Career Tools highly recommends internships for college students. In this cast, we conclude our conversation on why, and how to make the most of the experience.

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Career Tools highly recommends internships for college students. In this cast, we tell you why, and how to make the most of the experience.

Some college courses require students to take an internship. Other courses allow short or long periods in industry during the course of study, but don't require it. We'll explain shortly why we really recommend that if you have the opportunity to take an internship, you take it. More importantly, we'll explain how to make the most of it.

Internships can feel like one more course to complete when you're at college. It's only later that you realize that you had the opportunity to ask all the basic questions, learn some basic skills and make an impression, all in an environment where very little was expected. Believe us, that chance doesn't come again.

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This cast concludes our conversation on how to change jobs between states, countries or industries.

1. Making This Kind of Change Is Harder
2. Smaller Steps are Better
3. A Foothold in The New Place Helps
4. You Will Need More Help
5. Demonstrate Real Reasons and a Longer Term Goal
6. You Need To Interview 10x Better Than Anyone Else

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This cast explains how to change jobs between states, countries or industries.

One of the most difficult things to do in one's career is to change locations across the country, between countries or between industries. It's also something many people want to do. Whether it's moving to be with a spouse, the adventure of travel or moving out of an industry that has got stale or is in a downward spiral, there are often good reasons for wanting to do something so hard.

Unfortunately, this cast does not provide the silver bullet which will make these changes possible for everyone. There is none. It WILL give you some actions to take to make the change more possible for you.

1. Making This Kind of Change Is Harder
2. Smaller Steps are Better
3. A Foothold in The New Place Helps
4. You Will Need More Help
5. Demonstrate Real Reasons and a Longer Term Goal
6. You Need To Interview 10x Better Than Anyone Else

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This cast recommends keeping an ongoing Delta File of changes you will make in the future.

One of the things Mike and Mark have noticed over the years is how differently we all see ourselves depending upon the role we're in. It's amazing the significance we give to context - that is, what seems completely normal to one person in one role looks frankly crazy to someone else in a different role. Sadly, when many of us become managers we're VERY likely to do the very same things our managers did to us.

Most of you would probably argue that last point – no, no, you say, I won't visit the sins of MY boss on MY team someday, when *I* become a manager. We're glad you feel that way…but frankly, there's not a lot of evidence of that. Managers are generally behaving in the same ineffectual and often disrespectful, uncommunicative, and domineering ways they used to. It's been this way for years, and if it were a LOT different, we'd be talking about it.

What CAN we do about it? Vow to change things when we have managerial power. And that starts with keeping track of what you'd change, with a Delta File.

1. What is a Delta File?
2. What goes in it?
3. How do I keep one?

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This cast concludes our conversation on the Midyear Goals Review.

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This cast recommends reviewing our annual performance goals at midyear.

We've said many times that good management is boring, repetitive, unsexy, unpretty. Most of all, good management is NOT dramatic. Drama is for the movies, and they don't make movies about management, right?

Careers are different, though, right? What we all remember about our careers ARE the dramatic moments. The big promotions, the great new job offers, maybe even coming in at the last minute.

NO. Good career management is ALSO boring, repetitive, unsexy, and unpretty. The fact that we remember the drama is just proof that our memories are emotionally anchored. All those dramatic moments are just like Slam Dunk meeting successes. How do Slam Dunks happen? Long before, during the Pre-Wire.

And here's another of those preparatory steps that make for undramatic – and successful – careers: reviewing our annual goals midyear and making the necessary adjustments. It's SO simple, and takes but a few minutes.

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This cast explains how to respond to requests for 360 degree input.

360 reviews are a powerful – and growing – part of the Human Resources toolbox.  They help leadership teams find out what managers and other professionals "really" are like based on input from the people most likely to "know" them: their boss, their peers, and their directs (if they have any), and in some cases other related personnel.  Why NOT ask the consumers of a manager's behaviors whether or not he is a good manager?

Unfortunately, 360 reviews, as powerful as they are – and done well Manager Tools strongly recommends them – they are fraught with danger.  Here's how to navigate them successfully.

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This cast describes the reasons why leaving your company or industry in a downturn CAN be a bad idea, and recommends options to consider in those situations.

Too many professionals fail to realize that leaving their company or industry during a downturn has a long-term consequence – executives are expected to have experience navigating all the way through a slowdown.

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In this cast, we START to describe how to respond to feedback AFTER you've received it, specifically: FEEDBACK NOT IN THE MODEL.

For our classic April Fools cast, we talked about how to receive feedback, but only partly. We discussed the Physical, Facial and Verbal responses to someone asking, "May I give you some feedback?"

But obviously, you're going to get a lot of inputs regarding your performance. Some of it WILL come in the form of the feedback model, and in an upcoming cast, we'll talk about how to continue your response under those conditions.

But, not all of it will come in the form of the feedback model. What do you do when someone gives you input on your behavior? What's the right way to respond to praise? What's an effective way to talk about what you could have done better?

We'd bet you're getting the praise part wrong, anyway. ;-)

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