These last two days I was back at my grad school doing recruiting at a jobfair. It’s surprising the amount of douchery that goes on at these events, and definitely does not help them get a job. I’ll try to list out some key things I noticed as do’s and don’ts.

Some Things to Do:

Know the company you are talking to. I couldn’t believe how many undergrads came up trying to get a job and didn’t know a damn thing about what we do. If you want to talk to a recruiter, at least learn about the services that the company offers and who they are.

Know who you are talking to. It made me smirk when the job hopeful would shake my hand and start off on the prewritten sell, then have to pause and look up at the sign for the company name. It went something like this- “hi, I am a senior in [insert major] and feel I would be a strong applicant for..[pause, look up at sign]…[company name]. Yeah…no thank you mr douche.

Eat a breathmint..or five. If I have to avoid inhaling toxic air and and getting lighteaded from lack of oxygen, I probably won’t be listening to your pitch. At least one recruiting booth will be giving away mints; go pretend you care and get some.

Some Things Not to Do:

Don’t make your pitch seem badly prerehearsed. It is a good idea to figure out what you want to say, but when you deliver don’t make it seem like you’re just reading off a sheet. I personally glazed over when undergrads started (badly) reciting their sales pitch.

Pay attention to the recruiter’s response. If I’m looking bored, please cut off your five minute long sermon of why you’re such a good fit. I was in the same spot as you before, so I know all the bullshit tricks. Don’t give me that bullshit because it is very easy to spot.

Don’t just try and whore yourself off to the company by going on and on about your GPA and you saving the dolphins last summer. Have a conversation with me, and it will be more likely that I won’t think you are a total douche king.

Don’t givr me a wacky handshake. When you shake my hand, give a good grip and pump once. This is so basic but so many people messed it up. I got every lame shake from the fingertip shake to 20 pumps to limp wristed shakes. If you have trouble, just practice with a friend..hand shaking is a very important protocol for meeting people, so learn how to give a solid handshake.

Don’t call me “buddy”. If I don’t know you and you are some freshman, I’m probably not your buddy. It is almost as annoying as being called “bro” by a total stranger. I feel like introducing my knuckles to your face when you call me buddy. Just call me by what’s written on my nametag and keep it at that.

There are many other things to keep in mind while working a jobfair, but these are the things that bugged me the most these last two days. Keep them in mind and just keep things relaxed. Have a conversation and be genuinely interested. Otherwise, you just come off as a douche, and that’s the note I’ll be writing on your resume.

On my way to starting up, I realized that partners can make a very large impact on your success. However, there is risk that this impact can be similar to an asteroid hurtling through the atmosphere and pounding you in the behind. So while the support and extra ideas make partnering up on ventures appealing, here are some things to consider first.

1. Consider this person’s character. How does he work? What are his values? Really understand the person and determine if he’ll be a good match. Just because you’re friends doesn’t mean you might be at each others throats in a month. This is hard I think for many to do, but the effort is worth it.
2. Trust - Is this person trustworthy? Does he have an honest character with good solid integrity? Getting screwed by a business partner ranks up there as a “crap that totally sucked” moments.
3. What happens if you or your partner gets into debt? If either of you are financially unstable at some point, what will happen to the business. While you can’t predict if this will happen, it’s good to think about and have a plan in place.

Check out an article by AllBusiness.com for an even bigger list. Past these considerations, if you do decide to move forward with a partnership, get everything in writing. If everything works out, great, but in case shit flies, it’s good to have a written plan and reference in place. This agreement should be live, meaning it should be updated as situations change for the partnership. The agreement should be fair for all parties and should reflect the effort, contributions, and risk each partner takes on.

There will always be risk, but thinking things through and having agreements in place at the start will minimize nastiness that might arise later down the road.

Many wish they had their own business once the daily drag of corporate life eats away a good chunk of their being. As such a person I want others who are in the same situation to prepare well before taking the jump. Since I’m still in process (not completely insane..yet), I can only offer what I’ve bumped into so far.

First, be prepared and understand you will lose current benefits like health insurance and 401K. Unless of course you didn’t have it anyway, in which case you’re a step there already. Health insurance is quite expensive, so make sure you can swing it.

Also be aware of what behind-the-scenes requirements your business will come with. For example, what licenses might you need? Will you need a certain insurance for something unique about the business (stuntman dying from being impaled by blunt object insurance, for instance)? How will you hire employees? This behind the scenes stuff requires a lot of research; know the business well before you start. Become an expert.

Finally, what is your revenue model? This is very important but it seems many don’t even consider it. There seems to be the thought floating around that if you do the business and work hard the money will come. Hard work is great for your work ethic, but if you don’t have a revenue model you’re likely to crash and burn. To start it helps to create a model of the business, and figure out costs, prices, and profits. This model will allow you to play with inputs to see how it affects the business. A lot of times this stuff isn’t intuitive, so making the model really helps you make fact based decisions.

These are just some of the foundations to starting. I’ll update as I progress; if anyone has thoughts on this please post in the comments. Best of luck! FREEDOMM!!!

Sabbaticals can be a great way to revitalize yourself, especially in today’s hectic go-go-go working society. However, it can be tricky to pull off since taking such a big break from work has a few risks. Considerations include continuation of health benefits, pause in usual income, and resuming work after the break. If planned correctly, sabbaticals can be a great way to refresh your mind and gain new perspectives that can potentially help you once you get back to work.
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As our parents and those slightly their senior begin to retire and leave the workforce, the dynamics at the workplace will start to change. This will give our generation options and opportunities that our parents didn’t have. The main factor in this will be the great change in total workforce size and also changing perceptions of society.

Payscale.com published an article discussing what the retirement of the baby boomers means for us.

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I for one hate meetings. Unless they’re donuts and cookies meetings, where the topic is to eat donuts and cookies. But for those of us who work in an office, meetings are an unavoidable thing. You might be able to ninja your way out of a few, but the house always wins. My way of getting through them have been to zone out but keep alert for key words (such as ‘action item’ or ‘make 600 copies’). I know that probably isn’t the best way, but it gets me by usually. I’ve been lucky that there’s usually meeting minutes to give me a recap on all that I dazed on.

For a more tactical approach, go grab this month’s GQ (the one with Stephen Colbert on the front holding an oddly frightening Colbert baby) and flip to page 128 for a great article. Read More