I often think about how unprepared I was for a corporate job as a 22-year-old recent college grad. I'd had jobs since I was 14, but working part time as a teenager doesn't really translate to the corporate world. I took a 400-level Interviewing class my senior year, which I found to be valuable and applicable to the corporate world. That got me thinking: Wouldn't it be great if colleges offered an introduction to corporate America? The course might look something like this:
Corporate America 101: Introduction to a Corporate Environment and Dysfunctional Workplace
Required Reading:
"White Collar Sweatshop"
"A Working Girl Can't Win"
"Then We Came to the End"
Required Viewing:
"Office Space"
"Clockwatchers"
Weekly Discussions:
Week 1: Playing nicely with idiot coworkers
Week 2: Why being stupid will help you get ahead
Week 3: Email 101
Week 4: Don't dip your pen in the company ink (or never, EVER date your coworkers)
Week 5: Getting the most from your benefits
Week 6: Writing the ultimate resignation letter
Week 7: What to do when your boss is a jackass
Week 8: Dealing with drama in the workplace
Week 9: Thinking like an HR person
Week 10: How to attend long meetings about nothing and come out smiling
Week 11: Knowing when it's time to move on
Week 12: Deciphering the difference between office gossip and the truth
I so would have signed up for a class like this and I would have been all the wiser upon entering corporate America in 1995.
On a separate note: Does anyone have any good movie suggestions when it comes to corporate America? I still need to see "Up In the Air," I hear it's awesome.
Cheers. Seriously.
2 comments:
Fight Club might be a good optional view.
hehe. This list is great. I recently heard about a class action suit against some of those online Universities who promise big salaries and automatic job placement. "Wait just one damn minute," I thought. I went to 2 very good private colleges and one very nice University and each of them promised me the world, well, kind of. And not one of them prepared me for it. I want my money back!!! On a similar note, I once wrote an op ed about how Business 101 should be required for all college students, not just business majors. College does not prepare you for the real world, it just make the real world think you are smarter than you actually are.
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