Club Involvement Can Boost Career Acceleration

Every student at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business has an end goal in mind — to land a great job! How do students set out to do this? By attending classes and studying to pass tests and get good grades. However, it is a common misunderstanding that good grades are all you need to obtain that great career.

Students need opportunities to apply classroom learning in a very real and practical way. Employers want to see how students developed a skill, not only that you heard about it in a class or read it in a textbook. While group projects are assigned by professors seeking to help students apply learning, they are limited in what they can do.

Student organizations and clubs have been created as a means to grant practical opportunities to apply learning. Clubs have been implemented to support students in their career acceleration efforts. As stated in The Jon M. Huntsman School of Business’ purpose, clubs are there “to be a career accelerator for our students and an engine of growth for our communities, the state, the nation and the world.”

How is career acceleration measured? By counting the number of club members that have job offers upon graduation. Career acceleration is not achieved unless every club member has a job offer, which they are willing to accept, when they graduate. Currently we are able to place all members who are highly involved so, we need to get more members highly involved and pass on the benefits to the members with time constraints.

Student organizations present many opportunities for career acceleration so students, take advantage of all that you can. Join multiple organizations. Attend club meetings and find the club that has a purpose aligned with your desires and needs. Doing so will increase your chances of being hired. 

Find out more about your clubs and student organizations here:  http://myhuntsman.usu.edu/htm/student-experiences/clubs.

We are here to support career acceleration!

— George Johnson

Lean Leaders Club 

The Lean Leaders Club is an organization that is dedicated to providing opportunities for students to become future employees for operational excellence.  

Having A Strong Social Media Presence Can Save You Money

Whenever someone tells me that social media is a waste of time, I can usually come up with a valid excuse. Sometimes I mumble that I would miss a lot of events, lose out on a good deal or be socially outcast if I didn't use social media.

But today I found a better excuse.

According to Smart Money having a strong social media presence can save you a lot of money. Sites like Klout, PeerIndex and PeopleBrowsr, rate a person's social media influence and gives them a score (Klout does their ratings on a scale of 1 to 100). In the article it states that  having a higher rating may help you get a better mortgage rate.

"Movenbank founder Brett King says clients with high scores are probably a better lending risk -- after all, thousands of followers trust their judgment. And they're valuable customers -- if they're happy with a service, they tweet about it," the story reads.

It also goes on to say that companies are using people's scores for sales deals or response times.  Gilt, the online fashion outlet, recently offered discounts to customers based on their Klout score; Capital One offered extra bonus miles to its highest-scoring customers.

Advertising and marketing employers are also using these scores to help them in the hiring process. 

Knowing that social media will soon become the main channel for communication inspires me to get more involved.

So go ahead-- post something you didn't know, re-tweet a funny comment or add to your blog-- you never know how it might pay off.
 
--Klydi Heywood 

Get ready for the future

Make a New Year’s resolution that will pay off in 2012 and beyond. A visit with a professional in the Career Acceleration Center can create dividends that will benefit you and your career for years to come.

Ron Godfrey

I have seen what can happen when a student proactively taps into the expertise that is available in the Career Acceleration Center. I work with four professionals who can draw from years of broad-based experience as seasoned executives to offer the type of targeted coaching that can give a graduate an edge in today’s competitive marketplace.

Time passes quickly and you will soon be immersed in the mad scramble for a competitive job. Give yourself an advantage by speaking with someone who has already experienced what lies in store for you. Many skills sets are offered by these business leaders. You can receive help with networking, interviewing skills, and résumés. More importantly, you can be assisted with personal development and direction, tailored to your individual needs. Please, make a resolution and develop a plan for the future.

- Ron Godfrey

You never know who's listening

Paul Siddoway

Usually when I hear someone swear, I'm on the highway, where it is expected. The other day, I heard it in a professional-type environment and it caught me off guard.

Not because I took it personally and was offended. It wasn't even directed at me. Besides, I used to work with teenage drug addicts and have developed a fairly thick skin.

There are just some things I don't expect to hear at work.

Cursing is becoming more and more common, and more commonly accepted. Even in the workplace. This is far from the junior high locker room where I think I first heard real people, that I knew personally, swear.

My mother-in-law is a fan of the original Star Trek, and she remembers that show being edgy for it's time. Now, it would be considered really mild, in terms of swearing.

She doesn't have time to watch much modern TV. I don't either, but the little I do catch has taught me one thing: the latest thing advertisers are doing is adding what used to be "foul language" to commercials. They used to add it to the scripts and then bleep it out, but even that is slowly going the way of the buffalo. Even the radio is letting more and more things slip by.

When they went back to 20th century Earth, Kirk told Spock, "That's simply the way they talk here. Nobody pays any attention to you unless you swear every other word."

I think that really is becoming the case.

In all of my work experience, it has always been frowned upon to swear at the work place. Especially in front of a customer. I used to be the manager of a bowling alley, and in that fine establishment of American family recreation we weren't even allowed to play music that swore. My boss, who was an avid bowler, said it tarnishes the reputation of bowling alleys everywhere. I see that.

Some would say there is no place for that kind of language ever. I understand the need to get something off your chest and use, as Spock called them, "colorful metaphors." However I would think twice about using them at the office or in advertising, not wanting to mis-represent whatever company I work for.

You never know who's listening.

The Element

Ken Robinson is a guy worth listening to. He spoke at TED in early 2007, and his speech has become the second most viewed video of all time on TED's YouTube channel. (I've posted the video to this speech at the end of this post.) He's funny, he's dynamic and he places a lot of value on creativity. He recently wrote a book entitled The Element that looks at the importance of finding your passion and pursuing it in your life.

I'm writing from New York following the first day of the Huntsman School's Career Exploration trip. Huntsman students who are interested in finance, marketing, entrepreneurship and other subjects have the opportunity to visit various places including The Big Apple to meet with alumni and other professionals to network and to get a feel for the industry, the city and the opportunities available to them. 

Brittany Packham at Times Square

I decided to combine my experience on the Marketing and PR focused visits with reading The Element. Robinson describes "The Element" as "the place where the things we love to do and the things we are good at come together." In this book, he emphasizes the importance of talent and interest exploration; when an individual finds something she or he is both passionate about and good at doing, that person will excel in that field. 

Tyler Spurlock at USU alumni event

On Wednesday, we visited Bloomberg and saw how they perform their broadcasts. We then visited Coltrin and Associates and got a unique view into the PR world as we met with their professionals, many of whom are Aggie alumni, and asked a variety of questions surrounding the PR industry. We also sat down with an insightful PR professional in a cafe who gave us insight into the event planning world. We ended the day by attending a USU alumni event where nearly 100 Aggies gathered. The common thread I noticed throughout these visits is the fact that the professionals seemed to have found their "Element." They were excited, happy and passionate about what they do -- something that can make anyone's career more rewarding and successful. 

This is really quite an incredible experience for Huntsman students who want to get their foot in the door. Huntsman students can explore their interests and talents, meet with executives and professionals that otherwise would be hard or impossible to get in front of, and start their careers with good firms, doing work they want to do. 


- Sterling Morris

Ken Robinson on education and creativity

Seattle Day 2 (Thursday, July 21st)

In front of Pike Place Market

This morning we had a great time enjoying the wonderful city of Seattle by going to Pike Place Market, one of the most famous farmer's markets in the world. Although this activity was a fun break, it was still fascinating to see a different aspect of business with hundreds of little businesses selling a variety of knick-knacks. The market had a distinct smell of fresh flowers and, of course, FISH!

It was amazing to see so many different flower vendors and the beautiful bouquets that they were selling. We were also able to see the famous fish throwing and as several of us discussed, we realized there are only a few people in the world who can be considered a tourist attraction, but the fish guys at Pike Place Market clearly fall into that category.

Pike Place Market

A few of us ate a delicious lunch at the “Athenian” this great diner looking out over Puget Sound. For those of you who lived through the '90s or love romantic comedies, you’ll know that this little restaurant is one of the locations where Tom Hanks is filmed eating in the movie, “Sleepless in Seattle.” I ordered a delicious crab cake sandwich that was very tasty.

In the afternoon we met with Phil Bussey who was the President of the Seattle Chamber of Commerce. It was really interesting being able to realize the role the Chamber of Commerce can play in the business world. The Seattle Chamber of Commerce has done a lot recently to keep up with the innovative feel of Seattle by implementing some really key programs.  

Crab Pot

Brent Meacham

Later in the evening, several of us went to Crab Pot, another famous Seattle restaurant. I ordered a slew of seafood and after devouring my full Crab, lots of mussels, shrimp, and other food I realized that I prefer the deep fried seafood covered in batter…with the exception of the crab…it was DELICIOUS!!!

It was a fun day experiencing the culture of Seattle. I’m excited for the fun visits we have coming up tomorrow and I can hardly believe our exciting week is coming to an end tomorrow! I guess I'll just have to live it up until then.


Brent Meacham

San Francisco day 1

I set my alarm for 4:00 a.m. and closed my eyes for a mere 20 seconds before sitting up in bed realizing how early my day would begin the next morning. After a three-hour "nap" and a bit of a drive to the airport, though, I didn't mind the early wake-up call and was excited to be able to be going on this trip.

Being so tired, talking and doing normal things people do when they are awake seemed out of the question during the flight to Phoenix and the connecting flight to San Francisco. I stayed awake just long enough to get my free in-flight beverage and peanuts and not a second longer. In fact, I almost choked on a peanut as I drifted in and out of sleep mid-chew. I did, however, manage to grab a few shots out the plane window before I lost consciousness, including this one as we rose above the clouds in Salt Lake to find the sun shining beautifully at 38,000 feet.

Despite our plane arriving early, a line out the door and a bunch of very confused and clearly unorganized rental car employees managed to stall us an hour and a half, putting us behind schedule. Luckily, we were able to make it to our first appointment which was with Ali Towle, the Director of Marketing for the San Francisco 49ers. This was definitely my favorite visit of the day. She did an excellent job of explaining in detail the path it takes to get to where she is now.

After that, we visited with two more companies, Portola Pharmaceuticals and SteelRiver Infrastructure. To spice things up, we even crammed all 12 of us into an elevator and got stuck between the 4th and 5th floors for 20 minutes. The experience proved to be the best bonding experience we had all day. At the end of the day we got to tour a little of downtown and eat some pizza with the locals. If Utah had a pizza place as good as the one we went to I would go there everyday, even if it was in Salt Lake and I had to commute. The pizza was that good!

If I was to rate this day I would give it four stars and two enthusiastic thumbs up. Here is a short video recapping everything that happened.

Braden Thompson

Build your village

Tuesday night we had the opportunity to hear from Barry Heninger, career accelerator and professor for the Huntsman School. Mr. Heninger shared the many experiences he has had throughout the progression of his career.

In Dr. Covey’s book, he teaches of the difference between simply a group of people you know and a “village.” He explains that in a village there are many diverse skills, talents, and professions, where each individual helps the other. Mr. Heninger shared multiple experiences where he was able to escalate his career through networking, and he also talked about times when he was able to help others out along the way. Mr. Heninger cautioned us to give at least as much as we receive.

We discussed different ways to network and build our village through social networking sites, as well as taking advantage of the many people we are associated with at our various jobs, internships and even our classes.

The main principle of Mr. Heninger’s counsel was clearly stated: “To get a great career, you have to ask for it.”

Delivering an engaging interview

Tuesday night we had the opportunity to hear from Ron Godfrey, career accelerator and lecturer for the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business. Mr. Godfrey has held many positions in both professional and volunteer settings. His experiences in those realms has greatly contributed to his expertise in interviewing skills.

We were taught about the types of common questions asked in job interviews. It was said that some time ago, interviewers would ask situational questions. For example, the interviewer may ask, "What would you do in this type of situation?" Nowadays, interviewers (at least the good interviewers) ask behavioral-based questions. They are looking for an experience that describes certain qualities and characteristics necessary for that specific job. Mr. Godfrey gave us great suggestions on how to be completely prepared for a job interview as if knowing the answers to a test before the test.

We encourage everyone to visit the career accelerator office to schedule a time to meet with Mr. Godfrey or any of the other career accelerators. They can help you discover the secrets about how to ace your next interview.

Also, Mr. Godfrey discussed proper dress for males and females, as well as other "do's" and "don'ts" in interviews. The participants really enjoyed Tuesday night's lecture and seem to have left with more confidence as they gain a better understanding of how to have an engaging interview.

A student speaks about advice from a career accelerator

"The true character of a person is how he or she treats people they don't need."

These were the first words quoted by Ron Godfrey of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business when he came to my business communication class as a guest speaker. Someone passing by the classroom would have heard him lecturing about employment, what to put on a resume and how to present oneself at a job interview. However, I heard him speak about how we can become successful in the classroom, at the workplace and in every aspect of our lives.

"Your resume is the most important part of you getting a job."

As a college student, I have heard this several times; however, instead of hearing what I should put on a resume, I heard how we as students can go about finding our strengths, weaknesses and what things make us who we are. Mr. Godfrey told each of us to "Brand yourself; bleed onto the paper." He said that many of those who are in charge of hiring employees will ask the receptionists and the custodians how interviewees treated them. They are looking for employees with the utmost integrity. This is great advice for someone competing for a job but better advice for someone to live by everyday of his or her life.

"Hey, I need to talk to you about a couple of things." To which Mr. Godfrey would reply, "What's the second thing?"

Some people talk a lot and say very little. This was not the case when Mr. Godfrey came to my class and spoke about employment and career acceleration. It was as if not a single word was wasted in his lecture. Using his years of experience in the business world, he was able to teach me things I can do to have a better chance at landing a job; but with wisdom (and sometimes needing to read between the lines), he taught me ways I can become a more successful person.

Adam Thompson

Get the Work You Want

Tuesday night our Great Work Great Career class learned about how to be persistent and about the importance of understanding the broad spectrum as we pursue our desired career path.

The course we have been taking is based on the book of the same name by Stephen R. Covey and Jennifer Colosimo. It helps people identify and develop their unique talents and passions. It also helps people better tap those skills, and it prepares them for the job market by improving their resume building and interviewing abilities.

We had the opportunity to hear from Bernadette Caldwell, a current participant in the course. She spoke about the potential women have in the workplace, and she also gave encouraging words about effective negotiation.

We also heard from Barbara Sidwell, current Huntsman career accelerator. Barbara explained that as we develop our careers, we will need seven people as part of our network:

1) Mentor - someone to teach, guide and be a professional example

2) Godfather - someone to champion you to your boss (pull some strings)

3) Headhunter - someone who will look out for you and help place you in ideal situations

4) Visionary - someone who has a broad perspective and helps you dream

5) Realist - someone who says, "Good idea ... but what about X, Y and Z?"

6) Partner - a supporter through the highs and lows

7) Mentee - someone for you to teach, train and guide

To close Tuesday night's class, Lynne Pettit explained the difference between being PROACTIVE and REACTIVE and avoiding the "victim mentality." We were taught that we must first identify the need, then identify our skills, and lastly, identify a solution. Being proactive is key to getting the work you want.