Lynda gives an example of business development at Florida’s Space Coast through expanding assembly work beyond operations, and also discusses making the most of challenges such as the recent economy.

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Lynda L. Weatherman, a Florida native, is the president & CEO of the Economic Development Commission of Florida’s Space Coast. She is primarily responsible for generating new prospects activity and the retention of existing industry, while keeping abreast of government laws and regulations effecting economic development, all with a goal of creating new jobs for the Brevard County community. She provides advice and counsel to local business and industry and relays new programs and procedures to assist manufacturing and high tech companies. In 1979, Weatherman obtained her B.A. in Social Sciences / Education from the University of South Florida. Upon graduation, she was a teacher until 1981 when she began her Masters work. In 1983, upon completing her initial Masters program in economic development from the University of Southern Mississippi, she interned at the Florida Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Economic Analysis. She became the Associate Director of Economic Development at the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce in 1985, and advanced in 1986 to Research and Marketing Director for the Marion County Economic Development Agency. Weatherman’s work resulted in winning a Rotarian Fellowship to the University of Hong Kong where, in 1990, she completed her second (2nd) Master’s Degree in International and Urban Planning. While in Hong Kong, Weatherman was an independent contractor for the Hong Kong Trade Fair Group and was responsible for conducting international trade analysis. Upon returning to the United States in 1991, she became the Executive Director of the Space Coast Development Commission and in 1992, became the Executive Director of the City of Titusville’s Economic Development Department. Weatherman assumed her current position with the EDC of Florida’s Space Coast in August of 1994.

 

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Lynn Gray discusses how the current economy is impacting job opportunities for Gen Y, and shares specific strategies that can help Gen Y succeed.

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With several years of experience at Lehman Brothers and an extensive recruiting background, Lynn Gray offers advice for the Generation Y workforce. She explains how the current economy is impacting job opportunities. Recruiting is down 22% for entry level jobs and boomers are not retiring, thus limiting opportunities for Gen Y. However, she is optimistic because she believes Gen Y is resilient, practical, knowledgeable, and can be more creative in their job searching. She provides an example of how Lehman Brothers had to transfer 20 new hires from the real estate section that they were hired for, to a more general section. 19 of the 20 agreed to their offer and are using the transfer to build different skill sets until the real estate sector revives. Also, she discusses how Gen Y is the most diverse workforce generation the US has seen yet. They can communicate around the world easily and have traveled a great deal, and are therefore more open to international opportunities. Towards the end, she explains that this tight economy is a great opportunity for junior employees to step up and relieve some of that stress taken on by senior management. Her advice for Gen Y is to try different things, take on different tasks, expand their knowledge base and be ready to take the next step when the economy booms again.

Lynn Zuckerman Gray is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Campus Scout, LLC, which provides strategic campus-recruiting services for corporations. For more than eleven years, Lynn was with Lehman Brothers in New York, serving from 2002-2008 as Global Chief Administrative Officer of Lehman Brothers’ Global Real Estate Group. She also was an active member of Lehman Brothers’ Women’s Network serving on its Steering Committee and as the Network’s Cornell Recruiting Team Captain. Lynn is a graduate of Tufts University and the Cornell Law School and is a member of the Advisory Board of the Graduate Program in Real Estate of Cornell University where she chairs the Career Advisory Subcommittee and the MBA Program in Real Estate at the University of Wisconsin.

lynnzgray@gmail.com

lynnzgray@gocampusscout.com

www.gocampusscout.com

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Steve Benjamin discusses the benefits of alumni networking. His recommendation to students is to “get over themselves” and focus on the opportunities that still exist. He advises students to reach out and tap the vast networks available to them.

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Steve thinks that students are overly concerned about the down turn of the economy, since the situation has been much worse in the past. He recommends that students get over their stress and start focusing on the problem at hand. Students that are graduating from Cornell are at the top of the pyramid. Blindly sending out resumes won’t be very helpful. Graduate school is a very good option, with short term and long-term benefits. If you are in the engineering school at Cornell, Steve highly suggests that you stay one more year for the master’s degree. If you decide to start looking for jobs, you should use the alumni network. For example, Steve serves as a mentor to an undergraduate student interested in engineering and entrepreneurship. He gives students assignments and advice that can help them find opportunities. Don’t contact the alumni for direct help in obtaining a job, but for help in seeking out new paths and opportunities. Steve reminds students to thank the alumni and keep them updated on your progress.

Jim Byrnes talks about the realities of a financial career in today’s economy. His advice is great for young professionals just starting their careers now, and explains what people can do to get ahead in the future.

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It is a tough time in financial services. Wall Street is still hiring, but competition is increasing, and salaries are decreasing. Jim suggests that students need to think about jobs in finance elsewhere or even in other industries. In this economy, more customers are moving to local banking because of their discomfort with the larger firms. In investment banking, there is a tremendous variety of smaller companies that can offer students interesting career opportunities with hands-on experience. Students will have to work a little harder to find and sell themselves to these smaller companies by focusing their pitch and working one-on-one with the company representatives. Jim thinks the salaries at these smaller companies are reasonable given the cost of living in the location of the smaller companies and will have more opportunities to move up in the company. However, students should think about their long-term career path, because, realistically, large firms are going to be looking for new MBA graduates, not people coming from these smaller companies.