Careful, Confidential...

Working in the business world, sometimes you are told things that probably shouldn't be repeated outside of your office. Other times you know more about something than the rest of the public but you are still asked to keep things confidential. I was going to make a post last week about certain information that has been floating around my office. It is nothing scandalous or really that secret but I was reminded by a fellow colleague that even though I may not view this as a confidential piece of information, others (more importantly, those who have the power to fire me) might think differently.

So I'd like to take this time to offer a piece of advice to those out there that are just entering the working world and may not have a complete understanding of what confidential means. It means, anything you hear, read, write, or look at cannot leave your work with out expressed approval. If you're going to take it and place it on a blog (like I was about to) you have to go through your PR department, your SVP of marketing and get written consent to publish anything having to do with you place of employment. If you ever have even the slightest concern about whether or not you should talk about this, just ask someone and I'm sure they will be able to guide you and possibly save you from a lot of trouble.

So whether you're blogging or just chatting with some friends at a bar, remember your job hinges on what you say and to whom. Better to learn your lesson through reading about it than experiencing it through your own mistakes.