They Don't Teach Corporate in College (58 page)

Review the employee handbook.
Understand what you're entitled to in regard to benefits and compensation for unused sick or vacation days.

Organize your files.
Make it easy for your colleagues to find materials, so that they can transition your workload seamlessly and won't need to call you at your new job.

Do a great job training your replacement.
Your current organization has paid your salary for a year or more. You owe it to them to leave your job in good hands.

Don't take anything that doesn't belong to you.
This includes office supplies and work product that was not developed by you personally.

Many companies request that departing employees do exit interviews with HR. The person conducting the interview, who probably doesn't know you from a hole in the wall, will usually expect you to divulge why you are leaving and how you feel about your experience with the company. When it comes to exit interviews, stick to official business as much as possible, and in providing constructive criticism, proceed with tact and caution. Although it may be tempting to use the meeting to spill your guts about the company's difficult personalities and insufferable policies, don't give in. Once you've made the decision to leave, airing your grievances won't do you a drop of good, and the risk of offending people is too great.

The most important thing to remember when leaving a job is to fireproof your bridges. It's a smaller world than you think, and you never know when you're going to need these people again. And who knows? Maybe you won't even like your new job and will want to come back someday. At the very least, you want to be able to count on one person in the organization to serve as a reference for you in the future. During your last few weeks, do everything you can to leave behind a squeaky-clean reputation. Be conscientious and thorough as you're wrapping up or transitioning projects. Even if you're leaving because you can't stand your department, act like a team player and keep your negativity to a minimum. If your colleagues take you out for lunch or throw you a going away party, congratulate yourself. It means you've handled your departure in exactly the right way.

I've worked as a management consultant for two years, and I hate it. I've always been interested in philosophy, and my dad said he would pay for me to go to graduate school. I'm thinking of taking
him up on it, because it would get me out of the corporate world for a few years. I'm not totally sure what I would do with that degree—there are only so many college professors, you know?—but having more education can never hurt.

Evan, 24, Illinois

So what's your course of action if you want to leave your job, and you don't want to get another one in your industry? You might have noted a few options, including going back to school, starting your own business, and making a career change. In the last several years, I've been asked for my advice on all of these paths, so read on before you decide to climb down off the ladder.

I just heard yet another sad tale about a twenty-something with a newly minted MBA who's having a devil of a time finding a job. When employers see MBA on her resume, they assume that she should be looking for a management position. Unfortunately, because this grad's previous positions were primarily administrative and customer-service oriented, many employers don't think she has the practical experience to qualify for such a position. I've gotten dozens of emails from graduate school alumni in similar situations. After spending tens of thousands of dollars on an advanced degree, they find that they are no more marketable in their chosen field than they were before they started school. The only difference now is that their job search is more urgent because they are deeply in debt.

To me, this phenomenon speaks to the danger of going back to school without a great deal of forethought. So many people choose a graduate program because they aren't sure where they want to go with their careers, when in reality, they should first be doing a cost/benefit analysis to determine what such a program is going to bring them in terms of increased job prospects and financial compensation.

Of course, before investing an enormous amount of money, time, and effort securing an advanced degree, they should also do enough research and have enough hands-on experience to know that they actually like the field. I've heard lots of stories of twenty-somethings who graduate with a PhD, JD, or MBA only to end up deciding they want to do something else entirely. Lawyers become advertising directors, doctors become life coaches, marketing executives become journalists, and so on.

Bottom line: Although returning to the safety of books and finals might feel more comfortable than the workplace grind, graduate school is not something you should do just for the heck of it. Rather, you should first determine in concrete terms why you need the advanced degree to move ahead in your career of choice, and then map out a plan for how you'll use the training and degree to facilitate the level of success you desire.

Sometimes people ask me why I haven't gotten an MBA, and the reason is this: I now work for myself, and as such don't have a company subsidizing the $300K tuition. If I'm going to pay that kind of money out of my own pocket, then I better be sure I'm going to make it back with my post-MBA income. I know for a fact, though, that this won't happen. I'm at a point in my chosen career at which getting an MBA won't make much of a difference at all. I would like to get an advanced degree someday soon, but I don't kid myself. It's because I like to learn, not because I think it's a magic ticket into an uncharted area of the career stratosphere.

In between the first and second editions of this book, I published another career advice guide called
How'd You Score That Gig?: A Guide to the Coolest Careers and How to Get Them
. During the research phase, I interviewed more than 100 people who currently hold their dream jobs. These individuals were, among other things, travel journalists, event planners, fashion designers, forensic scientists, interior decorators, and Internet business owners, and most of them made a successful transition from another field while they were in their 20s.

In fact, the 20s are an ideal time to make a career change, for college students and recent graduates have much more flexibility when it comes to test-driving different fields. The process of self-discovery is much easier when you're unfettered by family responsibilities and substantial financial burdens, and when you haven't yet reached a level in a career where it's tougher to turn back.

People who change careers in order to do what they love have one thing in common: persistence. As unattainable as your dream job might sound, with the right amount of forethought and preparation, you can make the move as well. To get started:

Spend some time with YOU.
Follow the self-assessment steps I suggested in
Chapter 1
to revisit how you like to work and what you'd
be compelled to do even if you never got paid. Research careers and industries that map to your skills and interests. Hit the Internet, set up informational interviews, take relevant coursework, and arrange to go onsite at a company in your chosen field.

Don't be deterred by a lack of experience.
In developing a resume and other promotional materials for the field you want to pursue, think about how your current skills and talents apply to the responsibilities you'll hold in the new job. For example, the transferable skills mentioned in
Chapter 4
, such as project management, client relations, information technology, and sales will take you far in most types of careers.

Remember that any progress is good progress.
Make an effort to do one thing per day—such as emailing a networking contact or attending an industry event—that moves you a bit closer to your big picture goal. Perhaps this means earning a paycheck at your current job while doing a part-time internship in your new field or taking an adult education class or workshop on the weekend. The only way to find out if you're passionate about something is to try it—ideally with as little risk as you can manage.