Alexandra Levit - They Dont Teach Corporate in College: A Twenty-Somethings Guide to the Business World

If youre looking for a guide to ease the transition from flip-flops to wing-tips, a fine choice is They Dont Teach Corporate in College. Alexandra Levit does a great job attacking assumptions that high-achieving college grads drag into the workplace with them.

Mary Eleen Slayter, The Washington Post

Ms. Levit teaches newbies such practicalities as making a memorable first impression, networking without cringing, coping with difficult personalities, and learning to be an effective boss. The book is easy to read and loaded with common-sense techniques.

Steve Powers, The Dallas Morning News

We walked into our CEOs office to brief him on the Millennial employee panel we were planning with Alexandra. We brought a copy of They Dont Teach Corporate in College along to show him, but to our surprise, he already had a stack of them in his office. He gives them to promising young employees he happens to meet in the company.

Amanda Tolino, Campbells Soup, Inc.

workforce newbies need a boot camp like this to face up to the rigors of the working week.

Abby Wilner, coauthor of Quarterlife Crisis

Alexandra Levit has written a savvy, informative guide for first-timers making their way in Corporate America.

Stacy Kravetz, author of Welcome to the Real World

Her straightforward, practical advice is something that all colleges should recommend to their outgoing seniors.

Amy Joyce, author of I Went to College for This?

This book explodes with practical and relevant advice for young professionals who want to master the fast track yesterday.

Harry E. Chambers, author of Getting Promoted

Theres only one thing I hate about this book: that I didnt have it when I was in my 20s! In a compelling and eminently readable volume, Levit lays out the secrets that it takes most of us at least a decadeand a lot of mistakesto discover.

Rachel Solar-Tuttle, author of Table Talk: A Savvy Girls Guide to Networking

I am a college professor, and I have been using They Dont Teach Corporate in College as a supplement to my supervisory management class. Alexandra Levit is right on the mark with this book. The students have really enjoyed reading it and have learned so much from it. I have incorporated this book into my class discussions, and the students will be more prepared for the corporate world because of it!

Mary Sakin, Farleigh Dickinson University

Alexandra Levit writes with honesty and a refreshing bluntness about office mysteries that boggle young employees. Sprinkled with bullet points and real-world examples of corporate successes and gaffes, They Dont Teach Corporate in College can be referred to by twenty-somethings (and those who need a refresher) again and again.

Beth Herskovits, PR Week

Copyright 2014 by Alexandra Levit

All rights reserved under the Pan-American and International Copyright Conventions. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system now known or hereafter invented, without written permission from the publisher, The Career Press.

THEY DONT TEACH CORPORATE IN COLLEGE, THIRD EDITION
EDITED AND TYPESET BY KARA KUMPEL
Cover design by Howard Grossman/12E Design
Printed in the U.S.A.

To order this title, please call toll-free 1-800-CAREER-1 (NJ and Canada: 201-848-0310) to order using VISA or MasterCard, or for further information on books from Career Press.

The Career Press, Inc.
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Pompton Plains, NJ 07444
www.careerpress.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Levit, Alexandra, 1976

They dont teach corporate in college : a twenty-somethings guide to the
business world / by Alexandra Levit. -- Third Edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60163-308-8 -- ISBN 978-1-60163-484-9 (ebook) 1.
Business--Vocational guidance. 2. Success in business. I. Title.

HF5381.L48 2014

650.1084'2--dc23

2013040937

For my husband and partner in life, Stewart Shankman, who reads every word.

They Dont Teach Corporate in College is the result of years of personal experience in the workplace, as well as valuable input from the following talented individuals: Jason Alba, Ken Blanchard, Harry Chambers, Diane Danielson, Judith Gerberg, David Gordon, Alison Green, Christine Hassler, Stacy Kravetz, Dan Pink, Lindsey Pollak, Linda Price, Karen Schaffer, Mark Schwartz, Rachel Solar-Tuttle, Neil Stroul, Bruce Tulgan, and Abby Wilner.

The hardworking folks who were essential in helping me turn a good idea into a published book include my agents, Alex Glass and Michelle Wolfson; my generous friend Peter Castro; my patient and wise lawyer, Josh Grossman; my editors, Diana Ghazzawi and Kara Kumpel; and the rest of the very competent and always responsive staff at Career Press: Ron Fry, Michael Pye, and Laurie Kelly-Pye.

I will be forever grateful to the dozens of professional twenty-somethings who inspired me with their personal stories, and to the thousands of readers who made the original and second editions a success and paved the way for this 10th-anniversary edition of They Dont Teach Corporate in College. I am also deeply indebted to the HR, recruiting, and training professionals, the university professors, and the corporate partners who helped spread the books messages to large populations of twenty-somethings.

Id like to thank my friends, my colleagues through the years, and my familyespecially my husband, Stewart Shankman, and my father, Robert Levitfor keeping the faith and encouraging me each step of the way.

And finally, this edition is dedicated to my mentor and inspiration, the late Dr. Stephen R. Covey (19322012), whose thinking has shaped my entire career.

Ten years ago, a little book called They Dont Teach Corporate in College was written in a second-floor apartment in eastern Long Island, New York. At the time, I was working as a PR manager for a Fortune 500 software company and was engaged to my college sweetheart. My career had finally hit its stride after years of setbacks, and more than anything, I wanted to share the lessons Id learned with twenty-somethings who were just beginning their business world journeys.

In 2004, there were no other books like They Dont Teach Corporate in College, and I was very fortunate that the content seemed to resonate with people. A new career was born.

Throughout the next 10 years, I became a spokesperson and researcher on issues and trends facing modern employees. I wrote for the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times, and worked with companies like American Express, DeVry University, Deloitte, Intuit, and Microsoft. I traveled around the world, from Budapest to Sao Paolo, sharing my learnings with audiences as small as 10 and as large as 1,000, and I consulted with the U.S. Department of Labor on an online course called JobSTART 101. Last, but certainly not least, I got married and had two children.