In the course of building and moving through a career, every person collects information and perspective that does not always translate clearly to people at other stages of development. Younger workers are more willing to open themselves up to exploitation with the belief that sacrifice and competitive drive will lead to satisfaction and personal success. Middle career workers have discovered the error of placing too much time and energy into company interests which do not necessarily hold the keys to success. People who have reached the late stages of their careers understand the resources needed for accomplishing goals, and know how and where they fit within the structure of the organizations they help to maintain.

Business activity is one of those curious areas where the value of experience and understanding can easily be over shadowed by the influence of desire for personal gain, and the struggle for control over the decisions of others. Though it has been proven repeatedly that organizations grow most rapidly through positive synergy between responsible task owners at all levels of a company, there are people who try to make accomplishment seem like a one person show, and approach "job security" by withholding information and empowerment from others. In application, it is just as often true that the abusive, uncooperative, and incompetent remain entrenched in the workplace, while truly valuable contributors are forced to move on to other organizations to find satisfaction.

In looking at information and advice available, there is the corporate oriented "professional" advice that will provide information in line with the corporate perspective. This type of information can be useful for understanding and functioning within company policies and guidelines, but rarely offers the kind of information obtainable from discussing real interactions between people who perform the required work. In this way, there is the "official" version of how to get ahead, and the "real" version of how that was actually accomplished. Often, the "real" version contains twists and turns that would send the proponents of the "official" version screaming into the night with the refrain, "That's not the way it is supposed to be; that's not how it is supposed to go!"

No matter which approach is viewed for its own merit, having information about formalized processes, and direct contact with people who have "been there and done that" can help bring personal goals and expectations into a more enriched focus. It is always useful to leverage information received through official channels, and exploit the insider knowledge of those with experience. In managing a career, much of the information gained from an insider perspective can be lost if it is not collected and analyzed while it is fresh. In the interest of your own career goals, collect as much data as you can about the organizations you encounter, and how they function from a real world perspective. Finding out information about management styles, corporate culture,internal politics, review schedules, mechanics of upward mobility, limits on advancement, and other unpublished elements of working with a specific company can become valuable to you and others in determining whether or not to pursue a long term commitment with an organization. Knowing the differences between profit motivated large and small companies, risks and benefits, and the culture of doing business in government organizations not driven by profit can help determine the best personal angles for "playing the game."

Contrary to popular myths, there are always threats to employment stability, whether one pursues a career in private industry or a government institution. There truly are no "safe" career paths left for American workers to follow. Every type of employment carries its own set of risks and benefits, so anyone who manages their career effectively will learn to recognize the signs and shifts in the tides of their current direction, and develop contingencies for moving into other types of work when necessary. When mapping out your own career experiences, you will benefit greatly from analyzing the differences and similarities between the companies you have worked with, and recording the information for later reference. Using this insightful information, you can recall what you liked and disliked about working for the small, medium, and large companies, or government organizations, and combine your personal experiences with information gathered from other people.

Your assessment of these experiences will help you to decided more readily what kind and size of company best suits your personal needs and preferences. If your experience indicates a big problem with working for a particular size or type of organization, you can focus on avoiding these types of employers, and make better use of your time by pursuing the kind of jobs that do appeal to your current interests.

It is surprising how many people take their personal experiences for granted. The things they have learned become "obvious" to them, but could greatly benefit someone else who has not yet learned these lessons. That is why it is just as important for individuals to look for experience based advice as it is to find the common procedural recommendations that are available from most professional advisors.