TGIF – Who Broke The Rungs On The Corporate Ladder?

As the week winds down, we wind down with some tidbits for your information, education, health, and enjoyment.

Quote of the Week “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” Unknown

Humor Break: From Cover Letters Gone Bad: “Please call me after 5:30 because I am self-employed and my employer does not know I am looking for another job.”

 Stat of the Week: Here are 3 Tips from Harvard Business Review for when you discover that the corporate ladder doesn’t go to the top:

“•Cast a wider net. Be open to horizontal experience, not just vertical progression. If you’re a financial analyst, for example, consider analyst positions in other areas, perhaps in market research or sales.

•Prove you can handle the responsibilities. Find ways to demonstrate your capabilities. Are you interested in taking on a management role? Offer to help your manager by interviewing job candidates or training new people.

•Grow your skills. Seek out opportunities to learn — and pounce on them. If no one in your company knows how to do something, take it upon yourself to master that skill. The knowledge you gain might make you a natural choice for the next open leadership position.”

If you are in a career assessing mode this early part of 2013, HBR also offers up it a more complete set of suggestions in HBR Guide to Getting the Right Job.

Action Tip: If you are really ready to test the job market, make sure you are emotionally prepared.  Check out Psychological Tips for a Successful Job Search for some head tips.

Self-Development Corner: For those who have more than a passing interest in computers and the Internet, here is a FREE online course at the upper-undergraduate level from the University of Washington: Introduction to Computer Networks.  The course begins January 14.  Below is a brief description:

“Computer networks from ISPs to WiFi and cellular networks are a key part of the information economy. These networks are the foundation for the Web, and they enable companies such as Google, Facebook and Amazon. This course introduces the fundamental problems of computer networking, from sending bits over wires to running distributed applications. For each problem, we explore the design strategies that have proven valuable in practice. Topics include error detection and correction, multiple-access, bandwidth allocation, routing, internetworking, reliability, quality of service, naming, content delivery, and security. As we cover these topics, you will learn how the internals of the Internet work to support the Web and other networked applications. You will develop a detailed understanding of widely-used networking technologies such as TCP/IP, HTTP, 802.11, Ethernet, and DNS.”

Bill Bradley

Bill Bradley (mostly) retired after 35 years in organizational consulting, training and management development. During those years he worked internally with seven organizations and trained and consulted externally with more than 90 large and small businesses, government agencies, hospitals and schools.