Name: Alexandra Levit
Age: 35
Location: Chicago, IL
Occupation: Business and Workplace Author, Speaker, and Consultant
Alexandra Levit wants to put you to work. She’s made a career out of guiding twenty-somethings onto the right track, teaching them how to market themselves and get hired at the job of their dreams. By combining her natural creativity and her love of writing, she’s become a highly-lauded business and workplace author and a sought-after consultant. She spends her days advising young people about how to get out there and blaze their own professional trail, even in these tough times. Part of the reason why she’s so darn good at it is because she’s struggled, too. “I had also been an over-achiever, and when I graduated from college, I was hell-bent on skipping up New York City’s corporate ladder. But after six months on the job, I was so stressed out that I was ready to ditch the business world completely and head to law school. Eventually, by sticking around and paying attention to the few people around me who weren’t dropping from stress-induced coronaries, I developed many of the qualities crucial to staying sane and building a career, and I wanted to share what I'd leaned so other twenty-somethings could avoid the agita I experienced.” And it was from of that desire to share her knowledge that her first book, They Don’t Teach Corporate in College, was born. Every day for Alexandra is action-packed, since she’s not only a marketing leader and successful author, but also the mother of a three year-old and a newborn. She will meet with a client, or her business partner, after her children are taken care of, and the rest of her day is spent writing, doing consulting work, partaking in online and offline speaking engagements, and contributing to a wide assortment of marketing activities. It’s a challenge, but her goal is to continue to have a flexible career that allows her to balance her professional passion with her growing family. Although she’s an expert in figuring out how to craft a career that feels more like a calling, less like work, all of her jobs haven’t been warm ‘n fuzzy. “The worst job was my first PR position,” she says. “My boss hated me so much I thought I had killed her relatives in a past life.” These days Alexandra is grateful to have a gig that makes her happy, and broadens her horizons. She travels around the world to speak to young people - and their managers - and she helps to contribute to research that strengthens intergenerational communication in the workplace. Her work brings her in contact with different cultures, different fields, and different professional environments, but her message is the same: a meaningful job is out there, waiting for you.
But what about the economy? How on earth can you find a job in this icky climate? “It's getting better, but miraculous improvement isn't going to happen overnight,” Alexandra says. “Job seekers must continue to be proactive by developing personal relationships with people inside the companies at which they want to work rather than relying on online job postings.” For this good advice, and for working to get people to work, we think that Alexandra Levit is a super Cool Girl! If you’re a college student or a recent graduate looking for a crash course on the work world, check out www.jostart101.org. To read more about Alexandra and how she can help you, click on her website, www.alexandralevit.com. Or you can follow her on Twitter at https://www.twitter.com/alevit.
