English is all very well for globe-spanning deals, suggests Hugo Baetens Beardsmore, a Belgian academic and adviser on language policy to the European Commission.

ECONOMIST: The economic consequences of the rise of English

"Well, the first sign that my new state university academic adviser job was a bad move was the fact that my future boss arrived 35 minutes late for our interview, breezing in after taking two of my future co-workers to lunch, " recalls Carmin Wharton, founder and CEO of e-BlackWomenNetwork.com.

CNN: Signs your new job is lousy

David Maister, a leading adviser to professional-service firms and a former academic at Harvard Business School, says that there is a yawning gap between what the big firms are offering and what their corporate clients want.

ECONOMIST: Spoilt for choice