An article in today’s Boston Globe, Social-network sites give businesses ideas for new collaboration, highlights the soon-to-be movement of using social networking sites, blogs and other connection tools within a corporate setting.

“The new technologies will help companies empower workers, pool expertise across departments and geographies, and attract young workers who grew up with blogs and social networks. But critics of social networking in business applications cited the dangers of relaxing control of in-house communities… However, companies cited competitive advantages they’d gained from new collaborative technologies.”

 
In my previous position, I created a screen name for my boss so that we could talk through instant messages rather than those annoying 1 line emails. And I’ve always said that there’s something missing from the workplace in terms of a tool for getting to know your employees. As a new employee at a big (or even small) company, all those new names are hard to memorize, especially for someone who a visual learner. (If I see a picture with a name below it, I’ll remember that person’s name forever. If I meet someone and their name is said out loud, I’ve gotten worse and worse at being able to recall what I was told.) I tried to organize an employee cookbook in the past. The premise was that everyone contributes a recipe, which is then included in the book along with a picture and some basic information. The cookbook is then given to new employees when they begin.

A social networking site like MySpace or Facebook for businesses would allow employees to get to know each other – better and faster.

An recent article from the Wall Street Journal I stumbled across today, New Grads Are Impatient for Promotions, reflects one of my frustrations with the corporate world I’ve recently entered.

While the young professionals interviewed were disillusioned because their ideas were not adopted or because they did not have work to challenge them, my qualm is because I feel like my career hasn’t really progressed.

I currently hold a position that is very similar to those I’ve held for the past four years. Now, this isn’t my employer’s fault – I think it’s a result of the fact that although I’ve held internships during college, I haven’t had any full-time experience. I’m over-qualified for entry-level positions, but under-qualified for the next step…

I’m working to carve out some responsibilities for myself and take on projects that interest me. This way, not only am I challenged, but I am growing my skills at the same time.

Just like David Copperfield, I can do something magic, too. Specifically that of disappearing and reappearing.

I really don’t remember why I stopped posting during the summer. I can imagine I got burnt out. I was working almost 40 hours a week, going out almost every night and probably fighting with my mother constantly.

At the end of August, I returned to school for my fall semester as a junior. I took a variety of classes – Introduction to French Literature, Business Writing, International Economics, Business Law – and only one that had anything to do with Marketing: Consumer Analysis.

Now consumer analysis is, understandably, very important to those in the Marketing field. I wrote a analyzing the commercials during Apprentice, I wrote a paper analyzing generational values, I wrote a paper analyzing different ad campaigns and their marketing approach… (See where the analysis comes in?) But really, did I learn anything worthwhile that I’ll be able to apply to the real world? It’s doubtful. Not that I’m complaining or anything… I got an A in the class.

Well, now I’m back home. I’ve been doing projects for three different start-ups; all are places where I’ve been previously employeed. I working mostly for the company I worked for this summer, plus doing small things for the two others on the side… and I’ve got lots of interesting stories to share!

More to come…

As I mentioned, last week it was just me and the VP of marketing in the office. By thursday afternoon, I had pretty much gone through my list of “things to do”, so I decided to visit my old job on friday and help out there. That was my first mistake.

They are doing a new type of training in a couple weeks and I usually handle cover artwork creation and editing (grammatical and spacing) the manual itself. Because of the fourth of july weekend, our goal was to get the manuals to the printer, cover and all, by noon.

I arrived at about 10:00am and started frantically trying to get everything done. I use an old computer, and at one point, when I was opening up the manual document – 80 pages, full of heavy pictures – the computer froze. I went to restart the computer, but when it was shutting down, it froze. So, I pressed the power on button to get it to restart that way. Imagine my horror when I got a blue screen saying something was really wrong (don’t remember exactly what- the registry?) and to get the administrator.

I was literally shaking when I walked over to get our network administrator. It brought back all the memories of being a little kid and breaking the laptops my step-father gave me to use (which he brought home from work and were probably not doing well anyway). Anyway, the administrator, who is a really nice guy, but who I’m afraid to ask for help, told me that the data on the computer wasn’t lost… so I relaxed, a tiny bit.

But, let’s put it this way- my boss was not a happy camper (completely understandble). My boss had herself admitted that she does not handle stress well. I, on the other hand, being a college student, finishing assignments last minute, and dealing with my mother, have learned how to be cool, calm and collected in a stressful situation.

Friday before fourth of july, everyone trying to get out of the office, and having this crisis was very bad timing. The computer I used at work had all the company’s website stuff on it, all the special application, Adobe Suite, you get the idea…

Long story short, the manuals and cover were done by 8pm Friday night. The computer is now up and running. Hopefully, my boss will be in a better mood next time we talk. Hey, at least it was an interesting day, and as I told my boss (who was not amused), it makes for a good story.