Free They Don't Teach Corporate in College by Alexandra Levit

telecommuting, of course, means that, for at least part of the business week, an employee works from a remote location, often the home.
    Talk with HR and/or read your orientation materials to understand how your organization’s flextime procedure works. Note that even if the company doesn’t have an official policy in place, if there are other people in your department who are already working flexible schedules, it shouldn’t be unreasonable for you to hop on the bandwagon—provided you can honestly say you have the self-discipline to work productively without supervision. This last point is a critical one. You must know yourself and your job well enough to be able to accurately judge if telecommuting is a viable alternative.
    In making an argument for flex time, always put the company first. For example, if you want to work from home one day per week, tell your boss that you plan to get more work done in less time due to the minimization of distractions and not having to commute. Ask for a trial of the new arrangement,and prove the cost savings by working much more efficiently on that home day than you do during your in-office days. Make sure that you are always accessible via email and smartphone during the business day, and report project status often so it’s easy for your boss to keep tabs on you.
Medical Benefits
    In our 20s, we’re accustomed to abusing our bodies and getting away with it. Given that we never get sick and think we’re going to live forever, it’s easy to take health benefits for granted. However, because group insurance plans and flexible spending accounts (which allow you to deposit part of your salary, pretax, into a special account for medical expenses) are notoriously complicated, it’s in your best interests to scope out the lay of the land in case you urgently need a health service. Familiarize yourself with the benefits you are entitled to and make sure you review your coverage in depth before heading to the doctor’s or dentist’s office. Trust me, it’s well worth your time, because once you make a claim the insurance people decline to cover, squabbling with them quickly becomes a frustrating and time-consuming process. Also, playing tug-of-war with an HMO during office hours or inviting your HR benefits administrator to referee are not optimal strategies for minding your professional reputation.
Financial Benefits
    Are there ways your company will contribute to your care and feeding beyond the bi-monthly paycheck? Yes, indeed. Most companies offer a 401(k), which allows employees to contribute a portion of tax-free income to a savings account. The company will also match a percentage of your contribution, which you get to keep if you stay there an allotted period of time. I could devote an entire book to a discussion about 401(k) plans, but instead I’ll share a few tips for leaving your financial future in the hands of your new company:
    Pay close attention to the instructions for rolling over your retirement funds from one company’s 401(k) plan to the next. Because you will likely have several jobs throughout the course of your career, you want your hard-earned savings to transition smoothly.
    Most plans offer a variety of fund-distribution options, so you should avoid placing 100 percent of your savings in your company’s stock. In these uncertain times, your financial future should not depend on your company’s stability.
    Find out how long you have to be employed with a company in order to be vested, or qualified to receive a percentage of your company’s contribution to your retirement fund. This piece of data could make a difference when deciding whether to stay with a company three full years or two years and 11 months.
    If you work for a public company (a corporation that issues shares of stock to members of the general public), you might be lucky enough to get stock options. A stock option gives an employee the