The Readers Speak

Greetings from the Deans' Offices - Thanks for your continued support and subscription. Over the past 6 months, we have made significant changes to the website -- from its format and content, to its contributing writers and regular features. The more we learn about you, our readers, the better we can provide the kind of material you are looking for. Please take a few moments to complete our Reader's Survey at the link below. Your feedback is very important to us. Many thanks, Caroline Bender & Miss Minchin http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/5DHM...

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(book review) The Complete Guide to the Gap Year

Instructor, Caroline Bender It is Spring in the hearts and minds of high school graduates and their parents everywhere.  In many homes, the arrival of the daily mail is a reason for gathering – sorting the fat envelopes from the skinny ones.  It is a bleak job market these new grads face.  Sadly, college may not be an immediate option for some of them, whose family future planning has been altered by unforeseen financial hardships. The Class of 2010 may turn to the Gap Year in higher numbers than we have seen since draft deferments put working post-adolescence out of fashion.  For those considering time off between High School...

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The Kumbaya File

Instructor, Caroline Bender Like many things I learned in the world of work,I learned this practice in the trenches with my foxhole buddy Jay. I was reminded of it today, when one of our favorite trench writers Pam Slim, of Escape from Cubicle Nation, guest posted on Gapingvoid.com an essay called "you, less than."  That is a lot of blogrolling.  Let me get to my point.  There is a lot more to click below. In the course of your work life, you will encounter many stumbles where you may question your competence, your worthiness, the gifts and skills you came in with.  Sometimes this will go on for years -- but most of the time...

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The Mailroom is Open!

Letters, letters, we get letters!  Ok, we really don't.  And we think it is because we didn't have an email address.  So NOW.... one more way to contact the Finishing School. bwfinishingschool@gmail.com Contact us with ideas, comments, and Ask a Manager questions. Please continue to- Use the Comments field (if you are not a spammer.  You know we don't mean you) - Visit our Facebook page (and share us with your Friends)  It's true, we don't Tweet.  But when would we post...

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Ask a Manager: Managing Up

Dick Whitman, Manager in Residence Dear Manager,  "Do you have any tips on how an underling should initiate a conversation with her boss about concerns she has regarding their working relationship? For example, my boss shows up late for meetings I am facilitating, gives me assignments that lead me to believe she thinks I'm her assistant, and she doesn't provide feedback in a timely manner, which slows my progress on projects. I'd like the conversation to be mature and productive, not a laundry list of things that are annoying me. Thanks for your input." There are a few questions I’d love to ask you before sending you in for that tough...

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Workplace Dangers: Idea Stealers

Recently, one of our students asked, "Could you write about how women should handle a fellow coworker, in a higher position, completely poaching a project after most of the hard work is done? That would be really useful. I think women are almost TOO good at making thier coworkers look good- which sometimes gets them in trouble." This gave us the opportunity to reprint one of our earliest postings, from 2005, when our institution was founded. We invite the student body into conversation about whether this advice should be altered when the Idea Stealer is a higher-up.  Freshman Seminar with Miss Minchin - Session 2 It's happened to...

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