Key Points

View your career and educational choices as investments. Awareness, not perfection, is what you should seek when examining the facts about your current employer’s internal labor market. Working in a company that’s billed as one of the best places to work is meaningful only if it’s the best place for you. Keep in mind that you do not have to work in a company with a well-aligned human capital strategy to be able to reach your goals within that organization. Remember the following:

• Manage the risks and returns of your human capital with at least as much discipline as you apply to your investment portfolio.

• Ask the company leaders for more information on the internal labor dynamics at work, reminding them that this is in the best interests of the company and you.

• Just as everyone knows that work is not entirely about pay, people should understand that pay is not about what one is earning currently but about potential future earnings. Look at your probability of future pay growth, not just today’s paycheck.

• Demand higher returns today for firm-specific skills than you would for more transferable skills.

• Although it is impossible to replace the value of trial and error in your career, you can accelerate the learning process through trained observation.