re: Random career advice, tell me yours

Make a real effort to learn how to talk in professional settings like meetings. If you can clearly, accurately, and convincingly present your views, asks, answers, etc., people will look to you as leadership material. I'm not saying to just talk to talk (those people are typically hated) or to learn every corporate buzzword, but definitely pay attention to how you present yourself in meetings. Humor helps.

You've got to learn the culture of the organization you serve; this includes understanding the cliques that form. Make mental notes of who gets along with who and which senior management clique actually runs shite. If someone from that clique asks you to jump, you ask how high. Reputations built with people who truly matter can go a long way in building your own success. Office politics suck but I've learned they're a large part of career advancement.

Write down ideas that pop into your head when you're not working. People who come up with ways to cut work cycles and save money are people who quickly earn attention from people who matter. There's some process you see which would benefit greatly from a new approach....the solution pops into your head for some reason at 1am on a Sunday morning after you've had a few beers...write that shite down and revisit it on Monday. Build on the idea. Present the idea.

Love the company all you want, it will never love you back.

Your career won’t be there to wipe your arse for you when you’re old.

Always peek under the stall to identify shoes to see if it’s worth using another stall or urinal at that particular moment.

Find the guy who gets paid for what he knows, not what he does. Find a way to learn more than he knows.

HR will always suck, doesn’t matter how nice they may seem, what company it is or who they are. Never trust them.

Always assume Senior leadership is oblivious to everything and will more often base decisions on perception rather than actual facts.

If you can't handle your personal business on company time, then you have a time management problem.

If flipping burgers is your ceiling, stick to the fries.

In many fields the best way to get a pay raise is to quit your job and get a new one every 2-3 years.

The IRS is hiring!