read a presentation deck of 128 slides. It features FASCINATING insights about its business strategy and culture of work.

I’ve worked for a number of different companies — big, small, new — each has its own set of characteristics. Netflix, thus far, has an extremely unique point of view. The level of transparency is severely refreshing.

Quick kudos to one of my favorite blogs: TechCrunch.

What do you think? How does Netflix compare to companies you’ve worked for or worked with?

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Social (Media) Networking 101′s for the Harvard Student

Social Media NetworksAh, Facebook. It encapsulates both the joy and despair of a college student’s existence. It can gobble up your soul while you’re composing that perfect wall post to your (maybe he / she likes me) crush.

You might spend more time crafting your perfect Facebook profile and finding that awesome Facebook profile pic than ALL of the time you spent preparing for college applications. Scary.

Not that I’m any avid user of social networking sites by any means, here are some useful ground rules for not completely messing up your internet trail forever.

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Commentary: The Curse of the Class of 2009

WSJ’s: The Curse of the Class of 2009

Economic research shows that the consequences of graduating in a downturn are long-lasting. They include lower earnings, a slower climb up the occupational ladder and a widening gap between the least- and most-successful grads.

In short, luck matters. The damage can linger up to 15 years, says Lisa Kahn, a Yale School of Management economist. She used the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, a government data base, to track wages of white men who graduated before, during and after the deep 1980s recession.

Ouch. As Class of 2010, this news stings as well. I imagine that this year’s on campus recruiting class will go ape-shit to land the dwindling number of sexy consulting and finance jobs and internships.

That being said, I’m worried about how this would affect the academic decisions of those in the younger years of college. Does this mean fewer Classics concentrators and more Economics concentrators? Does this mean that the pre-business clubs and organizations will see an influx of weary-eyed freshmen already plotting their post-graduation job courses?

I hope that freshmen will remain freshmen, but that might be too much to hope for. Any thoughts?

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Driving Change Without Authority Part II

Influencing without AuthorityThere’s a fine line between being annoying and being assertive, just like there’s a fine line between being a pest and being someone who responsibly follows up.

People might not tell your boss if you did a great job of being respectful of their time, but trust that the feedback will get to your superiors’ ears if you’re not, even if you’re talking to someone in the most distant corner of the organization who technically has a lower position than you.

How do you position yourself so that others willingly help you?

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Commentary: Starting Fresh With an Unpaid Internship

WSJ’s: Starting Fresh With an Unpaid Internship

Internships—temporary positions that pay little or no salary—are typically designed for college students or recent graduates exploring potential career paths. But with unemployment at 9.5%, some older laid-off workers are taking on these stints to stay busy, gain new skills and expand their networks. In the meantime, they continue to job hunt and, in some cases, collect unemployment benefits.

Hello recession! What a scary job AND internship hunting season we will have this year. Imagine, competing against seasoned professionals in the internship hunt, or the entry-level job hunt. Makes me shudder, truly.

Granted, Harvard grads will be weathering out the storm better than most. But, this recruiting season, things will get ugly. Really, don’t pester your class of 2010 friends this entire fall with study group requests. We’ll be applying ourselves to grad school or the bottomless job hole.

For anyone not going through the imminent catastrophe of graduation, what are your thoughts? Feelin’ lucky for being in school for some more years?

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What They Don’t Tell You about Careers in Other Countries (China)

dscf3041Maybe you were like me, maybe not, but I always thought that working abroad right after graduation in a foreign country (I’m an American) would be fantastic. It’d be a thrill ride, and be totally awesome.

However, after a set of informational interviews in Shanghai, I started to realize that jump starting your career in a foreign country isn’t as easy as OCS makes it seem.

The language barrier can be a total opportunity killer.

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Your Personal Story: Why You Need It, How You Write It

I remember I would get side whacked by this interview question, “So why did you choose Harvard?” By golly, why did I choose Harvard? I’d fumble and talk about something or other involving academics, nothing particularly compelling.

As I’ve gotten older and perhaps slightly wiser, I realized what they were really asking was, “What is your story?” Stories are funny. If you’ve ever read The Things They Carried, you learned that half of a story are the narrative choices. Other times, you need to fudge things in order to keep the story “real” to its meaning.

No, I’m not telling you to lie.

But, when someone wants to open up your skull and swim around and then make a judgment on your person, a good story about how you got where you are and where you’re going is the key to making a lasting impression and forming a connection. 

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The Death of Wall Street, and Why Harvard Students Should Cheer

For better (or worse), ibanking is dead in the way we once knew it. Lehman Brothers ain’t coming back three or four times this semester tossing magnetic clips and shiny brochures at eager undergraduates and touting their numerous job opportunities.

The seniors this year will be pouting, missing out on the chance to sell their lives for a bazillion bucks a year. (Perhaps it’s too late for them to change their ways.) But, the juniors, sophomores and freshmen should take this as a sign of what will most likely be a turning point for the better when it comes to selecting a career.

If you have no idea what ibanking is, bless your soul. And for those who do know of it, this is why the death of 50% of the e-recruiting jobs is good for you.

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