Real career advice. Man I wish I had some earlier. Because I’ve made a lot of mistakes throughout my career. A lot of mistakes. Now, most people would say I’ve been fairly successful in my career, currently a Vice President of Research & Development in the medical device industry. But title isn’t everything. What you do with that title is every bit as important as obtaining it.

This blog is me writing down everything I wish I knew over 25 years ago when I was in college. The things I wish I could tell my young self about…

• How to progress in my career without the limitations I thought were in place.
• How to manage my career path with more efficiency and purpose.
• All the lies about jobs so frequently dispensed as facts.
• Things my managers didn’t want me to know.
• What matters and what doesn’t have any impact at all.
• How do deal with success.
• Financial mistakes to avoid.
• How to take care of myself for more impactful performance.
• How to balance work and life.

Sure, there are a lot of resources on the internet about all of these. I find most come from sources that either don’t know or are repeating the same lies others have told them.

I planned this site with a twofold purpose. First, to openly discuss everything listed above with truth and transparency so you get the real story and real information. Think of this as an opportunity to site down with senior executives and be able to learn from decades of experience. And yes, you will find opportunity to do this live at some point.

Second, I want to offer services that aren’t available today. Too many times I’ve found myself wishing I had access to real executives or real data. Resume reviews, salary expectations, and coaching are just the start of the services we aim to offer.

How awesome would it be to be able to have an hiring manager, someone who’s looked at thousands of of real resumes, be able to review your actual resume and give specific and detailed feedback? We’re going to do that here. You’ll get a leg up on other candidates because you’ll know what real hiring managers want to see on a resume and what will get your resume ignored instantly.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard myself or colleagues wonder how much they’re really worth. I’ll say bluntly, the readily available, free data you find on all the normal salary websites is terrible. It can be out of date. It can be too broad to have any application to your specific situation. It can’t take into account all the subtleties in your abilities and experiences. We partner with an expert compensation analysis consultant who actually works in the industry, with access to real data, to give you a picture of your actual worth in the market. I can’t tell you how powerful this can be to you.

Hopefully, this information will help others earlier in their career gain insight into things often not discussed, or discussed as theory vs reality. And with that information, I hope you progress faster, drive a higher salary, and invest wisely.

Of course, you have to use this information within the context of your situation. Nothing on this site is a guarantee or universally true. Career advice is just advice. Do not blindly follow or use anything from this site without contemplating how it applies to your specific job, manager, and company.

Finally, please reach out if you’re interested in our services, have feedback on the site, or want to join our team of real senior leaders wanting to make a difference in young career owners.