10 Rules for Making Big Career Leaps

IN THIS ISSUE:

1. 10 Rules for Making Big Career Leaps
2. No Time to Let Your Guard Down
3. A Game of Skill
4. Unwelcome at Home, IBM Sets Sights Abroad


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1. 10 Rules for Making Big Career Leaps

What's the most surefire way (besides being a scion) to make it to the highest rungs of the corporate ladder? A Business Week article calls it the Big Leap--the point in your career progression where you take a big gamble with the aim of getting well beyond where incremental advances will land you. The article offers 10 rules for making such a leap. They include being ruthless with your resume, excising the stodgy corporate speak that is far too common, then getting out and telling the facts about your career the way a salesperson would. Read on at:

<http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/mar2008/ca20080327_362624.htm?chan=careers_managing+your+career+page_top+stories>


2. No Time to Let Your Guard Down

Everyone's been so friendly. And they've gone from talking about "If you're hired..." to "When you start..." After having run through the interview gauntlet, it appears that all you have to do is sit back, relax, and let them make you an offer. Not so fast, says Dave Sanford, executive vice president of client services at recruitment firm Winter, Wyman & Co. "You can't let your guard down." Until you've cleared the company's property, everything about you will be scrutinized--from the way you address the receptionist to the seemingly harmless small talk you exchange with a would-be colleague on the way out the door. "I consider an interview like a first date," says career coach Marky Stein. In other words, be on your best behavior and don't reveal too much too soon. Read on at:

<http://career-advice.monster.com/interview-preparation/Keep-Your-Guard-Up-at-the-Interview/home.aspx>


3. A Game of Skill

Until now, all hiring managers had to go on to tell them whether a candidate was a good fit for an opening was the glowing self inventory on a resume or a possibly misleading reference from a chummy ex-colleague at a former employer. But new computer simulations are making it possible to see how a prospective employee will do the job before he or she actually takes the reins. A job candidate is placed on a team with current employees, given market analyses of a fictional company, and asked to choose from a menu of strategic initiatives aimed at bolstering the company's bottom line. Such programs are also being used to groom future managers by exposing employees to the tradeoffs higher ups have to make in order to meet growth targets while maintaining market share and profitability. Read on at:

<http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120693258747476361.html?mod=CarJMain_topright>


4. Unwelcome at Home, IBM Sets Sights Abroad

In mid-February, IBM announced that it will continue to expand its operations in India, adding thousands of employees to the 73 000 already on staff there. Big Blue's expansion plans outside the United States couldn't come at a better time for the computer maker. On 1 April, the company disclosed that it has been temporarily barred from selling its IT equipment and services to U.S. federal agencies. The U.S. government is thought to be the largest IT buyer in the world, with a $70 billion annual budget. The suspension, said a company release, relates to possible irregularities in a bid the company submitted two years ago. Read on at:

<http://www.itworld.com/Career/1861/ibm-hiring-in-india-080213/
IBM suspended from new federal IT business>

and at:

<http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9073858&intsrc=hm_list>



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