High School Portrait

It doesn’t seem like it’s been almost five years since I graduated from high school.

In a few months the one hundred and thirty something students who graduated from high school with me are set to have our five year reunion.

It wasn’t until after I graduated that I realized people even had five year reunions.

I must admit I’m a little nervous and I don’t know quite what to expect. It’s not the question of measuring up to my peers but more the uncertainty that comes from knowing that people’s personalities and temperaments have undoubtedly changed.  In some cases, a whole lot.

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Michael Phelps

From today’s b, the paper

Michael Phelps has mastered the art of playing coy.

When asked recently whether he thought he’d be named Sports Illustrated’s Sportsman of the Year, Phelps offered a half-smirk and a roll of his shoulders.

Of course, he won the title, which shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise to anyone. The magazine called this year’s countdown “the most anticlimactic campaign in the 55-year history of the honor.”
Phelps’ post-Olympic schedule has been packed with corporate obligations and personal ones. Phelps and his coach, Bob Bowman, became business partners by purchasing the Meadowbrook Aquatic Center in Mount Washington, and he formed a foundation to introduce kids to swimming.

He even has a book, “No Limits: The Will to Succeed,” due in stores today. Co-written by journalist Alan Abrahamson, though portrayed in first person as if Phelps was the main author, it focuses primarily on the historic Olympics performance.

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From today’s b, the paper

Far from its trendy, sterile new boutique in Hampden is the unglamorous heart of SquidFire.

It is here, in an early-1900s warehouse near Greektown, in a gritty — and unheated — room overlooking railroad tracks, where company co-founders Jean-Baptiste Regnard and Kevin Sherry churn out masses of whimsical prints on a rainbow of American Apparel T-shirts.

SquidFire is a neon world populated by pirate cats and a crop duster trailing pink hearts. Using manual presses to silkscreen clothing, the friends create one-of-a-kind, defiantly non-mall looks.

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From today’s b, the paper

With Maryland’s jobless rate at 5 percent — the highest it’s been in 12 years — it’s vital that you stand out if you’re looking for a job. Your resume is key to that.

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In a couple of days I’m going to write the first check to begin repaying my undergraduate student loans. You know it’s one of those things you do because you must. This event serves as yet another sign that I’m not in college anymore. Admittedly, I miss it. I feel that way every time I go to write an e-mail versus a text so I can meet up with a friend in a dining hall or somewhere near campus. I feel that way every time someone asks about work or how life after graduation feels. A few times a week I think back to the days where what I thought about was much more simple. Read the rest of this entry »

From b, the paper

It has become common practice to begin the hiring process with a phone interview. If you do poorly, you will not move on.

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From today’s b, the paper

So you took a new job, and it’s definitely not what you were expecting. Should you stay so there won’t be a weird blip on your resume? Are you going to burn bridges? How are you going to explain to a potential new boss why you are jumping ship so quickly?

This is not an unusual situation; it has happened to plenty of people, including myself. I had been in a good job at a good company for a few years, but I was stuck ­— there was no room to move up. So I searched and found a great job (or so I thought). I went in pumped. It did not take long for me to realize I had made a huge mistake. The job was not what was explained to me, and I was micro-managed.
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From today’s b, the paperWhat do you do and how do you handle it when a colleague is promoted to manage your group? This usually is a tough transition. A lot transpires in the first few months from both the new manager’s side and from the rest of the team, and it is usually a little bumpy. Read the rest of this entry »

From today’s b, the paper

I am a huge fan of “Big Brother” on CBS, and it reminds me of starting a new job. You show up on the first day and meet a bunch of strangers. Everyone is on best behavior and assessing the competition. Your strategic alignments can set your tone for your time at the company. If you align with people who cause controversy, you become part of the problem. If you align with the leaders, you are seen as an opportunist. If you hang on the sidelines, you can easily be seen as insignificant. Every step of the way, you have to watch what you say to whom until you find yourself true allies.

And until you can find your true allies — people who know how to separate personal and professional conversations — expect anything you say to be repeated and probably embellished. In any game, some people are threatened by strong players and see the best way to deal with them as either taking them out or weakening them. The workplace is no different.
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From today’s b, the paper

At annual review time, do you walk out of the meeting with your manager wondering what planet she’s from or irritated that he missed some great highlights from the past year? Performance evaluations are becoming commonplace, and many include self-evaluations. They are usually voluntary, and more often than not employees skip this portion — but by not participating, they cut their voice out of the process. Do you write your self-evaluation?
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