Who works in the corporate world?

[Hærfest Leah]

Ya know large corporations or businesses. Those individuals that fall into the stereotype of suits with their meetings, starbucks and stock quotes. LOL Who holds a job in this area no matter how small?

My degree is in Management & I plan to finish it in Business whenever that day comes. This is where I am thinking of trying to scoot my foot in the door when we move next fall. Ya know start at whatever job I can get and work my way up. Can anyone here who has some sort of related job give me any info on it? I know its a broad topic.

[MammaStar]

we're not a big corporation, but the company I work for is "small business" we have the meetings, well, the staff I support does. I've also worked for Big Blue (IBM). My preference is a small office, but then again, my preference these days is changing as my career will be as well.

The bigger the corporaiton the easier it is to move up. I once worked for a company that sells fire equipment, hoses, firefighter uniforms, standpipes, etc. I started there as the receptionst and worked my way up to Purchasing. Again, it was small business and I ended up leaving for another job anyway.

When I worked for Big Blue, I worked in a business support center. I started off as a word processing person and eventually became the manager. Again, I quit, the hours for me were too much.

I don't think I'm much help. My current job I've had for nearly 10 years, I've been in the business world for 15. Its mainly been in the support/clerical area.

[Hærfest Leah]

Thanks SugarMags :)

[Gabriel Le Chat]

I worked at a large bank (recently acquired by Bank of America) for 11 years. I started just out of college answering phones in their customer service department. From there, I moved into the customer service training department. And from there I, moved into technology. By the time I left, two years ago, I was a Senior Systems Analyst.

Beware - it is a rat race. I couldn't take it anymore. The more you move up, the more they own you. I've been employed as a hair stylist for the past two years and couldn't be happier. I actually get to see my family now -- what a crazy concept!

[Hærfest Leah]

I worked at a large bank (recently acquired by Bank of America) for 11 years. I started just out of college answering phones in their customer service department. From there, I moved into the customer service training department. And from there I, moved into technology. By the time I left, two years ago, I was a Senior Systems Analyst.

Beware - it is a rat race. I couldn't take it anymore. The more you move up, the more they own you. I've been employed as a hair stylist for the past two years and couldn't be happier. I actually get to see my family now -- what a crazy concept!

Thanks for your input, yeah I know it's competitive and I have that quality. That's why I like getting opinions on it, see what other people have to say. It's an idea atleast.

[bladeraven]

I worked at a large bank (recently acquired by Bank of America) for 11 years. I started just out of college answering phones in their customer service department. From there, I moved into the customer service training department. And from there I, moved into technology. By the time I left, two years ago, I was a Senior Systems Analyst.

Beware - it is a rat race. I couldn't take it anymore. The more you move up, the more they own you. I've been employed as a hair stylist for the past two years and couldn't be happier. I actually get to see my family now -- what a crazy concept!

Gabriel brought up a good point...prepare to have to sacrifice your family...it's different working for a corporation because they will actually count against you if you use sick days or vacation days....the irony is there is a reason if not law for those days but it's an unwritten rule that your bosses really will do what they can to discourage you, even calling you during your days offs.. :dis:

Prepare to put your work before your family.....it's not a family friendly atmosphere...they're about making money at all cost.......You're child is sick...prepare to have someone other than you to take care of them...it's actually harder to be a woman in the workforce than a man because we have the family to take care of ....my previous boss wife stayed home and he had that unspoken view that if we were going to be concern about our kids...we might as well stay home...I was penalized for taking a sick day to stay home with my toddler who was throwing up and asked why I just didn't take him to daycare...uhm.....because!!! :dis:

[Athena-Nadine]

Gabriel brought up a good point...prepare to have to sacrifice your family...it's different working for a corporation because they will actually count against you if you use sick days or vacation days....the irony is there is a reason if not law for those days but it's an unwritten rule that your bosses really will do what they can to discourage you, even calling you during your days offs.. :dis:

Prepare to put your work before your family.....it's not a family friendly atmosphere...they're about making money at all cost.......You're child is sick...prepare to have someone other than you to take care of them...it's actually harder to be a woman in the workforce than a man because we have the family to take care of ....my previous boss wife stayed home and he had that unspoken view that if we were going to be concern about our kids...we might as well stay home...I was penalized for taking a sick day to stay home with my toddler who was throwing up and asked why I just didn't take him to daycare...uhm.....because!!! :dis:

Really, that depends on the company you work for. I workedf for the largest management consulting company in the world in NYC (offices all over the country and about 20 other countries) and they weren't like that. Neither is the company I work for now. Now I work for a mortgage loan servicing company, and while I can't say it's all that large, it does have over 200 people.

[Jackiedanielz]

I work for a finance company in Boston. Our company is small (150 - 200 people) but our parent company is huge! Some of us wear suits, there's a starbucks right across the street and you can receive stock quotes in the elevator. But you might as well just come up to our trading floor if you want to see some real action!

If you are trying to scoot yourself in the door I suggest a few things:
- try to get an internship (most are paid)
- go through a temp agency (we hire a lot of temps but this also has many downfalls)
- straight out apply for whatever position (you may start in the mail room but once they see that you are willing & capable of learning you will be able to move into something better)
- use who you know (alot of people work here because someone referred them or their dad used to work here, etc)

Just keep in mind that if you read a job description or ad somewhere & it sounds way out of your league, apply anyway. I can almost guarentee that the job is not as difficult as it sounds in the ad. This way you'll get to go in for an interview, talk about the job and if you don't get it they may call you back for another opening that they think you're more suitable for.

Research the company you are applying for as well, you can find out a lot about them on their website and can ask questions during the interview & it will make you look like you are serious about being there.

Send your resume into the company's HR department with a snazzy cover letter stating what you want, what you are learning and what you are looking for in the future. There may not be any outside recruiting for a position just yet because some companies hire within, but having your resume out there they may find you more qualified than an internal canidate or something may come up and they'll have you in mind.

Don't turn down a job just because it sounds crappy. It will give you a chance to get to know the companies culture, see all aspects of this business entails, find out more about the industry they are in. It will help you see what path you may want to follow in the long run!

Hope this helps! If you are in Mass. you can send me your resume & I will pass it along. :hehehe:

[Alaiyo]

The advice I would give would be the following:

A) Always learn the lay of the land. Know where the real power is. Know what the rules are.
B) Read EVERYTHING they ask you to sign when they hire you. You would be surprised how many former coworkers became former because they signed off on understanding a policy that was buried in fine print-the very same policy that was used to sack them.
C) Know what you what to do and where you want to go. If you plan to have children in the immediate future (within 5-10 years), then obviously it makes sense to interview companies that have a good record in terms of meeting the needs of their employees in this area. If you plan to strike out on your own, then you should find a firm that will allow you to build contacts and to build a reputation.
D) Watch your back. It goes without saying but be more than above board in all that you do and document EVERYTHING. You will be surprised how much scapegoating goes on, especially at certain levels and how expendable you can be. You will also be surprised at how people will grab credit. You need look no further than the Levi's episode of second season of the Apprentice to see that.
E) Be aware of everything. Information and knowledge is power. That is not the end of it though, you must know how to use it.
F) Put your best foot forward always. No matter what. Others can sometimes act as if it is high school all over again and put you down because you are a superstar. Well, unless you treat others like crap, don't listen to them.
G) Form allies when possible but remember that WORK IS WORK. You can get all the friends you need at home.

[Jackiedanielz]

That's perfect advice Alaiyo, wonderful warnings...so very, VERY true. :twitch:

[Hærfest Leah]

I work for a finance company in Boston. Our company is small (150 - 200 people) but our parent company is huge! Some of us wear suits, there's a starbucks right across the street and you can receive stock quotes in the elevator. But you might as well just come up to our trading floor if you want to see some real action!

If you are trying to scoot yourself in the door I suggest a few things:
- try to get an internship (most are paid)
- go through a temp agency (we hire a lot of temps but this also has many downfalls)
- straight out apply for whatever position (you may start in the mail room but once they see that you are willing & capable of learning you will be able to move into something better)
- use who you know (alot of people work here because someone referred them or their dad used to work here, etc)

Just keep in mind that if you read a job description or ad somewhere & it sounds way out of your league, apply anyway. I can almost guarentee that the job is not as difficult as it sounds in the ad. This way you'll get to go in for an interview, talk about the job and if you don't get it they may call you back for another opening that they think you're more suitable for.

Research the company you are applying for as well, you can find out a lot about them on their website and can ask questions during the interview & it will make you look like you are serious about being there.

Send your resume into the company's HR department with a snazzy cover letter stating what you want, what you are learning and what you are looking for in the future. There may not be any outside recruiting for a position just yet because some companies hire within, but having your resume out there they may find you more qualified than an internal canidate or something may come up and they'll have you in mind.

Don't turn down a job just because it sounds crappy. It will give you a chance to get to know the companies culture, see all aspects of this business entails, find out more about the industry they are in. It will help you see what path you may want to follow in the long run!

Hope this helps! If you are in Mass. you can send me your resume & I will pass it along. :hehehe:

Thanks for the info. Pretty much everything you stated other than the temp agency I had in mind already. And yes any job to get my foot in the door will do as long as its paying.

[Hærfest Leah]

The advice I would give would be the following:

A) Always learn the lay of the land. Know where the real power is. Know what the rules are.
B) Read EVERYTHING they ask you to sign when they hire you. You would be surprised how many former coworkers became former because they signed off on understanding a policy that was buried in fine print-the very same policy that was used to sack them.
C) Know what you what to do and where you want to go. If you plan to have children in the immediate future (within 5-10 years), then obviously it makes sense to interview companies that have a good record in terms of meeting the needs of their employees in this area. If you plan to strike out on your own, then you should find a firm that will allow you to build contacts and to build a reputation.
D) Watch your back. It goes without saying but be more than above board in all that you do and document EVERYTHING. You will be surprised how much scapegoating goes on, especially at certain levels and how expendable you can be. You will also be surprised at how people will grab credit. You need look no further than the Levi's episode of second season of the Apprentice to see that.
E) Be aware of everything. Information and knowledge is power. That is not the end of it though, you must know how to use it.
F) Put your best foot forward always. No matter what. Others can sometimes act as if it is high school all over again and put you down because you are a superstar. Well, unless you treat others like crap, don't listen to them.
G) Form allies when possible but remember that WORK IS WORK. You can get all the friends you need at home.

Thanks that is really good stuff. Most of it sounds just like being in the military to me. And as for kids the two I have is it, I can make no more. But looking for a family friendly company is a must anyways.

[Alaiyo]

Sometimes it can be a little like being in the military. What is really funny is that the knowledge that I amd the others supplied to you is what should be taught to students in their senior year-of high school and/or college. A lot of it is common sense.

I encountered some good as well. It was a previous company that I worked for that connected me with community service and the organization that I currently volunteer through. I also got made one of my longest standing best friends at work.

The last thing that I would say, particulary as a woman is that if you know where you are going and where you would like to be career-wise, you should try to get yourself a mentor. It ties in with the "forming allies" and the "know who has the power" points I made. Men do it all the time. Especially the ones that want to go real far. They decide who would get them where they want to go and join that person's wagon train and basically, to use yet another pop culture reference, become the "padawan" or "Apprentice" to the "Jedi Master." While it is true that some of them become "Darth Vaders" and take out their masters others become "Luke Skywalkers." At my current job, my supervisor was a great mentor in terms of guiding me. She gave me "future looks" in terms of what would be expected of the department down the line. She coached me in my job and she was always seeking ways for me to go far and encouraging to take advantage of everything. Sadly she went to join her fiance in Germany (his unit was mobilized).

The last thing is something I learned in a communications class that covered journalism. A journalism professor that was still an active writer told all of his students to create a GTH fund (GTH=Go To Hell). He said that there will be times where the goals of the company will not match your goals. The company's ethics may not mesh with your ethics and integrity. The purpose of the GTH fund is to allow you to leave the company knowning that you do not need to stay because of the money. You would be able to bow out as gracefully as you can and live of the money with your integrity intact.

Good luck to you.

[Athena-Nadine]

Thanks for the info. Pretty much everything you stated other than the temp agency I had in mind already. And yes any job to get my foot in the door will do as long as its paying.

The agency is extremely important these days. The vast majority of corporations go through agencies now. It saves them time in screening because the agencies do it for them. Good agencies also train you in any computer skills you may ned but may not have had the chance to get yet. A very large number of positions are now Temp to Hire. Some people don't like it, but I always did. It's a great way for both you and the company to determine if you fit there/want to take on a permanent position.

[Hærfest Leah]

Sometimes it can be a little like being in the military. What is really funny is that the knowledge that I amd the others supplied to you is what should be taught to students in their senior year-of high school and/or college. A lot of it is common sense.

I encountered some good as well. It was a previous company that I worked for that connected me with community service and the organization that I currently volunteer through. I also got made one of my longest standing best friends at work.

The last thing that I would say, particulary as a woman is that if you know where you are going and where you would like to be career-wise, you should try to get yourself a mentor. It ties in with the "forming allies" and the "know who has the power" points I made. Men do it all the time. Especially the ones that want to go real far. They decide who would get them where they want to go and join that person's wagon train and basically, to use yet another pop culture reference, become the "padawan" or "Apprentice" to the "Jedi Master." While it is true that some of them become "Darth Vaders" and take out their masters others become "Luke Skywalkers." At my current job, my supervisor was a great mentor in terms of guiding me. She gave me "future looks" in terms of what would be expected of the department down the line. She coached me in my job and she was always seeking ways for me to go far and encouraging to take advantage of everything. Sadly she went to join her fiance in Germany (his unit was mobilized).

The last thing is something I learned in a communications class that covered journalism. A journalism professor that was still an active writer told all of his students to create a GTH fund (GTH=Go To Hell). He said that there will be times where the goals of the company will not match your goals. The company's ethics may not mesh with your ethics and integrity. The purpose of the GTH fund is to allow you to leave the company knowning that you do not need to stay because of the money. You would be able to bow out as gracefully as you can and live of the money with your integrity intact.

Good luck to you.

All sounds good thanks and the GTH fund is a great thing I bet.