Tips for advancing your career mostly in corporate or office environments

[#BOTHSIDES]

The goal should always be to eventually get out of Corporate America. I think the more employee owned Businesses in this country the better.

The Employee Ownership 100: America's Largest Employee-Owned Companies

A list of the 100 largest U.S. companies that are employee-owned through an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) or other means, ranked by the number of employees.

www.nceo.org

Yes it should be the goal… but if ppl want to advance while they’re in corporate or really any organization, I think these are helpful tips and wish I had known.

This could work for church, non profits, (possibly gov). Etc

 

[#BOTHSIDES]

this is the nonsense i see asians do. i'm articulate, can be humorous, express ideas & routinely hit quota. however, i'm an introvert & value my time/peace. for those of you, who're the same, trying op will exhaust you into burnout & depression. instead, be "invaluable" i.e i go on leave, team never hit 50% quota, i stay & our numbers never fall below 90%. why?? i've got a 60% close rate vs the 30% industry/company average. my title doesn't say vice, manager, senior nor have the same duties but best i'll get paid and/or have references like one. ultimately, ask what are you progressing for?? get in, build a rep, experience and then job hop. don't treat work like a new girl you're dating rather its a marriage that's run its course but you're staying until the kids graduate.

Thanks for your perspective. U made some good points about building a rep. Yep I agree.

I don’t think what I said is exhausting… well at least not for me and I’m an ambivert. Scheduling a 10 min chat doesn’t seem like a lot and being generally helpful seems reasonable in my opinion

 

[#BOTHSIDES]

in that sense i agree. but when i see people fighting over becoming managers, supervisors nah not for me wayy to much fake shyt, if i like i like u....am cool with two of my supevisors/managers, one of them is a sista. the amount of work that they have to do is crazy, having to attend meetings on their days off, having to be on call if a subordinate needs something or their own boss, always in meetings barely having any time to eat or family...nah

yea in some jobs if wanna make difference you right, but if i gotta basically become a mega slave to these corporations for what, maybe 20-30 percent more money....am already been monitored in my bathroom times, breaks, lunch and production, nah am good i appreciate my free time........ shyt even if they doubled my salary , with the personality that i have and would quit.

Interesting perspective.

I’d do these roles for significant pay increases… and if you’re good…and playing your cards right, you should be doing less work.

I remember my manager/leadership would be taking days off every week, traveling multiple times a years.

My friend would be doing the same. Going for jogs in the middle of the day…

Gotta play the game

 

[fifth column]

Leave your true self at home.

True and make sure you plug in your power cord to the wall outlet at work cause your battery might die.

 

[bigdaddy88]

Interesting perspective.

I’d do these roles for significant pay increases… and if you’re good…and playing your cards right, you should be doing less work.

I remember my manager/leadership would be taking days off every week, traveling multiple times a years.

My friend would be doing the same. Going for jogs in the middle of the day…

Gotta play the game

BINGO, my direct sup, not manager, i make more than him...one because have been here longer and always excelled ... maybe that's why i never fussed about it....am getting paid on supervisor level with MUCH less work in comparison.......and when you reach a certain level of profiency at anything the work naturally becomes easier, so at this point am scamming these cacs.....

 

[LiveFromLondon]

Don’t date women from the office
Don’t talk about politics

Even the stupendous, thunderous pawg that only talks to me about politics

 

[Serious]

Bro probably work at the office for the young republicans Ask for an invite to the group chat

If you’re not in those private group chats then you’re working at loss.

 

[fifth column]

ya'll nikkas love this system, getting a promotion is the idea of progressing?

skining and grinning with people that hate regardless of what i do aint the way for me

I despise all this fake it till you make it shyt. They not even making real progress and leaving doors open for others instead they are kissing ass and looking weak.

Skinning and grinning in front of every tom dikk and harry ain’t the way to get ahead. That’s how some of these so called corporate chicks and dudes end up on they knees to show gratitude in a corner office somewhere.

you need to create leverage to move around. For example if you want a promotion then go find an offer at another job and use that as leverage when you talk to the boss at your current job. Say “boss man I’m prepared to take my talents across town if you don’t strongly consider me for a promotion” see that’s leverage, create high value in your current position and use that as your bargaining chip.

Btw if you work in a support staff role, get away from that, you need to be on the revenue side of things.

 

[JT-Money]

Interesting perspective.

I’d do these roles for significant pay increases… and if you’re good…and playing your cards right, you should be doing less work.

I remember my manager/leadership would be taking days off every week, traveling multiple times a years.

My friend would be doing the same. Going for jogs in the middle of the day…

Gotta play the game

I stockpile deliverables like reports or documentation months in advance. By the time management figures out they need something the work is already done. But I still take the maximum amount of time to produce the result. Helps avoid burnout since you're never behind on work. And management is too stupid to know what's needed on a daily basis anyway.

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

this is the nonsense i see asians do. i'm articulate, can be humorous, express ideas & routinely hit quota. however, i'm an introvert & value my time/peace. for those of you, who're the same, trying op will exhaust you into burnout & depression. instead, be "invaluable" i.e i go on leave, team never hit 50% quota, i stay & our numbers never fall below 90%. why?? i've got a 60% close rate vs the 30% industry/company average. my title doesn't say vice, manager, senior nor have the same duties but best i'll get paid and/or have references like one. ultimately, ask what are you progressing for?? get in, build a rep, experience and then job hop. don't treat work like a new girl you're dating rather its a marriage that's run its course but you're staying until the kids graduate.

It's what you learn trying to get into college as well... It's why college is the precursor for corporate america.

Yes, you can get into a community college with a GED. But to get into a real college, you're going to need good grades... If you have great grades, you can go to a GOOD college. But if you want to go the best college, you'll need great grades AND community work, referrals from important people, you'll have to pitch why you should be accepted, etc etc.

Ain't no different with a job. As you move up, you're going to have to a do a lot more than just your job. And at the top levels, you're going to have to do a bunch of shyt that has nothing to do with work at all, like community work, referrals from important people, and you'll have to constantly pitch why you should be accepted, etc etc

 

[The Devil's Advocate]

That could be true.

I worked at one of the largest organizations in Chicago. It would be considered a white org as you said. Probably 60-70% white. Butttt the some of the leaders of the org were blk.

The leader of our IT was a blk woman who lives on the southside of Chicago—bronzeville
The leader of a few of our teams were blk women. Another dept was led by a blk man

So I saw these white men/ppl taking orders from blk folks.

What I said in the OG will do more good than harm… especially if you’re tactical, strategic networking, and of course not being a try hard but being respectful and helpful.


Edit:
I remember thinking? How the hell is this guy in management? He’s terrible… but I learned that he played the game.

There were ppl i worked with who were non white who got promoted and were not very skilled in my opinion but were generally nice, helpful guys who played the game

You were exactly right in everything you said brother. Nobody HAS to do all these things. You never it's guaranteed to work.

Just like the 48 Laws of Power, your list of what to do works a lot more often than not. But just like that book, people have a emotional response to being told about "The Game" you have to play to win. Everybody loved Steve Jobs and hates Elon Musk, but they played the exact same cutthroat game to win. And they both would smile in the camera and show up to a community event and then lay off 50,000 people and have slaves make their products

It's all in the game yo

 

[invalid]

Edit: if you can get experience at one of the big 4 consulting companies: PwC, McKinsey, KMPG, Deloitte it helps get eyes on you later.

if anyone cares about firm hierarchy see below.
just dropping this as a resource.
i'm not responding to questions about it.
use it as a resource or don't.

There is always going to be levels.

All are great companies to people on the outside but on the inside they are regarded differently.

How I rank these firms, I wouldn't say is law, and others may disagree, but these are around the atmospheres I would place these firms.

First Tier

McKinsey
Boston Consulting Group
Bain & Co.

Second Tier

Oliver Wyman
Monitor
Roland Berger
Strategy&
AT Kearney
LEK Consulting

Third Tier

Big Four Consulting (Deloitte, PwC, EY, KPMG)
Accenture
Booze Allen Hamilton
ZS Associates
Capgemini
Other boutiques......

Just some fyi..

Strategy >>>> Operations >>> Implementation

Advisory =/= Audit

-If you are looking for a company that specializes in audit, tax, or any other accounting function, the Big Four is the holy grail.

-If you are looking for a company that specializes in providing consulting services to upper level management, then the MBB is the holy grail. The Big Four are good secondary options, because providing consulting services would come natural by way of the other services they traditionally provide (audit/tax/advisory.)

Factors that put MBB over Big 4 with respect to consulting services includes the fact that:

- Consulting is their core business​

- There are levels of prestige and pay within consulting. Strat is the most prestigious, followed by Ops, then implementation. In Strat, you're only dealing with the highest level executives in a company. The MBB specializes in Strat and may occasionally do some Ops work. The Big Four historically specialized in some Strat, but more Ops, and Implementation. There is a reason for this.​

- Accountants make informed decisions based off of past performance. They look back.​

- Strategist make decisions by looking into the future. They looking forward.​

- So these are two different skill sets.​

- Accountants, although retaining great organizational value, don't necessarily make great strategist.​

- So there is a stigma about hiring accountants to do strategy work and the Big Four is aware of this.​

- Which is why the Big Four has had to strip down there consulting arms into separate business entities to put more distance between them and the audit/tax side.​

- For instance, Deloitte. Deloitte has a management consulting arm that performs strat, ops, and implementation work. But since Deloitte is firstly an accounting firm, they've had to create a separate subsidiary that delineates from it's accounting arm, Deloitte Consulting. Even more, they've had to carve out separate subsidiaries to distinguish between the types of management consulting work that they perform. The arm of Deloitte Consulting that does pure strat work was carved out and became Monitor, to put even more space between Deloitte and it's "name" being known as an accounting organization. Even more, Doblin was carved out of Monitor, and they focus on pure innovation. Deloitte Consulting does more general consulting work that spans the gamut of all specialties.​

- With that being said, Monitor is more prestigious than Deloitte Consulting because it pays more and is pure strat work which is why it's ranked higher (2nd tier) right under the MBB. It is separate from Deloitte Consulting.​

- All the other consulting arms of the other accounting firms follow suit. Strategy& is the pure strat arm carved out of PwC which is why it's ranked higher in the 2nd tier along with Monitor.​

- Generalist vs. Specialist: Being a generalist is seen as having higher value than being a specialist. MBB ensures that their employees stay generalist. Whereas Big Four consulting requires you to eventually specialize.​

- Selectivity: MBB recruits from elite MBA programs. Big Four Consulting recruits from a broader but still highly competitive programs.​

- Pay/Exit Opps: Higher pay and better exit oops with MBB than Big Four.​

Okay, with all of that being said, I am in no way saying that Deloitte is trash. Deloitte is one of the best and most prestigious companies in the world.

But you all have to realize that in industries like law, finance, management consulting, accounting, and medicine, industries where you make a lot of money, and that were historically upper middle/upper class professions, things are very hierarchical, and there is pecking orders and prestige values assigned everywhere.

-In accounting, advisory is sometime seen as being more prestigious than audit and tax.​

- Audit and Tax is more prestigious than bookkeeping and payroll.​

- Within the Big Four, Deloitte and PwC is more prestigious than EY and KPMG.​

- EY and KPMG being more prestigious than Grant Thorton, McGladerey, or Crowe.​

​

- The M7 is considered to be more prestigious than the T20.​

- Post MBA, management consulting and investment banking are considered to have more prestige than corporate finance and non-profit.​

- Hedge Fund, Private Equity, and Investment Management more prestigious than consulting and banking.​

- In consulting, you have strat vs. ops vs. implementation.​

- You have distinguishes being made between buyside vs. sell side.​

- Front office vs. middle office vs. back office​

- Target vs. non-target.​

It goes on and on...
So don't take offense because I'm just stating the pecking order the way I know it to be. Traditionally, HYP grads did not go to Ivy League to go work for the Big Four. They went to Ivy League because those schools pipelined into MBB which pipelined to CEO positions. Although Deloitte is a great company, it's just a little bit incredulous that a Harvard grad would choose Deloitte over a place like Bain if that option was on the table. It's just the way the pecking orders are.

I didn't make the rules.

​

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[FTBS]

If we being honest, people fukking with you >>>. Plenty of hardworking, productive people get passed over or used like mule. If people fukk with you, you will get opportunities and benefit of the doubt. I have seen too many incompetent, underqualified people in to many positions of power (like I dont know...President) just because people fukk with them.

Think about it, what is the point of an interview. You got my education, skills, accomplishments, experience right there on my resume/CV/application. If its about that, we dont really have nothing to talk about. Same with getting raises or promotions, you know my work. Most folks get opportunitues based on referrals from friends/family and/or the folks hiring or making decisions fukk with you. We gotta kill this myth of "its about how hard you work" or "how good you are". Most folks at most jobs are not on some 99th irreplaceable shyt.

That all said there is a difference between being personable and engaging and an annoying kissass. But in all aspects of life people with top notch people skills get ahead .

 

[2 one 3]

If you manager gives u unclear goals about how to get promoted, they/he doesn’t want to promote u. Start lookin elsewhere

Exactly where I’m at. My senior manager doesn’t give me the tools for success. Had a meeting with him and our regional a few months back and I even requested a transfer

Both of them were mad as fukk. I applied for two positions out of state without letting them know…


But why the fukk would I let you know my next move when you are holding me back…


I am on cruise control at this bytch. Doing the absolute bare minimum and I recently just got a raise lol. I don’t get involved in any work drama or politics. I literally go there to get paid and go the fukk home.

 

[Ezekiel 25:17]

Good post. I think you're missing a key component in that people need to live below their means. Corporate world is brutal and you stuck if you living check to check. People get that big promotion and start spending more.

Whenever I do move up im keeping my old ass Durango. If it goes bust im buying another cheap one or a beater for cash.