Young Mi Park focuses on differentiating yourself, and encourages listeners to approach their job search in an innovative manner.

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Coming Soon!

Young Mi Park has built her career expanding global brands and guiding businesses and new ventures. She has held leadership roles in Marketing, Strategy and General Management at Sesame Workshop, Levi Strauss, Burger King and American Express and has also worked at ambitious “fourth sector” educational start-ups and other new ventures, including her own bootstrap initiative. She has led successful turnarounds of failing business units, received industry recognitions for best brand image and advertising and spearheaded successful new product and new market development. In addition to extensive experience in the U.S., she has worked in or with businesses in Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Guam Japan, France, Canada and Mexico and devised business development strategies for Europe and Latin America. Currently COO of a fresh, new cosmetics concept, Thevi Cosmetics, she has an undergraduate degree from Cornell University and an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management.
 

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Ken offers listeners his advice: take the initiative, seek feedback, and take control of your career – do not sit back and wait for opportunities to come to you.

Ken Saji is a Senior Editorial Director at MTV Networks, where he serves as a creative director and head writer for their Creative Services department. He is responsible for setting the creative vision and developing brand strategies for MTV Networks’ corporate projects, which encompass integrated solutions across digital, on-air, video, print, radio and merchandise for business-to-business, consumer and internal communications. His award-winning work spans everything from integrated campaigns and large-scale pro-social causes to new business initiatives and brand development. He graduated from Cornell University cum laude with a degree in English, and from Columbia University’s Graduate Writing Program.

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Alexandra discusses workplace dynamics and helps listeners with the skills required to succeeding in any job.

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The typical skills that are expected and required to succeed in any job are the same, and Alexandra outlines them in her book, They Don’t Teach Corporate in College. It is expected that there should be some discomfort the first year in a new job because there is an adjustment, but these tips can help shorten the adjustment period. The most common situation is not understanding what is expected of you and working hard at a job, but not seeing the result. There are other factors at play in the workforce that aren’t at play in school such as what your boss thinks of you, whether your work is visible to someone with authority, and whether your work is important to the company mission. She gives an example of how at her first job she was always putting out ideas and always being outspoken, but she didn’t realize that she was threatening the people who had been working on the project for months before she got there. It is important to realize how you are coming across to the people you work with, and to be aware of how you are impacting them. You should lay low the first few months to observe the actions of the those that are successful, and then model yourself after those people. Some coping techniques with this situation of being at a new job include making time for a work-life balance and increasing self-awareness. These soft skills such as communication, project management, and personal management apply to all types of jobs across all industries. Alexandra’s book provides young professionals with information to be more successful and to have things happen at a quicker pace.

Alexandra Levit’s goal is to help people find meaningful jobs – quickly and simply – and to succeed beyond measure once they get there. In February, she was named as the Wall Street Journal’s newest career columnist and writes the Reinvent column that anchors the nationally syndicated Sunday Journal and appears weekly on WSJ.com. Also a current columnist for Metro US, Alexandra has authored several books, including the popular They Don’t Teach Corporate in College (Career Press 2004 and 2009), How’d You Score That Gig? (Random House/Ballantine, 2008), Success for Hire (ASTD Press, 2008), MillennialTweet (SuperStar, 2009), and New Job, New You (Random House/Ballantine, 2010). Her book on the top myths of business success is due out from Penguin/Berkley in spring 2011. Alexandra is a member of the Business Roundtable’s Springboard Project, which is advising the Obama administration on current workplace issues. She graduated from Northwestern University and resides in Chicago, IL with her husband Stewart and son Jonah.

http://www.newjobnewyou.com

http://www.alexandralevit.com
 

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Jaime Allen gives some tips and strategies to help listeners land their dream jobs, as they prepare for their final on-site interviews.

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Jaime covers the stage of the hiring process where you have been invited to the corporate headquarters for the final round of interviews. Your resume and performance have gotten you this far, but now the company is looking for a cultural fit within the organization. Jaime urges that it is extremely important to be yourself and not what you perceive the interviewer to be looking for. Jaime personally looks for three major things. First, while it is important to talk about your performance, it is also important to showcase your personality. She looks at how you carry yourself and your attitude as you answer general questions. Her recommendation is that candidates talk about their interests outside of work to give the company a better sense of your life outside of work. A good time to do this is in those 5 minutes or so between interviews as you are escorted from one office to another. While this conversation is casual, it shows that you can balance work and life, and allows for your passions to shine through. This can help you connect with the interviewer on a more personal level. Many candidates feel they have to “suck up” to the interviewers, but this is very pretentious and disingenuous. One pitfall that people fall into is being too focused on the interview process itself and forgetting to show off their character and personality. She suggests that you talk about things that make you unique and that can help you stand out. Another possible pitfall is that people are not prepared to ask relevant and thoughtful questions, and instead tend to ask predictable questions taken off a company’s website. A good question to ask could be on what the insight was behind a new product or marketing campaign. Jaime also stresses the importance of not only talking to the directors and VPs, but being truly genuine and friendly to everyone that you meet. She ends the interview by discussing how to behave during professional dinners and includes some tips on what to wear, whether drinks are to be ordered, and overall appropriate behavior.

Jaime Allen is currently a Director of Marketing at Darden Restaurant Group in Orlando, Florida. There she leads Marketing Strategy for Promotion Pipeline, Merchandising and Local Marketing for the Olive Garden brand. Prior to joining Darden, Jaime spent 8 years at SC Johnson in Marketing working on new product development and various brands such as Scrubbing Bubbles, Edge, Skintimate and Glade. Jaime has worked briefly as a personal chef and has passed the Level 1 Master Sommelier exam. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree at Cornell University in 2000.

jaimeallen9@hotmail.com

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Dave Pelletier takes a very reflective and common sense approach to becoming an effective leader.

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Dave gives his advice on how listeners can develop their own personal management and leadership style. First, you must reflect on the “why” of past experiences. He notes that it is amazing how much life experiences play a role in your career, and they after recognizing the “whats” of our past, we need to reflect on the “why”. For example, one of Dave’s “whats” is that he loved sports growing up, and upon reflection realized that this was the reason why he strives for a good team environment and harmony. Second, he stresses the importance of developing common sense. While it may sound basic, managers and leaders frequently rely on common sense to make decisions. Third, you must continue to learn if you want to grow, develop, and mature in role as a leader. Applying this knowledge gain to your career is where full potential and satisfaction is achieved. Finally, Dave urges that a critical aspect to becoming a better leader is understanding the concept of motivation, and creating an environment where people motivate themselves. The foundations of this are to (1) understand what you value, whether it be social relationships, money, work environment, or potential for promotion, (2) what do your people value, including superiors, peers, and subordinates, (3) and trust in your ability to provide the outcomes which are in your control. These bits of advice are very intangible, because there is no formula to becoming a better leader. Dave gives an example of the time when his controller found out out that her husband had Alzheimer’s. She told Dave that she was going to have to resign. Rather than letting her resign, he helped her work out a situation where she could stay with the company and work from home. Dave had to decide between hiring someone else, or using compassion to help better her life and provide continuity in the workplace. He ends with that often you need some common sense and compassion to reach the right decision.

Mr. Pelletier became CEO of Annalee Dolls, Inc in October 2002, following two years of turnaround consulting with this company. Dave started his relationship with Annalee while he was a principal in the strategic and financial consulting firm of R.E. PINARD & CO. of Manchester, NH. While at the firm, Dave worked with a number of companies in the areas of strategic growth initiative development, company turnarounds and as an intermediary on the sell-side of M&A transactions. Prior to his return to New Hampshire, Dave was co-founder and President of an Ohio based start-up company providing specialized value added manufacturing services to the worldwide appliance industry. Dave received a B.S. from Cornell University in Marketing and an MBA from the University of Colorado in Organizational Development. He also attended Columbia University’s six-month Executive Development Program in Organizational Dynamics.

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Larry Robertson discusses what people can learn from successful entrepreneurs and how to apply it to their careers, which he discovered while interviewing many entrepreneurs for his book, “A Deliberate Pause”.

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Larry defines a deliberate pause as that conscious moment when we open our minds, wonder why things are the way they are, and question how life could be better. Many entrepreneurs, practice this to the extent that it infuses with their life choices. He also discusses how there is no formula to success. People are very used to approaching things with a predetermined process, but good ideas and the ability to evolve into something meaningful doesn’t come with a formula. Successful entrepreneurs, for example, create a career that is molded closer to who they are and don’t worry about following a formula. They have a very driven quality about them because they feel that failure is not an option. Entrepreneurs have a unique capacity to see patterns where others don’t. They then see opportunity to make a difference in the world, and also see that no one else is doing anything about it, and so they feel a strong need to do it themselves. There is a unique undertaking and commitment that anyone can practice in their own careers. Larry also urges that people must define their own metric of success and determine what success means to them in their own terms. If you use someone else’s metric for success, once you reach the goal, you may not feel accomplished or fulfilled. Larry ends with giving us three things about successful entrepreneurs that can be applied to any career: (1) entrepreneurs don’t look at money as the primary driver as to where to focus their energies; there is always something deeper that drives them, (2) entrepreneurs are constantly engaged in and personally connected to what they do, and (3) entrepreneurs have given themselves the freedom to think differently, to question, and to search for ways to create value.

Larry Robertson has spent two decades in the entrepreneurial universe in roles ranging from advisor to investor and many in between. In 1992, he founded Lighthouse Consulting, which, appropriately, guides entrepreneurial ventures, their leaders, and those who invest in them. Larry frequently lectures on entrepreneurship at Georgetown and Cornell Universities and is a recognized expert on entrepreneurship in public, private, and academic forums. He has recently written “A deliberate pause: Entrepreneurship and its Moment in Human Progress” that reflects his views on the topics of entrepreneurship and human progress.

http://web.me.com/adeliberatepause/A_Deliberate_Pause/The_Book.html

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Rachel Doyle addresses the challenges associated with starting a non-profit as a career option.

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Rachel, founder of the nonprofit GlamourGals, shares some basic issues to watch out for when starting a nonprofit. Per Rachel, fundraising is always an issue because of the resources needed to create an organization. Secondly, recruiting and retaining good people is a challenge. Rachel finds that offering flexible work schedules, not ruling by fear, and other non-monetary benefits are essential in getting the most out of people, especially volunteers. She urges creativity in your management and leadership style. Thirdly, excellent communication is essential and difficult in a world where people work virtually. Rachel also stresses differentiating yourself by being creative and unique in your ideas. For example, GamourGals has “Hot Pink Parties” which are knitting and crocheting parties with the elderly and teenagers. In the current economy, expensive dinners aren’t plausible so this is an affordable and relevant event that meets her non-profit’s mission. Rachel continues by discussing how to approach corporations, either as an interviewer or as a nonprofit looking for a partnership. Professionalism is imperative and having done your homework is essential; you must be well read, relevant, and well prepared. Also, it is important to evaluate to make sure that the company is in line with the nonprofit goals (or with what you want to do as a profession if you are interviewing). In addition, you need to find the right person to connect with. Rachel also expands on how it is important to bring a business sense to nonprofits because that structure is important. Finally, Rachel stresses the importance of writing a thank you note. It is very meaningful and very rare these days, and will really make an impact on the person.

As a passionate, motivated teen looking to honor her own grandmother, Rachel Doyle started the first GlamourGals chapter when she was only 17 years old. Today, Rachel has the same enthusiasm and drive for the cause behind GlamourGals that she demonstrated in high school and her ability to continually streamline, evaluate and redefine aspects of the GlamourGals allows the program to grow along with its volunteers. When Rachel was still in high school, she was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Since then, she has steadily gained national recognition in many media publications such as Montel Williams, The Christina Show, The New York Times, CBS’s The Early Show, Glamour Magazine, Cosmopolitan Magazine, and Newsday. Rachel has also won many awards for her work for GlamourGals. She was named the first ever “Cosmogirl of the Year” by Cosmogirl Magazine. She accepted the National Group Volunteer of the Year Award from the American Health Care Association. Rachel was featured in the American Eagle Outfitters Spring 2005 national ad campaign, and in 2006 she was named one of four Fun Fearless Females by Cosmopolitan Magazine, beating out thousands for the title. The GlamourGals program was also featured in two textbooks: a McGraw Hill 7th Grade Health Textbook and the 2007 Prentice Hall College Management textbook.

http://www.glamourgals.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=156&Itemid=106

http://www.glamourgals.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=17&Itemid=51

http://twitter.com/GlamourGals

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Jane Chin makes a return appearance to discuss two specific strategies designed to help you become a high achiever: managing your boss and developing your personal brand.

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Jane is working on a seminar series called “Overcoming Redundancy”, which targets high performance individuals and high achievers. Two of the key points from the seminar series are learning to manage your boss and creating your own personal brand. Jane urges listeners to think of they can manage their boss. One relevant question is “What is your boss’s definition of a job well done?” You need to know specifically what it is that you do that your boss views as important; it may not be what you thought. Another important question is “How does your boss view his or her own management style?” This view doesn’t have to match with how the other employees view him or her; it’s about what the boss thinks of him or herself. This is good to know because it will give you a lot of ideas on what to anticipate from your boss. Ask your boss questions like “how do you like to work with your employees”, “how do you like to communicate with them”, and “if we work together, how often do you need to hear from me?” The second key point from her seminar series, personal brand, is about how other people see you regardless of how you see yourself. You need to really think about your own strengths and how you contribute to the company. A good way to get an idea of your present personal brand is to think of what your boss or co-workers need when they call on you to do something. What situations or problems do people connect you as the solution to? The importance of having a personal brand is that in order to overcome redundancy, you want to make sure that your expertise is directly affecting at least five people in your organization. You also need to be proactive about creating your brand rather than reactive, because if you wait for feedback to come to you, it may already be too late.

Dr. Jane Chin is a microbusiness entrepreneur/coach and career transition strategist. Dr. Chin applies strategic thinking techniques to help professionals and companies identify the core nucleus of a problem and where viable solutions may reside. She integrates professional development with personal mastery, and writes about fear of success, addiction to approval, backstabbing coworkers, answering the question “what should I do with my life”, and various Achilles heel of career professionals. Jane is currently writing a book to help career professionals achieve high performance.

JaneChin.com
MicroBusinessMentor.com
LinkedIn Profile
Twitter

In this podcast, Jeffrey Greene speaks about affinity groups and their value to listeners as it relates to networking and career opportunities.

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Jeffrey explains that an affinity group is a group of individuals that share a common interest, such as ethnicity or a field of study. Common affinity groups relate to academia, where students get together to discuss about different issues and learn from one another. Joining an affinity group is not about landing a job at a particular company, it’s about what you learn while you are in it. An affinity group can help you develop organizational skills, problem solving skills, and leadership skills. Also, they can potentially help you get a job, but not because you are in it, but because of the role you play in it. In addition, affinity groups help you meet professionals in your field and help you get a better understanding of all the career possibilities within your field. Employers utilize affinity group by using them to identify diverse talent and key in on students that are exhibiting leadership and problem solving roles. Kraft as a company uses them to identify long term candidates, full time employees, and interns. Some affinity groups that Krafts associates with are MANARS (Minorities in Agriculture Natural Resources and Related Sciences), NSBE (National Society of Black Engineers), and is looking into others such as the Society of Women Engineers. Finally, Jeffrey discusses how affinity groups are a great networking tool because you can meet both professionals in a certain field of study and also other students who can share important bits of advice. The show ends with Jeffrey explaining how affinity groups have affected her in the past such as how the skills she displayed as the graduate V.P. of MANARS helped her land a job with Kraft.

Jeffrey L. Greene is a Sensory Scientist at Kraft Foods R&D in Glenview, IL. She guides product development by providing a clear understanding of the impact of certain ingredients, technologies, and packaging. Jeffrey supports the Cultured, Cream cheese, and Canadian
Peanut butter Business Units. Jeffrey obtained her B.S. in Biology from Xavier University of Louisiana. She has her M.S. in Food & Nutritional Sciences from Tuskegee University and her Ph.D. in Food Science from North Carolina State University (concentration in Sensory Analysis and Flavor Chemistry).

 

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In this podcast, Patricia Fripp gives advice on how to formulate effective presentations for interviews or the boardroom.

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Patricia Fripp, a sales presentation expert, urges that presentation skills are important because at the beginning of your career, how you present shows how good you are for a job. It doesn’t matter how good you look on paper, you need to be able to present your ideas well. She explains that there are three ingredients for every type of presentation: (1) Decide on the structure of your presentation. What is it you want to say and why does the audience care? Provide specific proof. (2) Script the opening for brevity and specificity. (3) The last words must linger; never use a closed question. She also suggests putting ideas and remarks together into a conversational style with shorter sentences and a spoken rhythm. The more you practice, the more it sounds like you haven’t practiced. When speaking or presenting to a senior manager, start with your conclusion right up front and get to the point. She refers to it as “report on the deals, not the details”. To rise above the competition, interview the company thoroughly to be well prepared for the interview. Show how you can add value to the company. Finally, she has a content rich website that includes free information such as a special report on the 12 Mistakes Sales People Make in the Presentation.

Patricia Fripp is an award-winning speaker, sales presentation trainer, and executive speech coach. Fripp delights audiences, electrifies executives who speak, and transforms sales teams. Meetings and Conventions magazine calls Patricia “one of the country’s 10 most electrifying speakers.” Kiplinger’s Personal Finance says, “Patricia Fripp’s speaking school is the sixth best way you can invest in your career.” She is also the author of Make It! So You Don’t Have to Fake It and Get What You Want.

www.fripp.com

 

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Lara Ewing discusses the value of looking at situations from another person’s perspective. She talks about the invisible skills people do not realize that they have.

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Lara Ewing, author of The Art of Connecting, talks about the invisible skills that successful people don’t even realize they have. More specifically, these skills make you able to be incredibly adaptable, to learn from experience, and to accurately and rapidly shift your point of view inside your head. Stepping into someone’s shoes when there is a difference in opinion and taking a mental view of that person’s situation gives enormous information on how to communicate with that person and effectively resolve the differences. This ability happens instantly and unconsciously, and can be developed by practicing. The key is to try to understand where others are coming from, why they have a certain view, and why it opposes your own. Lara suggests that differences in opinions can result from a difference in backgrounds, experiences, or personalities. Also, she suggests that you try to see the situation from a third party’s point of view by detaching yourself and taking the emotion out of the situation. This skill could help a member of Generation Y communicate better with a Boomer. It can also be used to filter feedback and take the important pieces of a message and use them, rather than be just be hurt. Lara’s final message is that being able to adopt different perspectives is the most important skill in developing your career.

Norb Mayrhofer focuses on teamwork and managing expectations. He discusses strategies on how professionals can stand out in a team environment, and the importance of taking initiative.

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How can a young employee stand out in a team environment? Norb says that the most important thing is for the employee to understand the ultimate goal: to make the team successful. Productive teams have a good combination of leaders and followers and a well-balanced delegation of tasks. The employee should be aligned with the team’s overall mission and understand what needs to get done, and take responsibility for appropriate parts of the team’s work, whether leading or following. Also, a good team player is someone who proactively goes out of his or her way in order to solve the smaller problems so that the larger goal of the team can be accomplished. The traits of a good leader include being able to delegate well and ensuring that others understand the goals of the team and are putting in their best effort. A good follower does everything he or she can do in order to make the leader successful. If what the leader or boss expects of an employee is unclear, that employee should ask for clarification to avoid wasting time and money. Finally, in order for an employee to stand out in a group, he or she must understand that opportunities aren’t always given. The employee therefore needs to be innovative and take initiative in seeing the bigger problems and the challenges and solve them in a way that others can learn from.

In this podcast, Sharon Dauk gives advice on career strategies in a tough environment from her perspective as both an executive coach and industry professional. Her unique perspective lets people see what it’s like on both sides of the interview table.

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Tough times can present opportunities, and Sharon suggests that creativity is key. First, try and figure out what you are good at. Even though the big names in investment banking may not be recruiting right now, find other companies that have similar characteristics and seek them out. Networking is very important, and you have to present your value proposition – what are your passions and what will you bring to the table. Sharon believes that hard economic times can increase entrepreneurship. She graduated during a downturn in the economy and ended up starting her own investment firm.
How can a student stand out in an interview? Sharon suggests that you should be yourself and show how you are going to dedicate yourself to making the business successful. Attitude is just as important as skills. Sharon remembers a particularly good interview with a student who asked questions about how their participation would benefit the bigger picture. People are hiring you to do a job for them and achieve something they need. Present yourself as providing a solution to that problem. From a corporate point of view, someone who seems really ready to work is more attractive than someone asking about work-life balance. From Sharon’s experience as a coach, she suggests doing more research outside of the interview to find if the work-life balance would be right for you.

Sharon Dauk gives advice on career strategies in a tough environment from her perspective as both an executive coach and industry professional. Her unique perspective lets people see what it’s like on both sides of the interview table.

To download this podcast, click here
 
Tough times can present opportunities, and Sharon suggests that creativity is key. First, try and figure out what you are good at. Even though the big names in investment banking may not be recruiting right now, find other companies that have similar characteristics and seek them out. Networking is very important, and you have to present your value proposition – what are your passions and what will you bring to the table. Sharon believes that hard economic times can increase entrepreneurship. She graduated during a downturn in the economy and ended up starting her own investment firm.
How can a student stand out in an interview? Sharon suggests that you should be yourself and show how you are going to dedicate yourself to making the business successful. Attitude is just as important as skills. Sharon remembers a particularly good interview with a student who asked questions about how their participation would benefit the bigger picture. People are hiring you to do a job for them and achieve something they need. Present yourself as providing a solution to that problem. From a corporate point of view, someone who seems really ready to work is more attractive than someone asking about work-life balance. From Sharon’s experience as a coach, she suggests doing more research outside of the interview to find if the work-life balance would be right for you.

This podcast is part 2 of Scott Goodfellow’s interview with 10GoodMinutes. He discusses strategies on how to get noticed by recruiters. He shares pre-interview tips, specific interviewing strategies, and explains what makes a candidate stand out in an interview.

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Scott says that when he is looking to hire someone for a job in finance or accounting at Proctor & Gamble, he wants to see a broad experience base beyond those two specialized areas. During an interview, recruiters are not necessarily just looking for depth of experience, but for experience in leading others and making a difference. How do you set yourself apart from other interviewees? Go to career fairs and talk to the recruiters. Make sure everything on your resume is quantifiable – not just through action verbs, but through metrics. Once you get past the initial contact and into an actual interview, the recruiter will want to know how you are going to fit into the company and if you are willing to take on leadership. If you take an hour or two to really think through your resume, you can be prepared with direct, succinct answers. Lack of preparation can be a huge downfall, especially for undergraduates, since they haven’t had the real world experience of selling themselves. Familiarity is your best friend – get to know previous interns, speak to recruiters at multiple job fairs, and learn all about the company. Quality of preparation is more important than quantity of interviews. Alumni references can help, but are not the sole decision factor in an interview. If you don’t understand a question in an interview, try rephrasing it for clarification.

Scott Goodfellow discusses strategies on how to get noticed by recruiters. He shares pre-interview tips, specific interviewing strategies, and explains what makes a candidate stand out in an interview.

To download this podcast, click here
 
Scott says that when he is looking to hire someone for a job in finance or accounting at Proctor & Gamble, he wants to see a broad experience base beyond those two specialized areas. During an interview, recruiters are not necessarily just looking for depth of experience, but for experience in leading others and making a difference. How do you set yourself apart from other interviewees? Go to career fairs and talk to the recruiters. Make sure everything on your resume is quantifiable – not just through action verbs, but through metrics. Once you get past the initial contact and into an actual interview, the recruiter will want to know how you are going to fit into the company and if you are willing to take on leadership. If you take an hour or two to really think through your resume, you can be prepared with direct, succinct answers. Lack of preparation can be a huge downfall, especially for undergraduates, since they haven’t had the real world experience of selling themselves. Familiarity is your best friend – get to know previous interns, speak to recruiters at multiple job fairs, and learn all about the company. Quality of preparation is more important than quantity of interviews. Alumni references can help, but are not the sole decision factor in an interview. If you don’t understand a question in an interview, try rephrasing it for clarification.