Alexandra Levit (born 1976)[1] is an American writer, consultant, speaker, workplace expert, and futurist.[2] She has written ten business and workplace books and is currently a nationally syndicated columnist for the Wall Street Journal. In 2019, she was named to "The Thinkers 50 Radar" List.[3] In 2021, she received a certification in strategic foresight from the University of Houston.
In her early career, Levit worked in New York[6] as a public relations representative for a Long Island software company,[7] where she felt a struggle to achieve visibility and recognition for her efforts at work.[8] She went on to become a vice president at public relations firm Edelman, with a focus on creating online campaigns in the early days of social media.[9] In 2003, she decided to use her workplace experiences to write a guide for young professionals navigating the business world. The ensuing book, They Don't Teach Corporate in College, was published in 2004 and started Levit's transition into a career as a workplace consultant, speaker, columnist and author,[8][10] which became her full-time profession after leaving Edelman in 2008.[9]
In 2004, Levit founded Inspiration at Work, a business and workplace consulting firm based in Chicago that advised universities, nonprofit associations and companies.[11][12] From 2009 to 2010, she wrote a nationally syndicated career advice column for The Wall Street Journal.[13][14] She wrote The Corporate Freshman column for the Huffington Post from 2008 to 2011,[15] and has also written for Forbes,[16][17]Fortune,[6]Business Insider,[18]Fast Company,[19]Mashable,[20] Business 2 Community[21]CityLab,[22] and The New York Times, including a 2013 report on global business competence she wrote while living in London,[23] and a 2016 article about artificial intelligence in the workplace.[24] She has written ten business and career books, which typically draw from surveys of professionals to offer guidance on such topics as getting a desirable job,[25] changing careers,[13][26] Managing a multi-generational workforce, and work habits that will help achieve success.[27][28] She writes frequently about the intersection of technology and the workplace,[24] and consults with companies about preparing for the workplace of the future.
In 2009, Levit served on the Business Roundtable's Springboard Project, which advised the Obama administration on workplace issues.[28] The following year, she helped develop JobSTART 101, a free online course for college students and recent graduates to help them learn the necessary skills for success as entry-level employees.[6] In 2011, she worked with the Department of Labor under the Obama administration to develop a new career-transitioning program for veterans.[9] Also in 2011, as a member of DeVry University's Career Advisory Board, she co-founded the Career Advisory Board's Job Preparedness Indicator, an annual study of the US job market that was issued for six years.[16][19] The survey was designed to track the disparity between what hiring managers say they're looking for in candidates and the skills those candidates actually possess.[29] She contributed to the Deloitte millennial leadership studies from 2014 through 2017.[30][31] In 2016, Levit presented a five-minute Ignite-style talk on the future workplace at DisruptHR at 1871 in Chicago.[32] In 2017, she presented a TEDx talk on the future of work in Evanston, Illinois,[33] and spoke at South by Southwest alongside technology entrepreneur Randi Zuckerberg and DeVry University president Rob Paul.[34]
In 2018, Levit published the international best-selling book Humanity Works: Merging Technologies and People for the Workforce of the Future.[35] The book was printed in multiple languages, and Levit presented corresponding workshops on five continents. In 2019, she received the Thinkers50 Radar Award[36] for her ideas on the future of work and launched a podcast called Workforce 2030.[37] She also received a certification in strategic foresight from the University of Houston, where she studied the future of the retail workforce.
During the 2020-2021 coronavirus pandemic, Levit applied for and received a federal grant from the National Institute of Mental Health[38] to create an app that uses cognitive behavioral techniques to alleviate the emotional distress caused by unemployment. Partnering with Northwestern University researchers, Levit is demonstrating her product’s effectiveness via a 2023-24 clinical trial.
Levit formed a partnership with artificial intelligence HR technology company Eightfold AI,[42] with which she co-authored her book, Deep Talent,[43] in 2023. She is also a member of the HR think tank The Workforce Institute,[44] the Association for Professional Futurists, the Grey Swan Guild, and the Hacking HR[45] global community.
Honors
Money magazine's Best Online Career Expert, 2010[46]
Forbes magazine's Top 100 Websites for Women, 2010, 2012[47][48]
They Don't Teach Corporate in College: A Twenty-Something's Guide to the Business World, Franklin Lakes, NJ: Career Press, 2004; revised edition, 2009; third edition, 2014; fourth edition, 2019
How'd You Score That Gig?: A Guide to the Coolest Jobs [and How to Get Them], New York: Ballantine Books, 2008
Success for Hire: Simple Strategies to Find and Keep Outstanding Employees, Baltimore: ASTD Press, 2008
New Job, New You: A Guide to Reinventing Yourself in a Bright New Career, New York: Ballantine Books, 2009
Blind Spots: The 10 Business Myths You Can't Afford to Believe on Your New Path to Success, New York: Berkley Books, 2011
Mom B.A.: Essential Business Advice From One Generation to the Next, New York: Motivational Press, 2017
Humanity Works: Merging Technologies and People for the Workforce of the Future, London: Kogan Page, 2018
Deep Talent: How to Transform Your Organization and Empower Your Employees Through AI, London: Kogan Page, 2023
