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1. Job seekers light up when they find The Muse — we’re a breath of fresh air in a stale, musty world. Our user experience focuses first and foremost on the individual, on providing them information — from content to company profiles — to make the most pressing professional decisions in their lives.
2. One of the top causes of startup death — right after cofounder problems — is building something no one wants.
3. We spend a lot of time on Skype and other video interviews, and it’s funny how many people will prepare for a Skype interview by wearing a formal suit jacket with pajama pants on the bottom. Then suddenly, someone is at the door, and you have to get up, and you realize you’re wearing reindeer boxers. Just put pants on.
4. People actually aren’t moving on from companies much more quickly than in the past, but there’s a perception that they do, so companies are investing less in talent on the assumption that young employees won’t stay long.
5. Slouching or leaning back may send the wrong signals. When you sit down for a formal interview, lean forward to show interest and active listening.
6. Sure, it’s fun to chat with people with interesting backgrounds who seem to have a passion for your company. But a job interview is not a friendly chat. You need to determine whether candidates, can they really do the job. So ask them to prove it.
7. Launching a start-up, you need to get a lot done quickly. Every day is different. Everyone pitches in with everything. It’s easy for the founding team to say, ‘We’re flexible. We all help out with everything!’ But when it comes to making decisions — that flexibility can spell inefficiency and disaster.
8. As a general rule, most recent university graduates know far more about U.S. economic history and ‘The Lord of the Flies’ than about how the modern workplace functions and how to succeed in it. Yet come senior year of college, it couldn’t be more important or more timely to learn the basics of getting a job.
9. It’s fantastic to be known as a company that responds quickly to users, shares great resources and friendly banter with them over Twitter, and forges relationships on Pinterest, Facebook, and every other social media site out there.
10. With clearly defined roles and a focus on communication, it’s much easier to make your company come across as well-organized and on top of things — because it actually is.
11. Ultimately, I think it takes a certain grit and determination to constantly re-prove to people that you’re just as dedicated, just as determined, and just as capable as the entrepreneurs around you who may better fit the physical pattern — but on the flipside, women who succeed often become razor sharp through the process.
12. I think the idea of a ‘perfect job’ is a myth — there are pros and cons of every position, good days and bad days, and even what most people would consider dream jobs come with their share of downsides.
13. I know, being the odd one out can feel brutal. But, rest assured, it’s also wonderful — because your desire to do things differently isn’t ‘uncool.’ In fact, it’s the exact opposite.
14. Work-life balance for founders doesn’t look like work-life balance for everyone else. Starting a company isn’t a nine-to-six job — or a nine-to-nine job, or a nine-to-midnight job.
15. Networking doesn’t have to be all about talking shop over appetizers and bad chardonnay — do it in a way that works for you.
16. As a cohort, millennials are unique in their social consciousness, and they make decisions based on that awareness. Keep them engaged at work by showcasing a culture of paying it forward and tying the day-to-day into the larger purpose of the organization.
17. I probably have a small number of people that are consistently advisors and mentors, but I’m much more likely to have a broader array of… almost like an unofficial board of advisors, where I know that certain people are going to be good for certain types of topics.
18. Every generation brings something new to the workplace, and millennials are no exception. As a group, they tend to be highly educated, love to learn, and grew up with the Internet and digital tools in a way that can be highly useful when leveraged properly.
19. Sure, you’re an intelligent and highly capable individual, and you are learning a lot on the fly as you build your company. But you also need to come to terms with the fact that there are things you have chosen not to be an expert in.
20. When I started my first company, I still had a 40-hour a week job. I was working on my company on nights and weekends before I took the plunge and gave up a salary.