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  Forté Signals

  Signs vs. Signals: The Two‑Letter Difference That Explains a Lot About Work

  For reasons that probably say something strange about me, I’ve been thinking about traffic signals a lot lately. Not because I’m secretly passionate about municipal infrastructure or have taken up a side hustle in urban planning. If anything, I’m the person who still gets irrationally annoyed when a left turn arrow takes too long. But […]

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  Mentorship

  Mentoring Isn’t Supposed to Feel Like a Second Full-Time Job

  When people hear the word “mentor,” they sometimes imagine they are signing up to become a combination career coach, therapist, recruiter, life strategist, and magical problem-solving wizard. Exhausting, right? Good news: that isn’t actually the job. A good mentor doesn’t need to have all the answers.  You don’t need to know exactly what someone should […]

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  Early Career

  Welcome to Your Career. Here Are 5 Things Nobody Explained. 

  You spent years in school prepping for “that first job.”  You learned how to write papers (thanks ChatGPT), study for exams, give presentations, join clubs, and survive the group project with one person who mysteriously disappeared until the night before. Then you graduated, and yes you even managed to find a job in “this” market.  […]

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  Level Up Your Career

  Stop Telling Women They Need to Develop Skills They Already Have

  Employers are remarkably consistent about the skills they want most. In a recent survey of Forté member companies, employers said they are looking for communication, analytical thinking, coachability, professionalism, leadership, client-facing confidence, and the ability to work well with others. They want people who can stay calm under pressure, build trust quickly, navigate change, and […]

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  Forté Signals

  Rethinking the Elevator Pitch

  The 30-second pitch has been in the world of career advice for so long that it now feels less like advice and more like a professional rite of passage. We are told to keep it polished and ready, just in case someone important appears and asks us to summarize our entire professional existence before handing […]

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  Articles

  Before You Spend $30,000 on a Consultant

  Every year, some MBA applicants hire admissions consultants for $10,000 to $30,000. What are they actually paying for? Not grammar correction.Not essay templates.Not someone to invent a personality for them.They’re not buying better answers. They’re buying interpretation. MBA applications ask you to submit transcripts, scores, resumes, essays, and recommendations. Then a group of people who […]

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