Well, my project ends this afternoon. My blog is due, but I am really glad that I decided to take on this project. There really is so much information out there about careers and what you need to do to get there. It's not very hard to find it either. You just have to do a little searching around. Careerbuilder.com is a great resource that has tons of articles regarding possible careers.

 

On another note, my parents found an article in the newspaper this weekend that they saved for me. It was in the Orlando Sentinel and it was about what seniors in college need to spend their last year doing to prepare themselves for work. I have read a lot of articles on this topic since I started this blog project, but each article has something different to offer. The first point that is made by the author for this article is that seniors need to visit their career services to make sure that their skills can be applied to their job target. Stetson has really been stressing this, at least with the junior business school students. The second point that is made in the article is that networking really needs to be done in the student's final year of school. I understand how important this is because it can really get you in the door when you know a contact. This summer and next year I really need to work on networking with the companies that I'm interested in. The last point to be made in the article is to "clean up" any information on the Internet about you that could hinder you from getting a job. This would include sites such as myspace and facebook. I wouldn't doubt that employers might use these sites to gain an insider view of someone. This article mentioned two important actions that other articles didn't. It talked about going to career services and also cleaning the Internet. I will have to take these into account when I start my senior year of college next year.

I was looking through the news and different links online when I came across this article. It talked about upcoming graduates and corporate America. What seemed to grab my attention was the line that read, "Suddenly, the tenets of success we've followed since kindergarten don't apply, because getting ahead in the business world often has nothing to do with intelligence or exceeding a set of defined expectations." I know that the world of business is very tough, but the bluntness made me take a reality check.

 

The article listed six career secrets:

1. Develop a marketable corporate person

2. Establish profitable relationships

3. Master transferable skills

4. Stay motivated despite trying circumstances

5. Get people to cooperate

6. Be proactive about your career growth

 

I have already learned most of these secrets from my BN301 class, but I guess that I finally realized how beneficial some of these secrets can be to a person's career. This article definitely served as a wake-up call to reality. It's hard to comprehend the magnitude that creating this self-image can have on my career. Of course people want to hire someone who is enthusiastic and confident, but then I start to question whether I am enthusiastic enough to really stick out. I guess in the scheme of things, it all boils down to showing the "real" you.

 

I read about the Duke University case this morning before church. I'm sure that this situation happens more than people would like to think. To me it seems as though Duke has now ruined some of their reputability.

 

As far as Stetson goes, I think that we have a pretty good reputation. We are known for our excellence within the business school and all of the other schools are very successful also. We have great curriculum and our teachers are very knowledgeable. What I like most about this school is that it is very small and personal. The professors are more than willing to take time out of their day to make sure that you are getting the best education possible. The students have the opportunity to use the small student to teacher ratio and most of them do. I have had the choice to transfer schools, but I decided that I would get a better education at Stetson. I know that through all of the thorough group projects, I am ultimately getting the better education. Although Stetson is a private school and does place a lot of focus on social fraternities, I have stayed involve in other ways on campus and have gained some life long friends. I am looking forward to the close of this semester and the start of my last full year of school.

My current job at Victoria's Secret is a lot of fun, but also very demanding. I have definitely learned a lot about customer service. "The customer is ALWAYS right." This statement hold true for almost all forms of customer service. It works for most customers, but you always have the difficult ones. I still have some problems dealing with them so I usually just let them continue shopping and not bug them.

 

What I like most about this company is that they are so innovative. They are always coming out with a new bra or even a new version of an old bra. For some this is very beneficial, but for other's it can be very frustrating when you have your favorite bra discontinued. I run into this problem several times at Victoria's Secret. Usually, the customer ends up trying on every bra in the store and eventually finding one she likes. For me, as an associate, this is very tiring, but by the end of the shopping extravaganza, I have formed a bond with the customer. This is the type of bond that I want to have with my clients and co-workers at my workplace. I have been able to not only help them find a product, but educate them on what works for them and why. This personal relationship with customers is also what I think helps make a business successful.

Last year I picked up a book titled Do What You Are written by Paul D. Tieger and Barbara Barron-Tieger. This is another book that uses your MBTI type to “clue you in” on what you might be interested in. What I like about this book is that it breaks it down into different job categories such as business, finance, consulting/training, professional, and technology. The book also lists ten characteristics that are guidelines for ENTJ’s career satisfaction:

1. Lets me lead, be in control, organizing and perfecting the operating systems of an organization so that it runs efficiently and reaches its goal on schedule.
2. Lets me engage in long-range strategic planning, creative problem solving, and the generation of innovative and logical approaches to a variety of problems.
3. Is done in a well-organized environment where I, and others, work within a clear and definite set of guidelines.
4. Challenges and stimulates my intellectual curiosity and lets me work with complex and often difficult problems.
5. Gives me opportunities to meet and interact with a variety of other capable, interesting, and powerful people.
6. Gives me the opportunity to advance within the organization and to increase and demonstrate my competence.
7. Is exciting, challenging, and competitive; where I am in the public eye and where my accomplishments are seen, recognized, and fairly compensated.
8. Lets me work with other intelligent, creative, ambitious, and goal-oriented individuals whose competencies I respect.
9. Lets me set and meet goals and implement my organizational skills to keep myself and other focused on the larger goal while accomplishing all my objectives in a timely and efficient manner.
10. Lets me manage and supervise others, using logical and objective standards and policies that utilize each person’s strengths but without having to deal daily with interpersonal squabbles.

 

I need to start taking into consideration these ten characteristics because career satisfaction is important to me. Allowing me to have this type of control in my work environment and even school environment really makes me feel accomplished.

My marketing group did a great job on our presentation. We basically answered all of the possible questions about the phone during the PowerPoint part of the presentation. One of the group members made a great example of what the packaging might look like. We also had one example ad for each phone. Our teacher kept nodding throughout our presentation, which added to our confidence. There was a group that went before us and they got tons of "what if" questions on their product. This kind of made me a little apprehensive about what type of questions they were going to ask us. In general, the questions weren't very difficult and there was basically a general consensus that our product was very practical. It felt like we really nailed our presentation. I felt really accomplished after. The next step in our project is writing up a paper with all of the details and information about the product.

 

I have definitely learned a lot from doing this marketing project. It takes a lot of time and effort to be able to come up with a product that is going to be competitive and last in the market. I can't even imagine actually presenting this product to an actual phone company. What I liked most about the project is that we could choose anything that we wanted to create. We could invent something, make an improvement, and change the packaging for something. It was really left up to us. I like this type of freedom and I know that I need it in whatever career that I end up pursuing.