Business Career Indianapolis

A struggle for many college undergraduates is deciding between going to work and getting more education after graduation. No matter your personal opinions, this article from CareerRealism.com gives some pretty convincing statistics about why you should invest in your career early – and helped me reaffirm my decision to take the leap and accept my entry level marketing job with WebLink International.

And as though that article wasn’t enough, last night at our Business Leader Meeting, Lorraine Ball of RoundPeg reiterated the point of investing in your career before going to graduate school. The main reason: If you go directly into an MBA program, you have little real-world business experiences from which to draw. Lorraine shared how much more value she got out of graduate school because she worked for a few years between her degrees. Especially in times of 10%+ unemployment rates it’s easy to play it safe, go back to school, and hope things are better when you are ready to enter the workforce; but, as J.D. O’Donnell says in his article, “I wish [students] could talk with all the unemployed MBAs out there right now who are knee-deep in loan debt.”

Joining the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship is a great way to invest in your career early. The jobs with the Fellowship’s host companies provide Fellows valuable career experience in fast paced jobs – experiences that will allow you to bring more to graduate school discussions and classes (if you decide to go back).

Plus, getting experience in fast growing Indianapolis companies can help make the decision about going back to school easier. Some realize they don’t need an MBA to get where they want to go. Others learn that getting more education is the path they need to take. But no matter what, there is no doubt that during your two years in the Fellowship you will benefit from its unrivaled work experiences and networking opportunities in Indianapolis.

As a young professional in the real world, there are two things that every mentor says will inevitably determine how successful you will be in the long run - "what you know" and "who you know."  The Governor Bob Orr Fellowship thrives off of this mentality.

By taking entry-level jobs in entrepreneurial companies, Orr Fellows learn early-on the importance of hard work and quickly come to appreciate grassroots beginnings.  Although these recent graduates oftentimes begin their careers doing not-so-glamorous work, one thing that allows them to quickly grow their careers is the exposure they get to some of Indiana's finest business leaders.  Orr Fellows, because of the range of responsibilities that they acquire during the beginning of their careers, quickly learn everything there is to know about running small, entrepreneurial companies.  This experience speaks to the first aspect that I spoke about - "what you know."

During the first two years of being in the Orr Fellowship, Orr Fellows spend a good of time in environments that force them to become comfortable interacting with a range of business and political leaders throughout Indiana.  Because of these experiences, Orr Fellows typically develop meaningful relationships with many of these well-known professionals.  Each month, Orr Fellows come together for a Business Leader Meeting where one or two of these leaders speaks to the group about their professional experiences that have helped them to get where they are today.  These meetings are discussion-based, meaning that fellows are able to ask questions at any time during the meeting.  Orr Fellows enjoy partaking in these events because what's more valuable that receiving advice from those that have succeeded in their profession?  Typically, after the speaker is finished, there is plenty of time for networking.  For this reason, the Orr Fellowship is the best networking opportunity in Indianapolis.

Today the Orr Fellowship will be meeting with Lorraine Ball, founder of Roundpeg.  Roundpeg is a small marketing firm based in Indianapolis, Indiana that helps small business become big businesses with the help of effective marketing.  To learn more about Lorraine, check out her website.  You can also hear her speak about her passion for local businesses and the impact we make every day with our purchase decisions by clicking here.

If you've had a chance to keep up with the news, one of the recent headlines is Pepsi's decision to strategically re-focus its advertising dollars that have typically been budgeted for the NFL Super Bowl.  Like Budweiser, Coca Cola, and GoDaddy.com, Pepsi has been known to spend millions of dollars in advertisements during this spectacle that reaches millions of viewers every single year.  So where will these dollars be spent this year?  As you might have guessed, this year Pepsi is going with Social Media!

According to the Wall Street Journal, Pepsi plans to focus its advertising strategy on a "marketing platform" rather than blitzing viewers with commercials during this single event.  So, by using social media sites like Twitter and Facebook to reach consumers, Pepsi will be tapping into a virtual world of endless advertising possibilities.  On Facebook, for example, Pepsi can issue invitations to its followers to participate in a poll.  When someone votes, a message will get posted on their personal Facebook page that says they participated in the poll.  This my friends, is what we are referring to when we talk about viral advertising.
According to one report, Facebook is a virtual treasure trove for advertisers wishing to target 18 to 49-year olds.  Twitter's numbers are a little lower, but impressive, nonetheless.  Social Media Today, however, noted that 19 percent of adults between the ages of 18 and 24 have used Twitter or something like it, 20 percent between ages 25 and 34, and 10 percent between ages 35 and 44.  These numbers are the reason that Pepsi has reconsidered their advertising strategy. 

So how does this relate to the Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship?  Well, it just so happens that the majority of our host companies in this entrepreneurial fellowship are start-up technology companies.  Thus, Orr Fellows are taking entry level technology jobs in some of the fastest growing Indianapolis companies.  So what types of things are some of these host companies doing in the social media world?  Well, a 2010 host company, Formspring, has recently reached new heights with their social media application called Formspring.me.  This application is a free, simple service that allows you to create anonymous question boxes for all of your social networks.

Pepsi's migration away from televised Super Bowl ads is a trend we can expect other big companies to follow.  There is far more bang for the buck in advertising online rather than producing and paying for 30 seconds of airtime during one of the most expensive televised events of the year.

For those that don't know much about the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship, it is an Indiana-based non-profit organization that provides jobs for recent graduates in fast growing Indianapolis companies.  Whether you're looking to start a marketing career, an entrepreneurship career, or maybe just a career in business, this is one unique fellowship program like no other.

In the past couple months, I've had the chance to take two pretty spectacular vacations. There were two experiences I'm going to share that insanely enough have a lot to do with entrepreneurship opportunities, and they also showed me that there's no way I will end up doing what I hate for a living.

Experience #1: Accidental Tourist
My sister had the pleasure of studying in Florence, Italy for her first semester of her junior year at IU - and I had the pleasure of paying her a visit. My favorite day out of the week  was a day we chose to embark on a cooking/wine excursion with a company called Accidental Tourist. Turns out the woman who started the company was the one who took us on the tour. She was so incredibly passionate about what she did it was almost weird (kind of like me and HP printers).

We certainly don't have jobs in Indiana that would come anywhere close to what Accidental Tourist does (mostly because Indiana isn't anything like Italy). Their goal is "to show their beloved Tuscany through the back door, to give you the inside story, to take you inside the beating heart of the private homes of Chianti."



Making pasta and being invited into someone's home gave me an idea of what it would be like to live in Italy. I'm not sure what a similar company in Indianapolis could provide tourists...but my point is that this woman started a company and makes a living based on what she loves doing - drinking wine and cooking. And she made it seem so easy.

Experience #2: Indigo Divers
Over New Years, I went scuba diving in Grand Cayman - and again we ended up with an entrepreneur. This time there were two, Chris and Kate. They started a diving company called Indigo Divers in the Caymans about 5 years ago. Rough life.



Since there are so many diving companies in the Cayman Islands they decided that they:

1. Didn't want to teach people how to dive
2. Didn't want to take out more than 6 people at a time

In most cases, diving shops will offer lessons and take out huge boats of people at once, so diving with Indigo was much better than the alternative. Their company is very successful.

My Point: I want to do it too
My two entrepreneurial encounters on vacation made me think about what I love doing. I want to be able to start a company that helps showcase my passions as well as my talents - both Accidental Tourist and Indigo Divers did this. The Orr Fellowship is providing me with the initial experience I need at a small Indiana company. However, I know that my business career in Indianapolis will have to be one that doesn't seem like a career.

So if you happen to come across any entrepreneurial opportunities that have to do with eating and sleeping please let me know...just kidding. But seriously, while you're at it please go to our Tree Luggers website and sign up to recycle that Christmas tree! 

It's that time of year again; the Holiday Season has passed and in a short amount of time you'll find yourself taking down those holiday decorations that probably cover your entire house.  After you've mustered up enough motivation to finally begin this lengthy process, the last struggle is always the disposal of the family Christmas tree.  However, that's not going to be the case for you this year - the Orr Fellows are here to help!

As a non-profit organization, the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship places a strong emphasis on community outreach, civic responsibility, and self-sustainability.  As such, one of our annual fundraisers is called "Tree Luggers" in which we travel around the Indianapolis community collecting and disposing of Christmas trees while collecting donations.  But how does this fundraiser actually benefit the community?  Well, first, we are providing a service that for many people is extremely helpful.  More importantly, though, we offer an incentive to local churches and other non-profit entities that promote our fundraiser to their members.  For all money that is donated to the Governor Bob Orr Fellowship during Tree Luggers, half of the proceeds are given to the specific non-profit that created the referral.  In this way, we are able to assist Indianapolis-based non-profits in funding their efforts.

One of the most important values that the Indiana-based Orr Fellowship promotes is entrepreneurship.  Tree Luggers is a great example of entrepreneurship in action as the Orr Fellows carefully organize, plan, and execute the fundraiser from start to finish.  So what goes into Tree Luggers to ensure its success year in and year out?  Many of the Orr Fellows are "luggers," or those that travel to homes, collect the trees, and then later dispose of the holiday conifers.  Several others use their marketing expertise to help spread the word through social media like Twitter and Facebook, strategically placed fliers in the Indianapolis community, and specified email lists owned by several Orr Fellowship host companies.  We also have fellows that help create partnerships with churches and other non-profit organizations.  Lastly, a couple of fellows take on a financial role so that all donations and referrals are carefully recorded.  To participate in this fundraiser, and save yourself a great deal of time and effort, please sign-up here.  Remaining pick-up dates are:
 

For those that don't know much about the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship, it is an Indiana-based non-profit organization that provides jobs for recent graduates in fast growing Indianapolis companies.  Whether you're looking to start a marketing career, an entrepreneurship career, or maybe just a career in business, this is one unique fellowship program like no other.
 

I get asked this same question, or some variation of it, a LOT.  So many people are interested in the Orr Fellowship and the post-grads' careers that come through the program that this question is almost a staple of any new conversation struck.  Similar questions include:

What do you want to do after you finish?
What kind of venture are you interested in?  Technology jobs in Indianapolis?  Business jobs in Indianapolis?
What's the next step in your entrepreneurial career? 
Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

And the list goes on... and my answer is always the same: I need to wait and see.  This sort of answer frustrates most listeners, as it probably should.  Even worse, it frustrates me because I WANT to run a high growth start-up, full of all the excitement and wonder these sort of organizations are known for.  And Im young.  Now is the time to make mistakes, right?  Without having to worry about not being able to recover from a bust, with plenty of time to recover my life and my career right?

Yes.  But no.  A May, 2008 study by the Kauffman Foundation found that twice as many tech saavy entrepreneurs start businesses in their 50's as they do in their 20's, with an average age of start-up founders being 39.  Not 20, not 25, not even 30.  39.  To me, this says that experience is a great teacher, but more important is the kind of experience; being a former CEO of three failed start-ups at 30 might be great experience to lean on, but it probably isnt as effective as working within and learning how start-ups and small businesses should be run to build successful organizations.  There is a proverb that goes something like "yesterday's tracks are tomorrows guides", and this is a perfect example of that; so, the first part of my answer to "why havent you started a business yet?" is: Why make the same mistakes you can learn from watching others?

There is a second part of my answer, that is more complicated but Ill do my best: circumstance.  Start-ups, especially technology start-ups, need the right circumstances to survive and grow.  The team, the idea, the implementation, the market, everything needs to be well understood and in place before Ill want to touch money.  Many a good idea have failed because they were missing a piece of the entrepreneurial puzzle, and all the hard work, long nights, and missed sleep was wasted.  The thing is, we usually never hear about these companies, the ones that fail.  Thats part of what makes entrepreneurship so attractive: we really only hear about the successes, and so it seems (to the untrainted eye) that starting and owning a business is easy as apple pie.

For me, I will choose my opportunities wisely.  And only when I am ready will I become that ever-so-coveted title of  "entrepreneur." That could be tomorrow, or it could be never.  The numbers (and my own brain) are telling me it will probably be a while.  But then again, who knows?

I'm currently an Orr Fellow at Sigma Micro which is an ecommerce software company.  Our core busines is to sell software to small to medium sized businesses (usually they already have a physical store or catalog) so that they can start selling their products online.  We also operate a few of our own websites with our system, and one of those is a clearance website called Last and Final.  One of my responsibilities here, along with two former Orr Fellows who have stayed with the company, is to handle all the online marketing for our website.

You may have noticed that the Monday after Thanksgiving, which is now known as Cyber Monday, is a pretty big day for retailers alll around the country. Personally, I think it's much better than Black Friday because you don't have to deal with stuff like this.



I know I had a slew of emails from companies like Apple, Best Buy, etc. about their big deals.  We didn't want to be left in the dust so we planned a big promotion of our own.  I'll be short on the details, but the basic premise was that we were selling a very limited supply of Nintendo Wii's for a ridiculously good price...much lower than you could find anywhere else.

We promoted our plan quite a bit in our email newsletter and even got picked up by a few of the major "deals" sites.  We made sure our website hosting was ramped up so that we could handle a big traffic spike...and then got ready for the big moment when we released the Wii's to our website at 12pm on Monday.

It wasn't a pretty sight (or site) when we realized that our server was down, and we couldn't access the website at all.  Our customers of course were experiencing the same problems, and the site kept going up and down as they were hitting refresh and trying to put the Wii in their shopping cart to check out.  Eventually people were able to get through the checkout process...the only problem was that the server issues completely threw our backend system out of whack and it took orders for a lot more Wii's than we actually had.  We were pretty happy about the buzz we generated about our site, but now we had quite a few angry customers that weren't going to receive what they thought they ordered.



Anyways, the reason I'm telling this story is that it got me thinking that this episode is a lot like the Orr Fellowship.  Now, before you start thinking "Oh my gosh, the Orr Fellowship sounds terrible" let me explain what came of the Cyber Monday experience.

First, we gathered a lot of valuable data about our ecommerce system.  We figured out a better way to do the inventory check process.  We also realized that our server was able to handle that many people on the site, but not that many people on the same page trying to check out the same item.  We also got confirmation that our marketing tactics were pretty effective...enough to nearly crash the website.  Sure we had some angry customers, but this gave us a chance to reach out to them personally and extend gift cards for their troubles.

As an Orr Fellow you're constantly going to get the kind of invaluable learning experience that we got from our promotion.  When you work for entrepreneurial companies in Indianapolis, or any high growth start-ups for that matter you're going to go through a lot of trial and error.  None of us here at Sigma had ever run a Cyber Monday promotion before so it's not like there was a 100 page manual on how to do it right.  When you're part of an entrepreneurial fellowship, you're going to be put on projects that might feel uncomfortable because you don't know what you're doing.  You might even be put on projects that you're not interested in or that you don't think you'll be good at.  In these kinds of situations, everyone is going to make mistakes (just like we did by making some of our customers angry).  But mistakes are often going to teach you a lot more than success.  The fast growing companies that host Orr Fellows know that we're going to make mistakes. 

What you learn in this trial and error atmosphere is going to make you that much better off for the rest of your career.  We will definitely be prepared for Cyber Monday next year, and I know I'll be more prepared to take on even bigger projects through more lessons like this.

With Turkey-day quickly approaching and the holiday season nearly upon us, I thought a good focus for this blog would be to discuss what a Fellows' options look like when they've completed their two-year committment of being in the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship.  Ok wait, you're right, holidays and post-Fellowship opportunities have literally nothing to do with one another. Oh well, it's a Monday - give me a break, already!
As I'm sure you can imagine, being in the Orr Fellowship isn't always easy; nor is it glamorous at times.  To do well and set yourself up for success you have to spend a lot of time with your nose to the grindstone and your pride in your back pocket.  But what happens when you've completed your two years with the Fellowship? At this point in your career you have an important decision to make.  Your first option is to stay on with your current host company.  This is probably the most common route that graduating Orr Fellows take, but it is by no means what is expected.  Many Fellows decide to go this direction because they've spent the past two years developing a foundation for themselves in their organization.  Building relationships and making a name for yourself takes time and a great deal of effort.  Also, most of these host companies are fast growing Indianapolis companies.  Just by being in the organization for a couple of years, these Fellows have been able to experience accelerated career growth that would most likely not have taken place had they begun their career in a large corporation.

Another option that exists for graduating Orr Fellows is to change companies.  Some Fellows decide to move on to completely separate companies, while others stay within the Fellowship family and join a different host company.  The Orr Fellowship has a reputation of providing some of the best networking opportunities in Indianapolis, so it's not surprising that connections are made between Fellows and host company executives that result in a career opportunity.

A third option that many Orr Fellows over the years have pursued is graduate school.  Typically, Orr Fellows go to either law school or business school, but there have been many others that have gone on to receive a range of different graduate degrees.  This path has become more and more common among Fellows as they're often considered to be life-long learners.  They appreciate learning new things and are curious about what they lack knowledge in.

The last option for graduating Orr Fellows is to pursue personal business ventures.  There have been several Fellows that have built entrepreneurial companies in Indianapolis on their own, while several others have teamed-up with their fellow Orr Fellows to create high growth start-ups together.

Although these several options are available for Orr Fellows after they complete their two-year stint with the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship, one thing that all Fellows involuntarily do is join the list of successful Orr Fellow alumni that came before them.  Many stay active in Fellowship events/activities, but this is something that we're working to improve upon.  It is important to keep the Orr Fellowship as tight as possible and the alumni network as strong as ever.  It certainly is a blessing to have so many young, successful business leaders in our network that are more than happy to help out if you just reach out to them.

This is just another reason why the Orr Fellowship is one of the best places to work in Indiana!

This American Life is a radio program out of WBEZ in Chicago that attempts to display what it is like to live an ‘American life’, complete with its dullness as well as its luster. Reporting is not done in the way we see on television or hear on more traditional radio. Rather, the producers attempt to place us into the culture of the topic area; the sounds bites are not ‘bites’ at all. They are actual, full, complete stories that connect the listener to a new set of experiences. This American Life attempts to make the events that mold our being (whatever that means), which makes understanding the experience more transparent. The radio program, at it's core, is about manufacturing an experience.

For example, attempting to paint the picture of Rome to my friends and family when I returned from a tour of Europe was excruciating. My pictures of Trevi’s Fountain did not nearly do it justice. My explanations of the white cliffs of Dover were juvenile. The only way in which my friends could understand the awesomeness of my trip would have been for them to experience it for themselves. In the absence of a shared “experience,” the narrative loses a little bit of sincerity.

The Orr Fellowship strives to create entrepreneurship careers that do more than simply provide post-graduate networking, entre-level jobs in startups, and an Indianapolis job opportunity; The Orr Fellowship strives to create a shared experience among Orr Fellows. Distinguished post-grad jobs are often about putting in time quietly on the sidelines while you wait your turn to play in the game.

This business fellowship is different. Jumping into fast growing Indianapolis companies is not something that most entry-level jobs in Indiana afford a fresh graduate. But entreprenurial companies need driven graduates to help contribute immediately. These companies look to Orr Fellows to help fulfill that need, providing a shared entreprenurial experience in the process.

Click here to find out how you can be included in this experience!

As we near Finalist Day when the class of 2010 Orr Fellows will make their decisions on whether to accept an offer to join the Fellowship, I think it's worth looking at who the Orr Fellowship is for.  Working with high growth start-ups takes a certain kind of person, and it's certainly not for everyone.  Here are a few characteristics that you might want to keep in mind.

The Orr Fellowship might be a good fit if you…

- Are graduating from an Indiana college or you’re originally from Indiana, and you have a strong GPA (preferably 3.5 and above)

- Enjoy working with smaller companies where everything is usually fast paced and everyone has to be willing to help out on various projects and different functional areas like marketing, finance, etc.

- Are someone that is eager to take initiative and make things happen rather than waiting to be told what job you need to do everyday

- Are interested in working in a variety of different roles.  Many Orr Fellows rotate through different departments or work for a company that’s small enough to require every employee to be multi-dimensional.

- Would like to have a network of like-minded peers that you can work on potential business ideas with and get together socially

- Want to work for a fast growing Indianapolis company, and have the ability to get to know executives from other high growth start-ups

- Want to define your own career path by taking on big responsibilities in a small company rather than being a number in an entry level program at a large corporation

The Orr Fellowship might NOT be the right program if you…

- Are hoping to travel and have opportunities to work abroad right away.  Although many Orr Fellows will have the opportunity to take smaller trips through the course of their job, the program is not designed to be travel intensive

- Need a boss to tell you exactly what to do every day.  The most successful Orr Fellows are the ones who take initiative and execute beyond what they’re expected to do

- Expect to be in charge of the most important projects from Day 1.  As an Orr Fellow you will likely have some less than glamorous projects at some point.  However, they’re only opportunities to over deliver and build your reputation so that you can lead major projects in the future

- Base your job search on finding the highest possible starting salary.  If you make it through the Orr Fellowship recruiting process you can find a better paying entry level job in Indiana or elsewhere.  The Orr Fellowship is not for people who are looking for the money now, but for students that are more interested in learning, establishing a network, and getting a great experience so they can advance their careers more quickly in the long term.

This is not a comprehensive list of characteristics that define the Orr Fellowship.  Hopefully it does give you at least a slightly better idea about whether or not the program is right for you.   Among business jobs in Indianapolis, the Orr Fellowship may be one of the best opportunities for college graduates.

This video surfaced last week from Chow.com, a food and recipe site. I found myself at work watching John, the proprietor of Galcos Soda Pop Stop based in Los Angeles, walk me through his store and serendipitously bring me into his world of 'bubbly water'. Aside from his addictive personality, one can't help but be fascinated by the sheer volume of knowledge the man possesses about everything from rose petal flavored soda to his worldwide business development pipeline. It's always refreshing to hear and see someone who genuinely loves what they're doing.

When I watched the video, I couldn't help but think of entry-level jobs in Indiana. Entry Level Careers are often sought by people who want to make a lot of money, manage a team of employees, and take the elevator straight to the corner office. Most fast paced jobs offer entrepreneurially minded young people the chance to win many of those responsibilities. However, high-growth company jobs, and many other entry-level jobs in Indianapolis are about one thing: passion for doing good work. Companies hiring new grads need talent, but more importantly they need passionate talent. One sure-fire result of being passionate about your career is knowing your business inside and out. Jobs at a small company require that everyone contribute, and companies hiring new grads will open their doors to people who are willing to enter a business career in Indianapolis with a fervor for knowledge, hard work, and dedication.

The shipping is expensive, but I'm looking forward to my cucumber soda shipping in from California this week. Case-in-point right there...John was so passionate in his video that I actually ordered a case of cucumber soda. Imagine the possibilities if you began your business job in Indianapolis with that kind of passion...

One of the questions that I commonly receive from Orr Fellowship candidates is, "What types of things do you do at work?"  For most Orr Fellows this is a straight-forward question, but for me, the answer is a bit more long-winded.

When I accepted my offer with the Orr Fellowship, I also accepted an offer with ExactTarget.  ExactTarget has participated as an Orr Fellowship host company for many years now.  It differs from the rest, though, in that it offers a particular program for recent college graduates - the Catapult Rotational Program.  The Catapult Program is designed to provide college graduates the opportunity to rotate through three departments within ExactTarget.  It allows you to develop your professional skill-set while obtaining cross-functional experiences.  Upon completion of the three two-month rotations, "Catapulters" are placed in a permanent position that allows them to deeply impact the success of both their department and ExactTarget as a whole.
Now, back to the question that I was previously talking about.  When answering the posed question about my typical day at work, I generally describe my current and past rotations.  My first rotation at ExactTarget was in the Human Resources department.  I then transitioned to Customer Relationship Management.  My third, and current rotation, is in Sales Operations.  So what types of things am I doing during my time at the office?  I'm currently preparing to lead a portion of our Sales Training On-boarding class that is now taking place.  When a salesperson joins the team at ExactTarget, they go through a rigorous, two-week long training course.  Within the first two days in my current rotation, my manager asked me to learn everything I possibly could about our Salesforce Integration application through AppExchange, while creating the presentaton from scratch, in order to set myself up to teach the group of new hires.  Needless to say, I feel ready to go for next Tuesday's class!
After I've shared my experiences with these college seniors, I like to turn the focus on them.  I ask them if there are other career opportunities that they're pursuing that allow them to join a company and immediately be able to make an impact within the organization.  The answer is almost always a resounding "no." 

So why do Orr Fellows get the leg-up when it comes to career-growth opportunities?  From talking to several different employers and upper-level management, the overall consensus is that the Orr Fellowship has a reputation of supplying high-growth Indianapolis companies with talented, hardworking employees.  I consistently hear these business leaders talk about how comfortable they feel putting these Fellows in a sink-or-swim environment because they always know that these young professionals will find a way to come out on top.

So when considering your first full-time job out of college, think about what I've said.  If you're looking to grow professionally while making a positive impact in your organization, the Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship might be for you! 

People often misunderstand the value and cost savings that effective Supply Chain Management (SCM) has on everything we interact with day-to-day. In fact, over the past 15 years SCM has become the dominant way companies compete. For example, in the early 90’s it took roughly 104 days for a box of cereal to get from the factory to the supermarket (over 3 months for those of you wondering if I do good math). Through optimizing their supply chain, the grocery industry over the past 15 years has been able to save over $30 billion.

On the surface, supply chains seem relatively simple; most chains are only 5-7 ‘links’ long. However, modern day supply chains have become overwhelmingly complex (see image above). The internet boom and growth of sophisticated communication technologies allow companies to reduce material and shipping costs through the strategic sourcing of raw materials used to make ‘stuff’. As such, it’s the job of the supply chain professional to find cost effective and strategic ways to integrate these complex supply chains, reduce lead times, and sync sales channels.

I get asked quite often what I do at Brightpoint. I quip that I answer emails and ship cell phones. Then there is an awkward silence as the supplicant stares at me whilst I conjure up a lay-level explanation of “what I do.” It’s a difficult question for most recent college grads who have found technology jobs in Indianapolis. Much like ‘Supply Chain’, 21st century careers are unique post-graduation jobs, and jobs in fast paced companies are difficult to understand. Try explaining corporate blogging to someone, or why they should pay money for consumer reviews, or why Indianapolis business careers kick ‘SaaS’…it’s complicated. But these types of 21st century and high-growth company jobs, like Supply Chain Management, will be differentiators in a global economy.

The Governor Bob Orr Fellowship provides jobs in startups like Bluelock, Compendium Blogware, Canteloupe.tv, and Oxygen Education. These companies do complex work for a complex world. If you're looking for fast paced, and complex, 21st century jobs, click here.

 

Burberry might be one of the only clothing brands that was born out of a trench coat. The plaid patterns and distinctly British feel to the line of clothes, accessories, and bath items draws clear inspiration from Humphrey Bogart's famous Weasel and Stoat in films like “The Maltese Falcon” and “Casablanca.” Today’s New York Times, in an interview with Burberry’s 49-year-old President Angela Ahrendts, explains how despite their background in more traditional items, Burberry is attempting to “adapt the trench coat to the age of the Internet.” The article goes on to share Burberry’s plans for a social networking site called artofthetrench.com, which is specifically designed to market to younger consumers.

Should I repeat that? Humphrey Bogart is going social. The start of a beautiful friendship, indeed.

Is a business career in Indianapolis chic? Are local business jobs ‘smoking cigarettes in a fedora’ when they should be ‘drinking green tea and listening to their iPod’? Burberry is remaking themselves into a 21st Century company, pulling a classic brand into the Internet Age, and there are numerous jobs in Indiana attempting to do the same. Technology jobs in Indianapolis are beginning to reap the rewards from years of companies like Compendium Blogware, ExactTarget, Angie’s List and Canteloupe.tv carving out a niche for the region in internet search marketing and IT infrastructure. Indianapolis area jobs are thriving with jobs for recent grads helping organizations remake themselves into a 21st century organization. Click here too see a list of some of the Orr Fellowship’s Host Companies.

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, and Christmas around the block, it's difficult to believe that I've been working in the real world for just over four months now.  I can remember like it was yesterday what it was like to look for a job while still in college.  I remember how confused I was as an Economics major who knew I wanted to be in business someday, but you and I both know how vague of a career path business really is.  So what did I look for and how did I get to be where I am today?

Luckily for me, as a senior in college I knew that the economy was beginning to look grim and that the market was probably going to get rough.  To prepare myself for the tough situation, I did my due-diligence and began looking for a quality job opportunity to kick off my new career.  I realized that I lacked specific skills that most large companies would be looking for, and also that I would be looking for an entry level job just like the rest of my graduating class.  However, I knew that I wanted to live and work in Indianapolis as it has emerged a growing hub for small, technology start-ups.  One of my other interests throughout college was entrepreneurship, so I then began looking for entrepreneurial fellowships in the Indianapolis area.  What I soon stumbled upon was the Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship.  To learn more about this graduate fellowship, I connected with current Orr fellows to learn more about what the program has to offer. 


So why did I choose to pursue the Orr Fellowship?  There were several reasons, but here are a few:

• the presence of a network of young professionals like myself to share ideas, concerns, successes, etc.
• the pipeline of Indiana business leaders that fellows are given the opportunity to interact and build relationships with
• the position and ability to join a small, start-up company and, through hard work, be able to make an impact within the organization
• knowing that I'm making a good investment in my career by being in an environment that forces me to learn as much as possible about running a small business

So has my first few months in the working world provided me with the opportunities and experiences that were promised to me by the Orr Fellowship?  The answer to this question is a confident "YES!"