They Don't Teach Corporate in College

Alexandra Levit’s book They Don’t Teach Corporate in College, is a useful tool for both recent college graduates and business professionals who have been in the corporate world for several years. I thought the book was very well written and covered most of the situations that young professionals will encounter in their first few years in the corporate world. I especially enjoyed reading the personal testimonials from young professionals that were inserted throughout the book. There were a few areas of the book that I felt were more helpful for me personally because they were either something I already struggle with or something I wouldn’t have thought of as an issue.

Goal setting is something that is very important in order to advance a career in the corporate world. Levit explained why it was so important, but I also found that her approach using examples made it more understandable and less abstract. Setting concrete goals is not something I do well, so I felt like I could write down each stage of the process and then fill it in to fit goals that I set for myself. In addition, it would not have occurred to me to set specific goals to achieve transferrable skills in order to be more marketable for future positions. As I move forward in my career, the information I learned in this chapter of the book will help me to be a better, more marketable employee.

Another chapter that I found particularly useful was “The Purposeful Workday.” The author really delves into the best ways to manage the workday and some of the situations that may be presented to me. I like the way she breaks down assignments into different categories and suggests ways to manage time strategically in order to get important assignments done without sacrificing those that will help reach personal goals or getting overwhelmed with the less important assignments. In this chapter, Levit also stresses the importance of organizational skills, which is one of the points that I thought would be really useful for me. I tend toward organized chaos, so her suggestions for keeping organized will be very helpful for me in the future. The third section of this chapter dealt with communication with others in the workplace, both written and in person. I thought this is an extremely important area to be addressed in today’s society. Writing a professional e-mail