Previously, on Corporette…

Comments

1. Anon

   10/21/2015 at 1:53 pm

   What are the options (other than a camisole) to wear under a wrap dress to make the neckline more work-appropriate?

   • mascot

     10/21/2015 at 2:16 pm

     A slip, a bandeau top? Or, add snaps or use fashion tape to secure the op.

2. Anonymous

   10/21/2015 at 2:11 pm

   Looking foe some career advice. I met a woman recently at a professional event who works for a company that has a job opening in my field. We are now LinkedIn connections. How would you approach her about getting more information about this position?

   • Wildkitten

     10/21/2015 at 2:12 pm

     Send her an email!

     • Brit

       10/21/2015 at 2:16 pm

       Even if it’s a fairly new connection? I have a similar situation where a new connection knows someone who works for the company with a job posting I’m interested in. We only met last week, but had a good conversation at a conference.

       • Wildkitten

         10/21/2015 at 2:35 pm

         Sure!

3. Chicago Gal

   10/21/2015 at 2:16 pm

   So, I haven’t seen anything here about this, but my guess is that all/most readers here will appreciate @manwhohasitall on Twitter. Hilarious. And sad.

4. Poor to Biglaw

   10/21/2015 at 3:05 pm

   Did anyone read the thread posted above (from 2014) about going from poverty to working in BigLaw? I’d like to bring back some of that dialogue. One poster mentioned that a lot of firm policies were created by wealthy people who also grew up with money, saying “many corporate bosses and politicians are from well-off backgrounds and they make policies that affect people whose lives they do not understand.”

   Simple things such as firm reimbursement policies, where employees are expected to front large payments (such as travel) and then seek reimbursement once they have a receipt. I remember panicking about having to pay for a hotel for a required conference, which I would be reimbursed for, but having to come up with over $1k on the spot.

   Any other policies you can think of?

   • TBK

     10/21/2015 at 3:34 pm

     There was an article I read recently (cannot remember where, unfortunately) that talked about how interviews for top consulting firms (as an example of a job that’s a gateway to the upper-middle class) are really at bottom a test of whether you’re upper-middle class. For example, if you ask the question “why do you want this job?” the upper-middle class answer focuses entirely on the intellectual and personal benefits of the work, as if you’re doing this for fun. Meanwhile, in a working class situation, saying you want a job because you have a new baby and your spouse can only work part-time and so you need the money is totally fine, but would be disastrous in the upper-middle class interview. I also recall reading something once that talked about how, in working class society, sharing a lot about your personal life at work is how you get to know people and get along with co-workers, while upper-middle class people tend to maintain a divide between work and home. So the working class person will think the upper-middle class person is being snobby and stand-offish (i.e., will assume the upper-middle class person shares personal confidences freely with co-workers, but just isn’t sharing with this particular co-worker, instead of realizing that the upper-middle class person simply doesn’t talk about personal issues at work) while the upper-middle class person will think the working class person is disorganized and emotional (because only someone with no self-control and crazy family drama would share so much at work). If they came from different ethnic or national cultures, they might attribute the differences to culture, but because we are so sure in America that we don’t have a class-based system, they won’t realize they really come from vastly different classes. Yet another article I read talked about how poor students who’ve actually applied to and been accepted by top schools often can’t navigate the financial aid system both because it’s set up with middle class assumptions (e.g., that your parents make a constant salary that is easily documented and that they have bank accounts) and because they don’t know they can do things like appeal their financial aid awards, go talk with financial aid officers, ask for more money, etc.

     I think we need to admit that class exists in the U.S. and that if we really want a society with plenty of mobility, we need to be willing to address class differences when dealing with vehicles of social mobility, like educational institutions.

     • Susie

       10/21/2015 at 4:07 pm

       Interesting, I thought saying you want a job because of the money was never okay (even if it’s true!)

       • Baconpancakes

         10/21/2015 at 5:22 pm

         I’m also pretty sure this is true, if only because it puts all the power in the hands of the employer. Even if you’re applying for a job as a server, saying “because I need this job to make rent” instead of “because I respect the business model your restaurant has and the servers I’ve spoken to really enjoy the friendly atmosphere” lets them know they can put you on terrible shifts, keep you off management track, and generally treat you like crap without you quitting.

     • Poor to Biglaw

       10/21/2015 at 4:20 pm

       Very interesting!