5 Biggest Workforce Myths
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
I read this article by Penelope Trunk abouth the Five Biggest Workforce Myths. And it's quite a controversial article. Have you seen the comments section? More than 500 comments and counting!
Here are the 5 Myths:
Myth 1. Getting a promotion is good.
Here she talks about being wary of promotions because "they're created with the company in mind". Not all people can be good leaders and I tend to agree. But I also believe that leadership can be learned. She advises to negotiate on training, mentoring or flex time as "these are all things that will really improve your life and your career".
Myth 2. Hide gaps in your work history
Being honest about hiding gaps in your work history cna actually be good for you as long as you talk about them well - meaning you speak about your accomplishments. Per Penelope, it would only be bad if you didn't have anything to show for when you rested in between careers.
Myth 3. Sexual harassment laws protect you
Penelope says the sexual harassment law will actually hurt your career. Because the law protects the companies from getting sued.
Myth 4. Your first job our of college matters a lot
Penelope warns about placing too much importance on your first job out of college as you will have many more. She advises on trying things out to find the career that suits you.
Myth 5. You'll be rewarded if you do a good job
Here, the author says that "you'll be rewarded only if you're likable". She advises on spending your days making yourself likable by figuring out what people need.
While her take on Myth number 1 made sense to me, Myth number 3 was quite interesting to note. Personally, I think there are some cases where this holds true.
I would have to disagree with Myth 4 though. While it's true that you will probably be leaving your first job out of college, I don't think that giving less importance to your first job is a good idea. It is during your first job out of college that you learn things - skills that you won't learn in school. It is also there that you were given a chance to prove yourself.
Myth number 5 gave me the impression that author wasn't very well liked in her workplace lol! I think that while it is ok to be emphatic and do nice things for people in your workplace, spending a large amount of time doing that would mean you are not doing what you're paid to do. Being nice and kind and considerate is enough for people to like you, but also remember, you can not please everybody.
Anyway, I think for most part the article isn't really applicable here in our country but generally speaking, Penelope hit quite a few marks in there but her out of the box thinking didn't go quite well among the workforce, here or in the other parts of the globe.
You can read the article here.
Labels: Articles, Myths, Penelope Trunk, Work, Workplace
posted by Nyree @ 10:19 PM,
1 Comments:
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At June 15, 2007 at 8:48:00 AM GMT+8,
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This is very informative Nyree :) Bsta be good and you will be rewarded.. not by people around you but the Man from above ;)
