The Best of Employee Evolution 2007

To say the least, 2007 has been an interesting ride for Ryan and I. Our year started on the East Coast, each of us working as entry level employees in Fortune 500 companies, itching to find something bigger and better. Today, the year is ending in the frozen tundra of Madison, Wisconsin, where we're working as entrepreneurs in a three person startup.

We launched Employee Evolution nine months ago as a fun little side project where we could spew our thoughts about the good and the bad of entry level work to a few dozen people. Now we have over 1,000 subscribers, and we can't say anything the least bit controversial without someone questioning our characters!

Regardless, the community that has come together around this blog is absolutely amazing. We truly appreciate everyone who has continued to read, subscribe, comment and submit guest posts. I fully expect 2008 be as fun and exciting as 2007 has been and I hope everyone will join us for the journey.

So, without further ado, here is a list of our favorite posts from this past year.

Gen-Y Articles

The Most Self Centered Generation Ever?

Where should a Millennial draw the line?

Young workers are important, with good reason

How Gen-Y is decentralizing corporate america

What Gen-Y wants from work

Why I don't have health insurance

Millennials are strategically political

At the Office

Suits all week for a day in my boxers

Getting beyond cubicle hell

Why don't you cry about it? Seriously.

Best Buy gets it. And stop watching the clock

Boomers are reinventing retirement, I'm going to bartending school

It's all about selling yourself (out)

Multitasking vs. time management

Blogging

Blogging is the new graduate school

Learning to run a business: get a blog, not a job

Why I started blogging

Start up life

BIG news: we're starting a company

Working with Penelope Trunk – Tales from a start up soap opera

Working with Penelope Trunk – A reality show in the making

Books

Leaderless organizations make sense, read the starfish and the spider

My Start Up Life

Getting from college to career

Recruit or die

If you're still looking for more, be sure to check out our archives, and our top articles on the right sidebar.

Happy New Year to all!

Career vs Love: Which Would You Pick?

While browsing through Penelope Trunk's blog, I came across an interesting post on how crazy her life became when she started writing two columns, a blog and started publicity for her book. Boy, could I relate.

At the height of my law school "career," I was a debater with the St. Thomas More Debate Society, a rising editor of the Ateneo Law Journal, a columnist for the Sunstar Davao and had a new, budding relationship with the girl of my dreams.

This was on top of the already heavy load of being a law student. I had a "career" and the love of my life, all at one time.

Yeah, I went a little crazy around then. I started sleeping less, never even bothered to communicate with my family (who all started wondering where I was always disappearing to), always studied at the last minute, ate tons of fast food and was irritable everyday.

The quality of everything I was doing suffered — lousy arguments when debating, stupid editing mistakes, haphazard studying, missed dates with my dream-girl — the works.

The worst was when I had to stay overnight in school to do the finishing touches on an issue of the Law Journal. It was Valentine's Day. I postponed a special date to the next night, only to realize that I had completely forgotten to get her a gift.

Her tears at dinner made me feel guilty for a long long time. Even more…

I want to say that was the turning point, that I realized I had to change my ways and focus on my relationship. Unfortunately, I didn't.

I had become a workaholic. I enjoyed all of my responsibilities and the perception that I was a rising law student — someone meant for greater things. It turns out I really wasn't, but you would be surprised at how far self-deception can take you.

In my head, I was supposed to be a great lawyer and have a grand career in the legal profession. I enjoyed this idea so much that I wound up neglecting my dream-girl. And even then, her tears weren't the turning point. Mine were.

The turning point came when my dream-girl wanted out of the relationship. There were plenty of tears then. Most of them mine.

My world came crashing down. My crazy life went crazier. Because of other controversies in my life, I even wound up leaving the Law Journal. And even worse, my studies suffered greatly.

To make a very long (and oh-so-tragic) story short, I realized that there were other things more important than one's career. I realized how the stress in my life and way too much work had changed my priorities and even changed the way I looked at things.
I had chosen my future career as a lawyer over the love of my life winding up with almost nothing in the process.

To coin a cliche, it is only when something is gone that you learn to appreciate it.

I'm not sure how, but my dream-girl and I did manage to get back together. It took a lot of hard work and a lot of changes in my life, but it also took a lot of patience and understanding in hers. She saw that a life in law (such as mine) demanded a lot, but that if we worked together, we could have a wonderful life together.

So we got back together, and in fact, we are already in the midst of planning our future. I've learned to slow down and focus on only a few things at a time. But best of all, I saw how much I love her, and that if ever I would be placed in a position to choose between career and love again, I would choose love in a heartbeat.

Sometimes when I'm with her, I steal glances at her face when she isn't looking and I think about how lucky I am.

Lucky in what? Why, in love of course.

Yes, I know that's a cliche too. So what? That's the way I feel. I can only hope she feels the same way too.

Choose love.

A Millennial's Muse — Part 11: A Yuppie Turns One

Here read the true tales of a young twenty-something cubicle dweller by day – dreamer of "there's got to be more than this" by night – trying to find the moral of her everyday story. Walk with Jackie down cubicle lane every Wednesday as she humorously shares the pitfalls and high points of moving to a new city for her first job, building a life post 5 o'clock, and searching for meaning in every crevice of her stu-stu studio.

Dear Fellow Millennials,

It's the day after Christmas. I can't imagine that many people are even reading this (though I hope so bad that you are). So, let's just cut to the chase.

What's in a Name?

At an all-company meeting, the CEO announced that assistants (my rank at the time) in the company did essential work and functioned at levels higher than assistants at other companies. "So," announced just another phony in Washington, "we've decided to change the title of Assistant to Associate; it should make you feel valued and better about coming to work each day."

Call me crazy (and some have), but wouldn't validating our work with fair pay (even close to fair) be more effective and make us feel like we weren't being used?

Corporate Report Card

Shortly after the title change shenanigans, I had my annual review with Magnum and was promoted from Assistant to Senior Assistant. I mean Senior Associate. How could I let that one slip? I must have self-esteem issues and deep rooted feelings of inadequacy. Right…

I got a raise which equaled an amount I should have been earning since day one (1!). Magnum was excited for my promotion and seemed a little surprised at my inertia, that being limp body language (as if she had shot me) and a can-I-go-now? expression.

The one critique bestowed upon me was that I occasionally seemed "defensive" when asked to do things I didn't feel comfortable doing. First of all, I'm a 5'2" woman and therefore an easy target; I must always be defensive. Perhaps this is a result of being harassed daily while a resident of Brussels. But that's a whole other narrative.

Magnum's criticism related to my discomfort with assembling online learning courses, including the synchronization of elaborate presentations with sound bytes, learning games, and other technical elements I've since blocked from my memory. Well, yes, as a SOCIOLOGY major, I didn't think it was appropriate for me to be doing something highly technical with basically no training. To my defense (since I seem to be good at that), the IT staff members also had difficulty with the online learning software and validated my frustrations (read: offered me tissues).

I responded to Magnum's criticism with, "I'm a trained social thinker. I never professed to have technical skills beyond checking my email."

I was praised for my communication and customer service skills with clients (if she only knew that I silently cursed them dead throughout the day). Magnum also gave me high marks for quenching the dissatisfaction she felt with regard to her social life.

For example: "Jackie, the women in my neighborhood created a book club but didn't include me; I want a book club!" Magnum said with a desperate and vicious tone.

At the time of my annual review, we were reading the third selection from the company book club I created for her. To this day, it's no wonder why I suffer from battered corporate syndrome.

Happy Holidays From the Company That Neglects to Pay You Fairly

They didn't pay a livable wage, but my former company knew how to throw one heck of a party. My date to the company holiday party was my sister, Julie. Story of my life. A fine date she was, except for insisting that I checked to make sure nothing was in her teeth after each hors d'oeuvres she sampled.

My night consisted of saying things such as: Two teeth to the right. No, no your other right. You got it! It's a small seed; no one will be able to see it. No, Julie, I'm not sticking my finger in your mouth in front of my co-workers.

How Sweet it Wasn't

For the annual holiday baking competition, yours truly was chosen to be one of three mystery judges; a dream realized, my friends. Or so I thought.

I agreed to the pastry-gun-to-my-head therefore I must taste everything twice proposition before taking some vacation time. When I returned to work, the baking competition organizer (dream crusher) said that I was replaced because she couldn't find me to confirm. Umm, is this a dentist appointment? So much for my track record of being friends with everyone in the company.

Spreading Rumors

En route to the communal kitchen, I passed Trevor, the IT guy who had been employed at the company for over eight years. The average length of stay was around one (1!) year. Trevor had seen a lot in his tenure, which was why I was surprised that he seemed so surprised when I threw my arms out to the side and said, "I quit," while walking by him. I just wanted to see what it felt like to say it.

Wishing you a new year full of happy,
Jackie

'Tis the season!

Unlike the previous 23 years of my existence, I now have a responsible adult job requiring that responsible adult in me to work throughout the holidays. No more weeks off for Thanksgiving and forget the month free at Christmas — I'm now in the middle of a grand total of 4.5 days off between Thanksgiving and New Years Eve.

I was off Thanksgiving Day. After that it's working Christmas Eve, off for Christmas day, then back to the grind on the 26th. Nothing says bah-humbug like leaving the Christmas dinner festivities early so I can get some sleep for work. Off New Year's Eve? Forget about it — more the tune of getting up at 5:30 a.m. and trying to make it to midnight.

So what's a Millennial to do? Seriously, the only thing we know is too much vacation time for any holiday and the sudden lack of it might make us feel a little bit violated and/or Grinch-like. Taking vacation time can be tricky as most of us are at the bottom of the totem pole when it comes to picking days off. So it got me thinking…how can I make the most of the situation and still have a happy holiday?

Since most of the country has taken time off recently, leaving me sitting and staring at a computer all day with not much to do, I brainstormed some ideas to get myself in the holiday mood, deal with the lack of days off and plan ahead for next year.

1. Use Tuesday or Thursday holidays to your advantage and make them into long weekends.

2. If you work near stores use your lunch break to get some shopping done or shop for yourself and take advantage of the sales.

3. Peppermint hot chocolate…instant holiday mood!

4. Listen to Christmas music at work. Most cities have a radio station that plays Christmas music 24/7 starting around Thanksgiving. If not, check out internet radio stations…there's bound to be a holiday station somewhere.

5. If you drive home while it's dark out, make some detours to see some decorated houses.

6. Own at least one holiday-ish movie. Watch it often. Some good examples: Grinch, Charlie Brown's Christmas, The Holiday, Polar Express, Love Actually or Elf.

7. Go to any Christmas party you are invited too, even if it's just for a few minutes. Unless it's one of those ugly holiday sweater parties. Then you can skip it.

8. Take advantage of the downtime and catch up on projects.

9. If you live in a cold area, use your weekends to go ice skating, skiing or just to build a snowman.

10. Look around your office or building and see if there is any sort of toy drive and donate at least one item…plus going through the toy aisles of stores brings out anyone's inner kid!

11. Send Christmas cards to all your closest friends.

12. Enjoy the season and don't be a Grinch!

How much is vacation worth to you?

It's the holiday season, and as Devin's post alluded to the other day, the holiday season means using up those accrued vacation days. So, in the spirit of things, I figured I would jump on the band wagon and join the vacation conversation.

One of the most common questions I'm asked about Generation-Y employees is,

"Would they rather have more vacation days or a higher salary?"

My response is immediate, "more vacation days, of course." I can't imagine turning down an extra week of vacation for an extra week of pay, and from an inexact survey of my friends and peers, most agree.

This is how I think about it. Assume you are making $50,000 per year with 15 vacation days. This equals approximately $1,000 per week. I would gladly take an extra five days of vacation and a $49,000 per year salary.

In this scenario, I would lose out on $1,000 pre-taxes, or about $650 post-taxes. Broken down into bi-weekly checks, I'm losing out on around $26 per paycheck, and I'm gaining five days of vacation to do whatever I want with whoever I want. It's a no-brainer!

The funny thing is, when I give people this response they are really surprised. It seems that many people would rather have a higher salary. From what I can tell, this is a fundamental shift in thinking. I see a generation of people embracing the work/life balance that others have been preaching for years.

Gen-Y seems to recognize two things. The first is that a slightly higher salary is never really what it seems. How much can $26 every other week really get you? Secondly, time is a very precious thing. No one really knows how long we have on this earth, so we better make the most of the time we do have.

Of course, not everyone in a generation thinks the same way. Some would rather have a higher salary and skip the vacation. But if you want to recruit, and more importantly retain top-talent; drop the salary, and bump-up the vacation days, or at least provide your employees with the option. You may be surprised at the response.