She was sleepily walking into work that Monday morning with her coffee in hand when she spotted a crowd hovering around a desk. That early on a Monday, it just had to be her saving grace – DONUTS! She was starving and she was sure there had to be a pink frosted one with sprinkles….
Category: Work
Career ladders are boring. Jump on the jungle gym.
It had been 2 years since she had joined this team. She planned her moves perfectly and that resulted in a promotion and the potential of another in the near future. At one point, this is what she thought she wanted to do for the rest of her working life, but now she felt stuck. She…
When you can’t quit your day job you may need to balance it with a passion or two.
She was running from meeting to meeting, deadline to deadline, and one project to the next (or multiple at a time). She had chosen a career that she thought was for her, but it wasn’t panning out like she had imagined. It was exhausting and sometimes mundane. All the super ambitious goals she had with…
You’re doing the interviewing too.
It seemed like she was going to be an intern forever. She had been interning far longer than she should have been and still couldn’t land a real job. The internship was pretty awesome (i.e., subsidized housing in an awesome city, real experience, and some cool coworkers), but telling people she was an intern was…
Wear a suit.
After months of applying, searching, and endless phone interviews, she finally got a call for her first in-person interview. Excited about the opportunity to interview, she had extensively researched the company and had even done some mock interviews with her friends. But she had missed one thing…what to wear. After a thorough review of her…
Work-life balance is a bit like a unicorn.
She had been running around all morning and finally had a chance to sit down. The cafeteria had a summer carnival special and she was looking forward to her corndog and fried twinkie. Just as she was sitting down, she heard her pants rip. She was mortified but all she could do was look at…
Finding a mentor is a little like dating…
Really, Florida? This was her reaction when she found out her company was relocating from Jersey to Florida. This may sound great to many, but she loved her all black ensembles and the idea of people in tropical colors all year round, coupled with the effect of humidity on her hair, sounded awful. Regardless, she…
You will be in over your head at some point.
It was your typical Tuesday. She was standing at her desk and playing on her phone while she waited for the system to load so she could start entering data. Her boss walked up behind her and said, “Can you come to my office please?” Crap! She knew she should have kept her headphones off…
It’s okay not to know what you’re going to do after school.
She was ironing her graduation gown on her tiny dorm ironing board, completely frazzled. She is typically carefree and fun, but today which should be one of the most exciting days of her life, she was rattled (and it wasn’t just the hangover). Then she blurted it out, “I have no idea what I’m doing…
People are strange (we are too), just roll with it.
She had just finished reading an awesome article and thought: My co-workers are going to love this! Boy…was she wrong…
It’s not called quitting if you’re moving in the right direction.
She was checking her emails and noticed an urgent email from her boss to stop by her office ASAP. She had been really excited when she landed this job. They had told her this role was only a stepping-stone and she would be able to move to a more senior job in a few months,…
Always use shoe polish.
“I have two words for you: shoe. polish.” She stood there stunned by her boss’s brutal honesty. Who says something like that? Then she looked down at her black heels that had gotten her through college and realized that maybe her boss was right. Those once glorious black pumps looked terrible. She turned bright red….
work misadventures and successes... 