In today’s post, Alexandra answers some of my questions:

Q. How did you come up with this idea for Blind Spots?

A. I decided to write Blind Spots because I was tired of reading silly theories and platitudes dispensed by business and career authors who sell their work by giving these myths credibility and by telling readers what they want to hear. I wanted to be honest with people about what will render them successful in today’s business world, not yesterday’s. I wanted something out there other than overly provocative advice that hasn’t worked for anyone I know, like quitting your job tomorrow and starting your own business the next day, or marching into your boss’ office and announcing that he should appreciate your individuality.

Q. Which of your “blind spots” do you think most affects Gen Yers, and how can they overcome it?

A. Without question, the myth that it’s best to climb the ladder as fast as possible. Gen Yers must understand that getting promoted year after year requires a near-constant vigilance as well as a laser-sharp focus on work –- often to the detriment of everything else in your life. In Blind Spots, we talk about why it’s best to enjoy your time as a middle manager or individual contributor and how you can really make the most of your working twenties without burning out or being set up to fail.

Q. You mention in your introduction that you would like to help people hone their positive traits like authenticity, perseverance and self-awareness. What would you suggest is the first step in accomplishing this, particularly for young professionals?

A. The first step is to recognize what you don’t know and where you can improve. A lot of what it takes to be successful is already a part of who you are, and with a little self-reflection and the course-correcting offered in Blind Spots, you absolutely have the power to cultivate the skills and attitude that will take you wherever you want to go.

Q. Myth #8 is focused on job security. What is the best thing someone might do to ensure that they don’t get laid off?

A. If word on the street says there will be layoffs, sniff out competitors who do similar work and are in better financial straits, pursue an internal move to a profitable department and nurture your relationships with senior executives.

Q. What is your best advice to young professionals who dream of entrepreneurship?

A. If you want to start a company, the motivation fueled by being bored with your work or hating your boss won’t be enough. You’ll have to think hard about the marketplace and the need for your product or service. Then, be prepared to work at a variety of tasks to bring it to fruition.

To stand out in this economy, everyone needs an angle (or three…or four…). But there is an angle that I think many Millennials overlook, perhaps because it feels so natural to them. In my opinion, the #1 advantage Millennials offer employers is that they are digital natives.

As defined on Wikipedia, a digital native is “a person who was born during or after the general introduction of digital technology, and through interacting with digital technology from an early age, has a greater understanding of its concepts.” (Check out PBS Frontline’s excellent special on this topic.) In other words, if you clicked a mouse before you read a book, you’re a digital native.

I’m not talking here about coding ability, HTML5 design or any other specific technical skill. I’m talking about the overall instinct to use technology to solve challenges and create opportunities. This is a highly valuable career advantage and one that Millennials don’t exploit enough when applying for jobs.

If you’re a young professional, here are some ideas for using your status as a digital native to your advantage:

• Promote your social media knowledge. Many Gen Ys are shocked when I recommend including social media skills on their resumes or LinkedIn profiles. The reality is that everyone doesn’t know how to use Twitter and many employers (especially small business owners) will pay someone to do this. If you consider yourself an expert designer of Facebook fan pages, a super-Tweeter (including using all of the myriad Twitter-related sites like HootSuite and TweetDeck) or you’ve been posting videos to YouTube for years, then this expertise should appear as a skill on your resume and LinkedIn profile.

• Demonstrate the ability to tap your online networks. Many companies today are obsessed with crowdsourcing, a skill that most Millennials possess innately. For instance, if you want to be a journalist, editor or TV producer, you should market your ability to quickly tap your online networks for referrals to sources, information and ideas. This is also a valuable skill for aspiring marketers, recruiters and fundraisers.

• Emphasize your self-sufficiency. While Millennials do require a lot of feedback from employers, what you don’t require is a lot of tech support. According to new research from Bomgar and GigaOm Pro, “Millennials initially seek outside sources to solve their own technology problems versus immediately turning to the IT department when something goes awry. Sixty-one percent said they don’t go to company support first, and the majority (71 percent) had searched for an answer on Google at least once.”

• Market your mobility. Everyone is talking about mobile marketing these days, so if you’re especially good at finding apps for your phone, or — better yet — designing apps, be sure to make this known. Since mobile marketing is still a relatively new field, your natural abilities can stand out when companies are looking to build their mobile strategies. But they won’t know you can do this unless you tell them.

If the above tips resonate with you, be sure to add these digital native skills to your resume and to the “Skills” section of your LinkedIn profile (check out this article from Mashable on how to do that).

What other digital native traits are valuable to employers and overlooked by Gen Ys who possess them? Please share your comments!

I’ve come to use these tools on a daily basis and wanted to share them with you. (Note: I’m writing about these tools because I love them and use them. I have no official relationship with them.)

1. Instapaper. As a career expert, one of the most frequent pieces of advice I give is to read the news every day. This means, at the very least, reading a major national news source and subscribing to industry publications and blogs. Most people follow this advice by skimming each day’s headlines, reading some digest emails and checking their social networks for shared articles.

Doing all of that is fine, but it means that most people only have a surface understanding of news and current events. For many topics this will suffice, but the most successful people have a much deeper level of knowledge about their particular field, and current events as well.

How do they do this? By reading longer articles, opinion pieces and in-depth analyses. For instance, book editors read full-length reviews in The New York Times Book Review. Financial professionals read feature articles in Harvard Business Review. Doctors read studies in The New England Journal of Medicine. If you really want to make it big, you need to get smarter by going deeper.

The problem, of course, is that deep reading is incredibly time-consuming. Enter Instapaper. This no-frills app allows you to save any online article to your iPhone or computer (some other mobile devices work with the app as well) and read it when you have time. When I’m not able to read an article I know is important, I’ll Instapaper it and then read when I can.  This ensures I don’t miss important content and it helps maximize my “downtime”.  Riding the subway, sitting in traffic and waiting at a doctor’s appointment are great opportunities to catch up on my reading.

If you’re not sure what is important or interesting to read, check out Instapaper’s weekly selection of the best articles on the web. Not only will you feel smarter, but you’ll also have a great diversity of knowledge to talk about at networking events, job interviews and other situations where you want to make a good impression.

2. Klout. Knowing more information makes you smarter. And so does knowing more about yourself. Klout is a relatively new tool that provides information about the influence you have online. Your Klout “score” uses data from LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social networks to determine the people you influence through your online activities. Then, the site gives you an overall designation such as “observer,” “dabbler,” “activist” or “thought leader” in the categories you like to engage in. In other words, Klout analyzes how much you’re viewed as a knowledgeable person online.

Why should you care? Because your Internet image matters to your career. As recruiters and hiring managers pay more and more attention to candidates’ social media presence, a high Klout score could help you land a job (or a client or an investor).

Remember that in today’s competitive market, success is not just about what you know, but how you show it. Instapaper and Klout are here to help.

What other tools help make you smarter? Please share!

I recently had the opportunity to speak with shatterbox founder Amanda Holt about why she created the site and how it can help young job seekers.

Q: What is shatterbox and how did you get the idea to start this business?

A. I like to call shatterbox an “inspiration engine” for young people hungry for passionate careers. It’s a video showcase, a social network and a resource blog full of stories, advice and dialogue centered on the idea of finding your place in the career jungle.

The idea for shatterbox was twirling in my brain in some shape or form since college when the daunting task of finding a job became imminent. My friends and peers lined up for corporate consulting and banking interviews and I wondered two things. First, how they knew what they were doing, and second, what was supposed to be my “thing.”

After two unfulfilling, entry-level work experiences, I felt back at square one and came up with a new approach to finding that “thing.” I took people out to lunch — people who were fascinating, young, passionate professionals who’d managed what seemed impossible: they found jobs or started companies they loved. I learned so much about different paths towards career satisfaction that I wanted to capture them and share them.

So, I began filming interviews with these people, creating short video stories and finally built a platform for inspiring students and post-grads to chase their passions and strengths.

Q. The people you profile are very passionate about their careers. What is your best advice to young people who aren’t sure what they’re passionate about?

A. Own something. By that I mean, even if you’re a student or you’re uninspired by your job, start a club, blog or a meet-up based on something that is yours and makes you feel good.

For instance, the girls behind “Big Girls, Small Kitchen” stumbled upon a food blogging and book writing career after spending their out-of-work hours blogging about what they loved: food and entertaining. The guys who built Compass Partners simply wanted a network of support for undergraduate entrepreneurs and took that need into their own hands. They created a launch pad for young social entrepreneurs.

You’re bound to produce innovative, interesting things when you’re simply enjoying yourself. Maybe it’ll always be a modest hobby, but I constantly come across stories of exciting side projects leading to a passionate discovery and new businesses.

Q. Since you have a website full of inspiring career stories, what are some of the themes you’ve noticed in those stories of what it takes to be happy in one’s career?

A: Theme 1: Time flies. Loving your job or being a passionate entrepreneur doesn’t mean ideas, deals and money will fly in the windows. It tends to inspire you to spend your days (and often nights) engaged and motivated to produce. There may be grinding days and exhausted nights. However, generally happy professionals I’ve met reflect on their days with the age-old mantra, “Time flies when you’re having fun.” Be willing to give the hours and those hours will give back to you.

Theme 2: Making a mark. The people who inspire me most are those who are inspired to make a difference. Whether it’s a musician touching people through songwriting, a tech entrepreneur building software to help us manage finances or a non-profit worker committing to end childhood hunger, the happiest professionals I know see a direct relationship between their work and changing the world in even the tiniest way.

Q. Why do you think it’s so important to expose recent grads and young professionals to the career stories of others?

A. Because no one should feel blind. I felt blind when I graduated from college. Even after a summer of internships and informational interviews, I still didn’t have an understanding of the opportunities out there for me.

Witnessing and relating to someone’s story and understanding their struggles, fears, triumphs and choices are essential. It’s helpful to know that everyone goes through the rollercoaster in a different way. I discovered that visualizing what a successful and happy future can look like is really empowering. Putting a face and a story to what was once a three-sentence job description can make all the difference.

While every minute of every day can’t necessarily be a blast, I wholeheartedly agree with Carnegie. The more you genuinely enjoy your work, the more likely you are to thrive at it.

And there’s no better time to have more fun at work than the summer months, when daylight lasts longer, flowers are blooming everywhere and people are generally in a much better mood.

Here are some suggestions for kicking up your fun quotient:

1.     Do your most boring or unpleasant work first thing in the morning. This is a popular productivity tip and it really works. When you complete your most undesired tasks first, it leaves the rest of your day for the projects you enjoy more. Plus, you save yourself the hours of dreading the boring stuff, which puts you in a better mood.  You will be more available for chatting with colleagues or other fun activities.

2.     Leave the office for lunch. According to a survey by the American Dietetic Association, 75 percent of office workers eat lunch at their desks as often as two or three times a week. Many companies offer free or subsidized lunch to encourage this practice even more. While I ‘m certainly guilty of forking salad into my mouth with one hand while typing out emails with the other, I know I feel better on days when I meet a friend for lunch.  Even if I leave my office for 15 minutes just to get away from my desk, I notice a difference.

While getting out for lunch every day might be tough (and expensive), make a habit of meeting a friend for lunch at least once a week. Or, organize a lunch outing to a funky restaurant with some colleagues you enjoy spending time with. If you want to get really serious about having more fun at lunch, check out the national Take Back Your Lunch project.

3.     Volunteer to do something different. Another way to add fun to your workday is to get involved in a variety of different projects. Variation is a fantastic cure for boredom. Ask your boss if any new projects are coming up where you could lend a hand or volunteer to solve a problem that no one is working on (such as creating a better system for scheduling conference room usage). You’ll enjoy the challenge and get bonus points for being proactive.

4.     Participate in more “elective” events. Just as school was more fun when you had art class, chorus or woodshop to look forward to, work can be more fun when you participate in non-essential events. If you’re not someone who normally plays in office softball games, joins a big group community service project or participates in March Madness brackets, why not give these sorts of things a try? Besides being a way to network with your colleagues, participating in these activities lets you see another side of people you interact with every—a side you might really enjoy.

5.     Celebrate achievements large and small. While most offices have a little cake and a few balloons for birthdays, most don’t take time to celebrate work successes. Next time you’re working on a challenging project, planning a big event or working towards any goal, decide in advance on a fun way you’ll honor the “win.” This might involve ordering in a really good meal for everyone on the team, going out as a group to a mid-day movie, bringing in a massage therapist or doing pretty much anything that would feel exciting and special. You’ll not only enjoy the prize itself, you’ll also enjoy the anticipation leading up to it.

What other ways have you found to add more fun to your days? Please share!

Tammy generously agreed to answer some questions about how she started her organization and what advice she would give to other Gen Ys who aspire to nonprofit careers.

Q:  How did you first have the idea to start She’s the First?

A: My fun motto is “rock the prom, rock the world,” and this is because when I was 23, I decided to start a media campaign and website called She’s the First, inspired by the experience I had creating DonateMyDress.org for Hearst Magazines [in my first fulltime job after graduating from college].

DonateMyDress.org was a directory of prom dress drives nationwide that became successful. So I thought, why not create a directory of school sponsorship programs for girls worldwide and apply the same marketing skills? At the time, I was volunteering for a non-profit that had a sponsorship program in Liberia, so my inspirations mixed and She’s the First was born.

I didn’t intend for it to become an incorporated 501(c)(3) not-for-profit. I thought She’s the First would be just a side media project, like a hobby.  It then started to resonate with young women more than I ever dreamed. I think that’s because the She’s the First brand is universal.  We can all think of who we are or what we want to be the “first” at. It fuels an intense desire to pay it forward, especially since our website is a storytelling platform about the lives and dreams of girls worldwide.

I realized that in order to achieve the full potential of She’s the First, we’d have to evolve and become an official organization.  Until She’s the First receives funding, I still have a day job that I truly love, but my heart is strongly in She’s the First.

Q:  So, you’re working fulltime in addition to running a nonprofit. Can you describe how you balance (or not!) your time between all of your activities?

A: Yes, I work 40 hours freelance at a teen magazine, managing social media. I don’t sleep much and I drink lots of coffee and Crystal Light Energy! Sometimes, I am not sure I have the greatest life-work balance, but then again, I’m not the kind of person who would be happy just lying on the beach or going home and watching TV. My brain is wired to do five things at once. Maybe when I get older that will change, but right now I am 25 so I’ll take advantage of the energy!

Q:  What is your best advice to other Gen Ys who want to launch nonprofits?

A: My #1 piece of advice is NOT to launch a nonprofit UNLESS you have worked or volunteered intimately with one before. You HAVE to learn how other organizations and leaders function in order to understand what you want to emulate. You will be learning the most important lessons and values that you will need to be successful.

Q: What have been the biggest challenges of founding and running a nonprofit?

A: Every day is a challenge. I think all non-profits have the same answer — the lack of resources. The flip side of that is it requires us to be incredibly creative and think outside the box. That is one of the greatest rewards!

Q:  What have been some other big rewards?

A: The biggest rewards are the stories we hear from the girls we have helped.  We’ve been particularly affected by:

• receiving a letter from a girl we sponsor, especially the Kisa Scholars, sponsored by [our benefit concert] GIRLS WHO ROCK 2010, because their sponsorship includes Internet access to directly email us.
• working with a teen volunteer in New York City who uncovers her leadership potential to advocate for girls her own age in developing countries.
• Hearing about a college student holding a bake sale in order to raise money to sponsor three girls and then traveling to meet them in person!

 Q: You are a rock star at using social media to promote your cause. What role has social media played in the success of She’s The First and what lessons can you share with other aspiring nonprofit founders?

A: Social media is like a magic wand. We’ve asked for many resources and contacts via Twitter and Facebook and received a tremendous response. We also recruit the majority of performers for our GIRLS WHO ROCK benefit concert via Twitter. We’ve found some of our best volunteers and friends via the “new follower” alerts that Twitter sends.

The reason it works for us is because we have an authentic voice and we are diligent about showing our supporters the outcome of their support. We reply to every tweet and Facebook comment we receive because it’s important to us. As my friend Selena Soo once remarked, “Twitter is a dialogue, not a monologue.”

Q:  What does the future hold for She’s The First and for you?

A: In the near future, I hope we will earn grants and corporate sponsorships.  This will allow us to grow our operations and administrative budget to maximize our fundraising abilities and the scope of our mentoring worldwide. We’d really love to travel more to visit the girls in the sponsorship programs we support.

If you want to see the future of She’s the First unravel, be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter (@shesthefirst)!

Photo by Marc Hall. Left-to-right: She’s the First Executive Director Christen Brandt, Arlington Academy of Hope (Uganda partner school) founders John & Joyce Wanda, GIRLS WHO ROCK Co-Founder Cynthia Hellen, She’s the First Founder/President Tammy Tibbetts

Yep, that’s it.

For many years I’ve taught professional writing seminars in addition to my career speeches and workshops. In these programs, “Be more concise” is the advice I find myself dispensing more than any other.

Even in our world of 140-charater tweets, 160-character texts and txt msg spk, most people make the mistake of talking and writing way more than is necessary.

Here are some reasons why conciseness is so important, particularly in the workplace:

• People are busy and have short attention spans. Being more concise shows that you respect other people’s time.

• The more information you provide, the less likely someone is to remember it all.

• One perfectly chosen word is worth a dozen less impactful words. As a writing teacher of mine used to use as an example, Which is more powerful: “Lindsey cried really, really hard because she was incredibly sad” or “Lindsey wept”?

• When you talk too much or write very long emails, even if they are beautifully crafted and grammatically flawless, you actually appear less professional to your colleagues. Why? People assume you can’t edit your thoughts or that you’re trying to show off. Or, if you’re a recent grad, you appear to be writing and speaking like you’re still in college and trying to meet a minimum word requirement. (Note: ignore this bullet point if you work in the legal industry, academia or another field where long sentences and paragraphs are the required standard.)

• You become more organized and clear in your own thoughts. Being concise forces you to have a clear understanding of what it is that you’re trying to say.  The result is that you are more prepared mentally for whatever next steps are required.

Here are three ways to be more concise right now:

• Cut the preambles. There is no need to begin an email or conversation with “It has come to my attention that…” or “I know you are really busy, but…” A short, polite greeting is great, but don’t dilute your message by adding an unnecessary introduction. Some better introductions are “As requested…,” “As discussed…” and “Below please find…”

The worst example of a long and unnecessary preamble came in an email I once received from an intern who attended one of my workshops: She wrote, “I know you said in your workshop not to write long emails, so I apologize in advance that this is going to be a long email, but…”

What a way to turn off your reader!

• Use more bullet points. Yes, some thoughts need to be expressed in formal sentences, but this is not often the case in the workplace. Your reader or listener (of an email, memo or presentation) will be more likely to remember your points when you shorten them into memorable snippets. Remember that your goal is to communicate, not to write the Great American Novel.

• Edit every email message you send. Before I click send on any message, I always go back and read through it to see what I can cut out. This includes shortening sentences, cutting long paragraphs into two shorter paragraphs and eliminating unnecessary information. If this sounds like too much work, then start by editing your most important emails. I predict that the results will be so good that you’ll start to edit all of your messages.

By no means am I advising that you be rude or curt; the goal is to cut out the fat. You know that feeling of dread when you open an email and see that it is pages long and super dense? Don’t give that feeling to anyone else.

My workshop attendees who apply these three simple tactics frequently report back about the immediate positive results they achieve. The more concise they are in their written and spoken communications, the faster they receive replies, the less follow-up they have to do and the more work they can accomplish. My conclusion? The shorter your communications, the longer your career success!

Besides having a great concept and satisfying my sweet tooth, Emily is an inspiring example of a young professional succeeding with a social enterprise in a tough economy. She was kind enough to take time out of her busy baking and business schedule to answer some of my questions.

Q: Can you please describe Baking for Good?

A: Baking for Good is an online bakery inspired by the idea of a bake sale. We bake delicious, all-natural brownies, cookies and other sweet treats, and we give 15 percent of every purchase to a charity the customer chooses. We’re currently working with over 200 nonprofit and community organizations. We ship nationwide, so our products make great gifts and can be customized for any occasion.

Q: You were in the same class at Harvard and even the same dorm, Kirkland House, as Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. I’ll refrain from asking lots of questions about Zuck and instead ask: Do you think your entrepreneurial ambitions started in college?

A: When I was in college, I saw various classmates starting businesses, but at that time I expected that I would stay on a more traditional path. Becoming a lawyer or a doctor was a lot easier to wrap my head around than starting my own business. But when I look back now, I realize that I was entrepreneurial from a really young age. I loved to do craft projects (think rubber stamps, polymer clay and decoupage), and I started mini, short-lived businesses with many of my hobbies when I was little.

Q: What is your advice to current college students with dreams of starting a business someday?

A: I think business experience of any kind is immensely helpful for college students with dreams of starting a business. It would be awesome to intern at a start-up or in a big company, but even aside from such “obvious” opportunities, working in a retail store or waiting tables can be really eye-opening and formative. I worked for several summers at an ice cream store, and I learned a ton about customer service, management and small business operations.  

Q: You started your professional career as a management consultant after college. What was most helpful about that experience?

A: Management consulting was a great way for me to learn about business in broad terms and see how big companies fit together and approach strategic decisions. I learned a lot about organizational design and retail best practices. One of my main clients was a telecom company, and we helped them redesign their retail stores and customer service model. I learned a lot about client management and also how to be very organized and structured in my thinking.

Q: What are the biggest challenges of launching and running a business in your 20s? Have you faced any weird comments or negative feedback because you’re so young?

A: There are a million challenges that come with launching a business, especially for the first time, but I’ve always tackled one at a time (or several at a time). One of the most challenging parts of running my own business has been realizing that I’m often at the mercy of others, even if I’m technically in charge of the company. More than once, I’ve had to scramble to complete time-sensitive orders when the packaging or ingredient I need has gotten stuck on a FedEx truck.

Similarly, it’s been a challenge to run a web business when web development is not my forte. When there’s a glitch in the website, there’s only so much I can do to fix it, so occasionally there are stressful times when I have to wait for my web developers to be able to come to the rescue.

I take pride in being young and running my own business, and I think this confidence has helped me avoid negative feedback. When I first tell people what I do, I think some are probably skeptical, but the more I explain, the more they get it and are impressed with the idea and execution.   

Q: What have been the biggest rewards?

A: I get to work with so many interesting organizations and people. It’s wonderful to see how our charity partners use the money we raise for them, and it’s also really exciting when we delight a customer with treats that exceed their expectations. It’s fun to get to spend every day focused on a product that creates such happiness.

Q: You’re very active on Facebook and Twitter. How has social media contributed to the success of Baking for Good?

A: Social media has been a really fun way of growing our business. With Facebook, I find that we can keep in touch with customers and easily showcase new treats and special projects.

Twitter has allowed for some unexpected surprises; I’ve connected with new customers, made new friends and even gotten some really exciting publicity opportunities as a result. In many ways I find Twitter to be more personal than Facebook, but they both have their benefits.

 Thank you again to Emily for answering my questions! 

She also has a new book on the topic, Great on the Job: What to Say, How to Say It. The Secrets of Getting Ahead. This week, Jodi took some time out of her busy schedule to answer a few of my questions.

Q: I love the concept of your company, Great on the Job. Can you describe what you do and why you started the business?

A: Great on the Job was founded to teach young people how to talk to one another at work, every day in every situation—when you’re on top of you’re game and when you have no idea what’s going on.

I started the business in 2008 after realizing I had been highly coached and scripted at business school during my interviews with investment banks and consulting firms. There’s a whole lot of networking and interviewing support out there when you’re looking for a new job. But the minute you get to that new job, you’re left to your own devices to figure things out.

There’s no roadmap at work that teaches you how to ask for help in a smart way or answer a question you don’t know the answer to.  No one ever teaches you how to raise a red flag in advance of a problem or tell the boss you’ve just screwed up. Great on the Job was launched to meet that need— to give practical, tactical advice for all of those mundane, daily one-on-one conversations that make up 80% of the workday and are so critical to success yet are overlooked by academic and corporate training programs.

Q: In your new book, Great on the Job, you give some very specific communication strategies. I particularly like your strategy for effective phone calls and use it all the time. Can you describe that?

A: The beginning of every phone conversation should start like this:

• Introduction
• Purpose of your call
• Key question: “Do you have a few minutes to speak?”

You can’t assume everybody is just sitting there waiting for his or her phone to ring. Even when someone picks up their line, they aren’t necessarily ready and willing to engage with you. Give the other person an “out” if it’s not a good time to speak and offer to call back or find another time that works better. Great on the Job is all about generosity—asking someone if they have time to speak before you start talking is the generous thing to do.

Q: What are the biggest mistakes young professionals make when it comes to in-person communication?

A: Have you ever heard: “Hey Julie, did you get that email about the thing I sent you last week?” And you, Julie, think to yourself, “I have no idea what she’s talking about.” You can’t assume that I know what project you’re referencing or client you’re talking about. When you’re talking to me, lead with the punch line. Tell me front and center what’s new, different or important. Young people are often far too casual and long-winded in their communications. Get right to the point and don’t make me guess about what we’re actually talking about.

Q: What are the biggest mistakes young professionals make when it comes to email communication?

A: If you have to ask whether or not an email is appropriate, don’t send it. Conflict, bad news, sticky situations—they should never be left to email. Any time you have a contentious issue at hand, you’ve got to handle it in person.  It’s way too dangerous to send an email that might be interpreted as angry, snarky or whiny. Just don’t do it.

Q: Why is workplace communication so challenging? Is it harder for Generation Y than previous generations?

A: I think the biggest reason Gen Ys struggle is that they’ve grown up with technology as such a core part of their lives and they’re simply lacking practice. Young people need to get out of their comfort zones and drop by a colleague’s office or pick up the phone and speak to a client on the phone. You can’t hide behind email. You really need to practice the art of engaging with people live, face to face.  When you have information to share, instead of sending an email, try out giving an update live in a meeting.

Q: Please tell us where to read more of your advice.

 A: I’d love to hear from you! You can find me online at Great on the Job and check out my new book: Great on the Job: What to Say, How to Say It. The Secrets of Getting Ahead on Amazon. There’s also lots of great information on Facebook at www.facebook.com/greatonthejob and I spend a lot of time on twitter at @greatonthejob.

According to Cardinale, living the life of your dreams and creating work that fulfills you is a realistic goal. As you’ll learn on this podcast, her tips for making the leap from a full-time job to entrepreneurship include:

1) Really know what your goals are.

2) Keep your “big picture” in mind instead of focusing on the short-term

3) Determine your goals for your career, relationships, education and finances.

4) Recognize the importance of time off.

Click here to listen to the complete 15-minute interview.