First Job Out of College
Terms of Use

Terms of Use

Last updated: May 4, 2026

The short version. This is a personal blog with a newsletter and a comment section, run by Mike Halpert. Read freely. The advice is general and based on Mike's experience — it isn't professional, legal, financial, or medical advice. Be civil in the comments. Don't post anything that isn't yours. We can remove comments that break those rules. The book ("Cubicle To Corner Office") and the posts are copyrighted; sharing a quote with attribution is fine, copy-pasting whole posts isn't.

1. What this site is

First Job Out of College is a publication by Mike Halpert about navigating the first few years of a corporate career. It includes essays, scripts, templates, checklists, a weekly newsletter, and reader comments. It's connected to a book Mike wrote called Cubicle To Corner Office.

The site is informational and editorial. It is not professional advice. The career, salary, management, and workplace topics covered are general — your situation is specific, and the right move for you may be different. Don't make legal, financial, or career decisions solely based on what you read here. When the stakes are high, talk to a qualified professional (a lawyer, CPA, doctor, or licensed coach) who knows your circumstances.

2. Using the site

By using First Job Out of College, you agree to these terms. If you don't agree, please don't use the site.

You may:

  • Read posts, share links to them, and quote short passages with attribution.
  • Subscribe to the newsletter, comment, and reply to other commenters.
  • Print posts for personal, non-commercial use.

You may not:

  • Republish whole posts on another site without written permission.
  • Use posts to train commercial AI systems beyond fair-use excerpts (our robots.txt also lays this out for bots).
  • Scrape the site at a rate that affects performance for other readers.
  • Use the comment system to spam, harass, post illegal content, or impersonate someone else.

3. Comments

When you post a comment, you keep ownership of what you wrote. By posting, you grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display the comment on the site and any related distribution channels (e.g. newsletter excerpts of community discussion).

We reserve the right to remove or edit comments that:

  • Are spam, off-topic, or commercial promotion.
  • Are abusive, harassing, threatening, or discriminatory.
  • Reveal someone's private information (real name, employer, etc.) without consent.
  • Infringe on third-party copyright or trademarks.
  • Are obviously generated by a bot.

We can also block individual users from commenting. If your comment was removed and you think it shouldn't have been, email [email protected] and we'll review.

4. Newsletter

The newsletter is free. We send it on a roughly weekly cadence. Every email has a one-click unsubscribe link at the bottom; using it removes you from our list immediately. You can also email us to be removed.

5. The book

Cubicle To Corner Office is sold separately on Amazon and Audible. Buying it is optional — none of the content on this site requires the book to make sense. Pages on this site that link to the book are not paid placements; they're recommendations from the author.

6. Intellectual property

All original posts, illustrations, and the design of this site are © Mike Halpert. The brand name "First Job Out of College" and the book title "Cubicle To Corner Office" are property of Mike Halpert. Quoting a short passage with attribution is fair use and encouraged. Republishing whole posts requires written permission.

7. External links

We link to other sites (Amazon, Audible, Kit, Cloudflare, Substack, etc.) for context and convenience. We don't control those sites and aren't responsible for their content or their privacy practices.

8. No warranties

The site is provided "as is" without any warranty. We try to keep it online and accurate, but software has bugs, services go down, and advice that fits 9 out of 10 careers may not fit yours. Use your judgment.

9. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, First Job Out of College and Mike Halpert aren't liable for any indirect, incidental, or consequential damages arising from your use of the site, including but not limited to lost income, missed promotions, or decisions made based on the content. Career advice that worked for ten thousand readers can still be wrong for you; you remain responsible for your own decisions.

10. Changes to these terms

When these terms change, we update the "Last updated" date and post a note on the homepage for at least 30 days. Material changes (e.g. new comment policies) will be called out clearly. Continuing to use the site after a change means you accept the new terms.

11. Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, USA. Any disputes will be handled in courts located in New York City, USA.

12. Contact

Questions about these terms or anything else: [email protected].

These terms are written in plain English to be useful, not as legal advice. If you need a formal legal review, talk to a lawyer.