Career advice from a Google vet: 10 guidelines

Ever since I met Sukhinder Singh Cassidy, Google’s (GOOG) former President of Asia-Pacific and Latin American Operations, a couple of years ago, I’ve been fascinated by her far-flung career path. Singh Cassidy worked at Merrill Lynch (BAC) out of college, then went to Amazon.com (AMZN), and then OpenTV and News Corp.’s (NWS) BSkyB. Eventually tapping her inner entrepreneur, she co-founded Yodlee, a financial-services Internet startup, and then landed at Google, where she built several operations from scratch and spent six years.

Just turned 40, Singh Cassidy has landed a new gig: as the CEO of Polyvore, a three-year-old Internet outfit with designs on conquering the fashion and lifestyle. space. As I mentioned in Tuesday’s Postcard about her news, Singh Cassidy told me that she has, for quite a while, kept a list of career guidelines for herself. They’re basically about understanding yourself, assessing your passions, and knowing when and where to leap. She offered to share them on Postcards. I gladly accepted. So here is some great advice from a Silicon Valley star who I advise you keep your eye on.–Patricia Sellers