As We Work

This year’s crop of new college graduates are walking into one of the hottest job markets in generations. Some are demanding big paychecks from their new employers, but money isn’t the only thing on their “must have” list. WSJ reporter Lindsay Ellis brings us conversations with new grads who are prioritizing company culture and work life balance. Jeff Beavers, Michigan State University’s executive director of career services, digs into the difficulty of networking during COVID times and how students need to see beyond their majors to search for their careers.

“The Class of 2022 Is in Demand. What Do New Grads Want?” 

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Having trouble figuring out where to go next in your career journey? The next season of As We Work will take you through all the steps, from getting that first job right out of college all the way to retirement. We’ll talk about the changing expectations from new graduates, the lessons that come from failure, how to network and even how to negotiate at work.

We’d love to hear your questions about how to negotiate a better salary, benefits, more time off, or anything else you might want from your boss. What questions do you have about the process? Email us at [email protected] and we may use it in the podcast.

Episode 1 will be available May 17.

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Now Hiring: No degree required. A growing number of tech companies are looking to fill roles that require special skills, but not necessarily a college diploma. They’re being called “new collar” jobs. Now, some people who have worked hourly jobs like food service or retail are setting themselves on a new career track and many are getting paid to learn on the job. In this conversation from the WSJ Jobs Summit, Joanna Estanislao details her journey from working hospitality to a full-time role with Okta’s sales team. Bridgette Gray, Chief Customer Officer at Opportunity@Work, tells us about the multiple pathways from blue collar to new collar.

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Experience is usually a plus when looking for a job, but if you’re a more “seasoned” worker, subtle biases could stand in the way of landing the position you want. It’s called ageism: the belief that older employees aren’t as adaptable or desirable. But there are simple ways to position yourself so a hiring manager can see past the dates on your resume and instead see the skills you’ll bring to the job. At the WSJ Jobs Summit, Tess Vigeland spoke to Ginny Cheng, a career coach and Global Head of Talent at the wearable tech company Oura, about navigating the hiring process when you have a lot of experience and are rethinking your professional narrative. Plus, she answers audience questions on how to thrive in a multigenerational workforce.

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What does it mean to stand up to your employer and demand change? Recently, workers at Disney successfully pushed their CEO to speak out against Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. And they are not the only ones to become activists on the job. Google employee Tanuja Gupta helped organize a walkout that led to a change in company policy, and influenced a federal law banning forced arbitration in sexual misconduct cases at work. She details why she stayed at a company she calls a microcosm of the debates taking place across America. Plus, Noa Gafni explains how the pandemic is helping drive this new wave of social activism in the workplace. 

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How do we make meaningful connections at work when our colleagues are just images on a screen? Lucy Suros, CEO of e-learning company Articulate, says creating virtual hangouts where people don’t work is just one way to build company culture when you don’t have any offices. And workplace and leadership expert David Burkus tells us why maintaining work relationships, even while working remotely, is essential for long-term career growth. Also, Nitin Nohria, former dean of the Harvard Business School tells us why the post-pandemic office should be a clubhouse. You can read more about Greg Kelley and Marwah Rizqy’s pandemic romance, fostered on Facetime. And be sure to sign up for the WSJ Jobs Summit, and submit your questions on ageism in the workplace.

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Addressing and improving mental health has become a workplace touchstone in the past few years. Many employees report feeling anxious, stressed and even burned out. But social psychologist Dr. Amy Cuddy says we are experiencing something more specific to this moment, something she calls “pandemic flux syndrome.” Host Tess Vigeland spoke with Cuddy at the WSJ Health Forum about why feeling powerless is particularly detrimental to mental health, how business leaders can help their workers cope and what employees can do to find the control that will help them thrive.

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Ford Fund Director Pamela Alexander and former Fifth Third Bank Senior vice president Nicole Johnson-Scales reached similar positions on the corporate ladder. But, like many women in the upper levels of the corporate world, the pandemic made them reevaluate their career goals. Stay on the corporate ladder or step off? Maybe leap to a totally new one? And, as two of a small number of Black women in the top echelons of corporate America, what would their decisions mean for other women with ambitions for the corner office? Listen as they tell their stories and discuss these and other pandemic epiphanies with host Tess Vigeland.

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Salary transparency has become a buzzword, from legislatures to social media, as a way to help improve pay equity in the workplace. But talking about how much we earn is still a no-go for many people. That is partly because the notion that we are “paid what we are worth” is so ingrained in our thinking. Today on the podcast, writer Victoria Walker talks about why she defied the taboo and shared her salary publicly. And sociologist Jake Rosenfeld explains why the “pay for performance” model is a myth and how it continues to impact workers. Plus: tips on how to improve the work world of endless meetings.

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After 11 years behind the mic at the business and economics show “Marketplace,” Tess Vigeland had reached the top of her game. That’s when she decided to leap. She left her job with no backup plan to travel across Southeast Asia with nothing but a suitcase, a backpack and a camera bag. Tess’ story took place years before the Great Resignation began. As she likes to say, she was a “quitter before quitting was cool.” It’s just one reason she’s diving into the changing workplace in "As We Work." Hear more of her story in this episode of our sister podcast, “Your Money Briefing,” from earlier this week.

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