It's Been a Crazy Year: Employee Evolution's Top Posts of 2008

As I look back on 2008, with all of its highs and lows, one thing has become glaringly obvious. It was one hell of a ride! I often tell people that I learn more every day running Brazen Careerist then I could have learned in a whole year at a corporate job.

Professionally in 2008, we launched a site on a tight budget, we raised a round of funding, we moved Brazen headquarters from a coffee shop to an office, we hired great people, we re-launched a site on a bigger budget, we let great people go, and we changed our business model on a dime to have a chance of surviving the economic crisis. Personally, I've been lucky enough to live with my brother, to work with my friends and to start a great relationship. I've also dealt with the pain of two friends deaths in the past two months.

While all of this has happened, blogging has unfortunately taken a back seat. This is something that will change in 2009, expect a lot more posts. But 2008 still had its fair share of thought-provoking, controversial, and heart-felt posts on Employee Evolution. Here are a few of my favorites.

The hands down favorite

10 Ways Generation Y Will Change the Workforce
We have a voice, and we have the ear of the decision makers. Not bad for a group of lazy, entitled, twentysomethings. We've learned the importance of balancing work and life from our overworked parents, and we've watched our older siblings and cousins struggle with their baby boomer bosses who refuse to retire. Now we're primed to change the workplace for the better. Here's how we'll do it…

You know your company should be using social media. Don't you?

Why Every Company Should Use Social Media
Social media is changing everything. Business Week recently published an article about the power of social media and how companies are beginning to embrace it, because they really don't have a choice. Not everyone has a blog, or wants to blog, but you would be hard pressed to find many people who aren't on some type of social network. Now it's time for corporate America to follow suit and meet their potential customers on their own turf, or risk falling behind the times…

3 More New Marketing Rules for Recruiting Millennials

What I've come to realize is that recruiting and marketing are not as different as one would expect. Godin's 14 new rules for marketers capture perfectly the new rules for recruiting and retaining Gen-Y…

Why Your Company Can't Afford to Ban Social Networking
Social networking is not a fad. It's not one of those things that people think is cool for a few years and then it simply fades away. Much like the internet did, social networking and social media have changed the way the world works. We're now connected to every friend, acquaintance, girlfriend, boyfriend, and business contact that we have ever encountered – it's a powerful and even revolutionary tool…

Gen-Y is the best! Just kidding. But we are going to change the world.

Does Gen Y Really Want to Change the World?
Generation Y and activism have been braided together for some time. And while it makes me proud to say that this generation has what it takes to make improvements in the world. I wonder if we're kind of jumping the gun…

A Message to Generation X
Most of the questions I get from Human Resources and Recruiting professionals about Generation Y are the same. They are all about why this generation expects to get so much so fast, why we feel entitled to flexibility, why we think we deserve high pay immediately, and so forth. The thing that surprises me every time is that it's not the Baby Boomers who are so upset with Gen Y, it's the Gen Xers…

Generation Y: Inheriting a World That Must Be Fixed
The world, and more specifically, The United States, is screwed up right now. The House just rejected a $700 Billion rescue plan, effectively causing the largest drop in the stock market since 1987. And the word is that House members pending reelections played a major role in the rejection. You've got to be kidding me…

Forget About Generation Y. We're All to Blame for Workplace Woes
We all have a lot of similar traits that make the workplace really suck sometimes. But for some reason we're so distracted by the minor differences between us that we forget how we're all a pain in the ass sometimes. Generations aside, here are three things that will always remain the same…

7 Things to Look Past When Managing Generation Y
Managing Generation Y isn't all that different from managing anyone else. You need to demand a lot, manage a lot and respect the fact that they have a life outside of work. That being said, there are some things that Gen Y employees believe that past generations may not have thought at the same age. So for all you confused managers out there, here's a list of things you should consider accepting when it comes to managing Generation Y…

Generation Y: Here Are The Real Dues We Have to Pay
Due paying gets a bad rap because it's consistently associated with cubicles, meaningless work and low-paying jobs with little benefit. But I believe that there are other inevitable obstacles—more important ones—that we need to conquer before deciding where we stand within the working world…

Community Manager might just be the hottest new job out there. Learn a few things from one of the best, Ryan Paugh.

10 Tips for Successfully Managing Online Communities
When companies, especially startups, get caught up in the hustle of post-funding mayhem, a sturdy bridge is what will keep you aligned with your loyal, pre-funding customers. And those loyal customers are important when you're community building. It's a messy and erratic job, but somebody's gotta do it…

Why Bringing Your Online Community Offline Is So Crucial
I can't think of a more important goal to be able to meet as an online community manager. Because while we all know the Internet can be a powerful vessel for cultivating relationships, nothing beats the personal touch of face-to-face interaction…

What My Frat-Guy Years Taught Me About Building Community
But here's the deal. I learned a lot from my years as a greek. Sure, I partied hard, got up late and skipped a bunch of classes. But I spent a lot of that time building community right outside my door, in my frat. Here are few things I took away from the fuzzy, fun-filled days and nights I spent with my fraternity in college…

List Posts get a bad rap. These ones are really good though

3 Ways to Be More Professional Than You Really Are
Being thought of as a professional is not all suit and tie. It's not all about qualifications either. True professionals have an aura about them. And even though they may not completely understand every situation they're thrown into, they can navigate their way through it with little problem…

3 Ways to Appear Older Than You Really Are
While most women love to hear they look much younger than they are, it's not necessarily a good thing when you're trying to get people to invest in your start-up company. People seem to think that if you're older you have a better chance of being successful. I don't think it's true, but it's something you have to deal with as a young professional…

7 Reasons Why You Won't Be Getting a Raise This Year and What You Can Do About it
In the grand scheme of things a big raise won't make much difference in your life, but we'll all keep chasing it anyway. Maybe it's the big number, maybe it's the increased value that society places on us when we make a lot of money, or maybe we all just want more stuff. Whatever it is, everyone's gunning for that big raise. Unfortunately, most of us won't be getting anything more than the standard 3 to 6% Cost of Living Adjustment anytime soon…

8 On The Job Rules Your Unfortunately Won't Learn in College
College is a great place to learn how to work hard, party hard, and make friends. College also teaches us how to live on our own and why debt sucks. But, college doesn't teach us as much about the business world because business in the real world is more about experience, confidence and the network you build. Here are 8 business rules you didn't learn in college…

5 Steps to Never Worrying About a Job Search Again
The economy sucks right now. Every media site you go to is littered with stories about the pending doom and gloom of the job market. But the truth is, if you're young, smart and motivated, there is no reason finding a job should be difficult. You just have to put in the extra time and effort to make yourself employable…

Everybody loves a little controversy. Especially me

Is Gen-Y the First Post-Racial Generation?
The bar immediately started booing. I looked at my friend Keith and said, "Why does it have to be about race?" He shook his head and remained silent. None of us wanted this election to be about race. To us, it was never about race. It was about hope and change and the future of our country…

Death is a part of life. Unfortunately this only becomes more obvious as we grow older.

All the Little Things Really Are Important
Tragedy will happen more and more as we get older. When it does, we sit back and reflect, but unfortunately we probably forget too soon. And we go on stressing out about life. But you know what; I'm not going to forget. Maybe for an hour, maybe for a day, and maybe even for a week, I'll get wrapped up in my own head and my own worries. But somehow, I'll remind myself of Val and how she handled her hardships – real hardships, and I'll snap out of it…

Thinking about going into business with a friend? We did it. Here are a few tips before you make the big leap.

I Just Went Into Business With One of My Friends. Now What?
Every day is different. Some days are just like college. Others, we're nearly at each other's throats. Starting a business with one of your friends is an incredible experience, but if you don't prepare yourself for the unavoidable drama, it's really going to suck…

I Used to Be Terrified of Public Speaking. Now I love it. You Can Too.

6 Public Speaking Tips for the Young Professional
Its been said that the number one fear in most people's minds is the fear of public speaking. Does this mean that people would rather die or become critically injured than speak to a group? I doubt it. But standing in front of a group of people alone and vulnerable is a scary thought for most of us…

So you're sure you want to be an entrepreneur. Are you really sure?

Before You Commit to Being an Entrepreneur, Stop and Think
In hindsight, I was probably ill-prepared to make such a big commitment. Would I have made the same decision if I knew about the pressures I deal with today? Sure, but I'd certainly plan better. Preparation is key for any soon-to-be entrepreneur. Timing can be everything, and the people you work with can make you or break you. Not to mention, it's a commitment that's not easy to walk away from…

Leave your thoughts here. (9 responses)

This article´s comments All Employee Evolution comments

Fear of Public Speaking 'Expert' - Seymour Segnit

Dec 31st, 2008 at 11:13 am

Ryan:

You're doing a cracking job here. I missed your (fear of) public speaking tips when they first came around but they are simply excellent. I particularly like "Ditch the killer opening line" because so many people try to open 'cleverly' and its just awful.

Having said that I do believe that the opening 2-3 minutes are the most important to practice, because it is when you are most nervous and the audience is most skeptical.

The other thing I'm professionally obliged to point out is that if someone is truly terrified of public speaking tips & practice won't help – they need to 'rewire' their nervous system's response to the thought of speaking. Luckily its relatively quick and easy – we help people do this every day.

Keep up the good work.

Seymour Segnit is the Founder & President of CTRN: Change That's Right Now, Inc. which helps people overcome fear of public speaking and other serious fears and phobias

Public Speaking Training Expert - David Portney

Dec 31st, 2008 at 12:16 pm

Hi Ryan, I agree with Seymour – in my experience over many years of helping people to "terminate" stage fright and fear of public speaking, I've been able to weed out the "traditional advice" that's actually worthless and does not help – and your advice is spot on – "practice practice practice", meet your audience, and poke fun at yourself is all practical, real-world, useful strategies to mitigate those pre-talk jitters.

Sometimes it really is true that we build up fears in our minds, we imagine all kinds of odd scenarios that will never take place anyway, so Nike was right when they said "just do it" because the thrill of public speaking is truly addictive. In fact, I often start my trainings saying "welcome to your new addiction" and people laugh because they're still afraid of public speaking, but my students frequently contact me and say "wow, I really AM addicted!, I thought you were just being cute!"

Emulating speakers with ability we admire and learning easy "tricks" such as becoming able to speak while keeping the eyes defocused can help the beginning speaker (or ANY speaker, really) to quickly become completely comfortable with public speaking (more tips and tricks and techniques at http://www.bestpublicspeakingtraining.com/) – the benefits of public speaking FAR outweigh the discomfort with getting started.

David Portney, "The Stage Fright Terminator"
Author of "129 Seminar Speaking Success Tips" and "129 MORE Seminar Speaking Success Tips"

Ryan Stephens

Dec 31st, 2008 at 11:11 pm

Ryan (and Ryan P for that matter),

I really enjoyed this list and it allowed me to find some of your posts that I missed prior to getting acquainted with your blog (May-ish). In any case I have enjoyed the content you guys produce and am looking forward to what you both have to offer in 2009. Best of luck!

The OTHER Ryan.

GenerationXpert

Jan 1st, 2009 at 9:06 pm

"Personally, I've been lucky enough to live with my brother, to work with my friends and to start a great relationship"

Ryan:

Great job last year – and a great way of looking at the last year of your life. If you want what you have, you get what you want. I know that's a little optimistic for this grouchy Gen Xer to say, but it's totally true.

I've enjoyed watching you all grow in your writing and will continue to root for you in the coming year. I know if you continue to stay true to yourselves, your successes will be limitless.

-Suzanne

Benjamin Jancewicz

Jan 2nd, 2009 at 12:33 am

Happy new years, fellas. Your insight is wonderful, keep up the good work.

Teague

Jan 2nd, 2009 at 4:27 am

3 Ways to Be More Professional Than You Really Are:
#1. Don't put broken links in your blog post, even if they are ironic.

Honestly, though, I would love to read that post. Does it actually exist?

Ryan Healy

Jan 2nd, 2009 at 11:35 am

Thanks for the comments, everyone! I'm glad you all enjoyed the past year of Employee Evolution, and I can't wait to get 2009 going.

Teague, thanks for the heads up, I will fix that link for you.

Natalie

Jan 2nd, 2009 at 2:24 pm

This is one of my favorite career blogs I read — keep up the good work! My fave was "7 Things to Look Past When Managing Generation Y" because I'm always doing a hundred things at once but I feel like that gets judged a lot! I just have ADD, promise! haha

Marvin Lee

Jan 6th, 2009 at 2:39 am

After reading a few posts in 2008, I have subscribed to your blog and enjoyed your insights on everything about Gen Y.

Keep it up and I look forward for more as the world changes so rapidly in this internet age and when Gen Y gets older.

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