Career Opportunities

After attending several of the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship recruiting events, I have discovered a common concern held by many senior candidates.  As if the job search isn’t stressful enough, many college seniors are concerned that recruiters are attempting to “sell” them on the job at hand, leading them to hold false expectations about what the job will really be like.
 
My response to their concerns is always the same.  We’re not here to “sell” you on anything.  Our responses to your questions and accounts of our experiences are completely genuine.  When we say the Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship offers executive mentorship, it’s the truth.  Last month, I went to lunch with the President of my company where we talked casually about his career successes and some of the business challenges he’s faced.  On a more frequent basis, I experience executive mentorship through some of the projects I am working on with the VP of Technology.  He’s taken a direct role in some of the critical learning experiences that have pushed me to grow at my host company. 

When we say that the Orr Fellowship offers networking and social opportunities, we mean it.  Aside from our monthly Business Leader Meetings, there is a steady stream of networking opportunities, whether it’s attending a technology-based convention in Indianapolis or attending an Orr Fellowship social event, like the one being held this month, where guests include Orr Fellowship Board Members, Orr Fellowship Alumni, current Orr Fellows, Host Company Executives, and other special guests.

So far, I have completed four months of the Orr Fellowship, and I can honestly say that it has lived up to and even exceeded my expectations.  The Orr Fellowship doesn’t need a sales pitch.  It speaks genuinely of itself. 

 

That's right, its job application season again. Its the annual time of year that college seniors come to the realization that undergrad school is going to end and they have to do... something. Some people pursue graduate schools while other focus on Entrepreneurship Careers, Indiana Job openings, or even graduate fellowships (possibly the Orr Fellowship...); however, all eventually come to the realization that they need a great resume. 

• When putting your GPA on your resume go to a maximum of 2 decimal places. If you Major GPA is significantly higher than you cumulative GPA then list that as well (it needs to be obvious that that is specifically your major GPA) 
   
• Don't be afraid to include distinguishing experiences. This could include time studying abroad or brief descriptions of your more complicated projects/papers. Just make sure that these things fit in the natural flow of your resume and are not under or overstated.
   
• Do not include stuff from high school, unless they are so ridiculously outstanding that there is no way you could sleep at night knowing that potential employers had no idea how great you were in high school.
   
• Make sure your experience/work history is organized logically. Ideally these sections will flow chronologically because if you planned things correctly, each job/internship builds on the last one, hopefully leaving your most recent experience as the crown jewel on your resume. In addition to this, avoid time gaps in your employment.
   
• One of my biggest pet peeves is when a person just puts "selected" or "completed" said internship on their resume. If it is on your resume I know you worked there and eventually completed the job/internship/program. Your resume needs to be about what YOU have done and what results YOU achieved. No company is going to hire you just because you were selected to participate in a particular program. Companies want to see how you progressed trough an internship and the impacts that you made while there. Sometimes showing how you went about something is just as important as the results. Interviewers know that summer jobs/internships are typically not long enough to make any really significant gains, but they want to see that you have demonstrated the aptitude to get things done.
   
• Make sure you don't sell yourself short or embellish your accomplishments. A lot of times it is plain to see that a person has done some pretty significant work, but their resume does not reflect upon these accomplishments. If you have done impressive things make sure it is known. On the other hand, people can tell if you are trying to make something appear more significant. You don't want to claim more than you really did or use synonyms for every word.
   
• Don't leave dangling words on a line. You should either add words or take out words so there is not just one word all by itself on a line. This is valuable space, don't waste it.
   
• Don't make a resume that is more than one page. I don't care how good you think you are, at this point in time you have not done enough to merit more than one page. You only want to include the very best experiences that are most relevant to the position you are applying for.
   
• There needs to be a balance of good details without jamming some much in there that your resume looks squished and cluttered. You really want your experiences to POP OUT not be hidden in the mess. 
   
• Be sure to have a good balance of activities and experiences. Companies, especially the Orr Fellowship, want to see that you are a well rounded individual that has done well in school, has had good work experience, has been involved in campus activities, has held leadership positions, and somehow finds time to volunteer.

Recently, Bob Reish, Matt Barloh and I attended the first career fair of the season! We traveled north to our Alma mater, The University of Notre Dame, and after spending the morning promoting the Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship in front of several classes, we moved to the fair to further spread the word about this amazing program.

We met some great candidates and had a ton of fun getting to know many of the good prospects for the Orr Fellowship Class of 2011. We had conversations with people we had asked to come see us, and also a surprising number of folks who sought us out after they had heard of our program from friends.

Many candidates were not specifically looking for entrepreneurial companies or technology jobs in Indianapolis, but when we began discussing the fantastic networking opportunities in Indianapolis, and the high growth start-ups we work with, we could see their interest begin to swell. Of course, many of our best candidates had serious offers from big companies and other prestigious post-graduate programs, so with this strong competition it was even more incredible to see the how their eyes would light up when we discussed the opportunities at the Orr Fellowship. Obviously the advantages the three of us saw in the Orr Fellowship resonate with other people.

The recruiting season is off to a great start but there is still much to do. It is obvious already however that the word is spreading about this great opportunity. With a little luck this recruiting season will be the best yet.
 

It’s funny, you know, how everyday life can get in the way. We start out with some sort of plan—even just a short-term intention—yet are later shocked to find we’re somewhere we never intended to be. It’s like going online “just for second” and an hour later finding you’re reading some obscure article about “The Principles of Collective Animal Behavior.” God only knows how you got there.

One day a few years back, out to lunch with a mentor from Kimberly-Clark, I found myself asking how he kept his busy life in order. With a fast-paced career, a wife, a few kids, how did this guy even find a second to talk to me? “I have clear priorities,” he said, “and I stick to them.” Okay, great, I thought. Priorities—I have a million of them, I remarked. He smiled. You have to treat life like a pickle jar, he told me. My writhed face must have confirmed I hadn’t heard the analogy before, because he went on.

Yes, a pickle jar. You have finite time, energy, and resources—that’s the jar. First, you have to fill up the jar with your big rocks—those things most important to you, those that if you accomplished nothing else, you’d still be happy. Next, smaller stones fill in the spaces left between the rocks with those things you’d really like to do. Then, pebbles fill in a little more. And then sand until you think you couldn’t possibly fit another molecule in the jar. Finally, you drown the rocks, pebbles, and sand with water—using those few minutes here and there to accomplish the least important things in your life.

By the end, I was smiling. There it was, the answer—so simple: It’s impossible to have a million number one priorities. And I’ve learned more since then, especially that it’s perfectly okay to let some things fall to the wayside if they don’t align with your priorities. Scott Brenton talked about our priorities as Orr Fellows—first to do outstanding work for the host companies, second to help grow the Fellowship. I would contend being part of an entrepreneurial fellowship is only a part of my life, albeit now a large part. Working at one of the fastest-growing companies in the U.S. certainly demands much of my time, but that’s okay because my work is a top priority for me right now. So I ask, what are your top priorities?

It takes a little reflection to figure out if you’re really spending the majority of your time on your top priorities, but I challenge you to do so. You’ll be happier six months from now when you pause to reflect upon where you’ve ended up. Because perhaps unlike in the past, you’ll be very near where you wanted to be.

The Orr Fellowship provides an opportunity for recent graduates to be placed in fast paced jobs within some of the top entrepreneurial companies in Indianapolis.  For more information about the Fellowship program and how to apply, visit www.orrfellowship.org.
 

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

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?