Entrepreneurial Job Opportunities Indianapolis

Interested in a Career in Business? Then Get to Work!

Friday, February 5, 2010 by Natalie Ciambrone

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.

The Orr Fellowship: A Networking Opportunity in Indianapolis

Thursday, February 4, 2010 by Blaine Cooper-Surma

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.

Thinking Like an Entrepreneur

Monday, January 11, 2010 by Bryan Povlinski

In our recent business leader meeting with Thomas Mason, and Economics and Engineering Management professor at Rose Hulman, he made the point that any employee should always be trying to "Think like an Entrepreneur." Now that doesn't mean that every employee should aspire to be an entrepreneur, or that employees should be thinking about starting new businesses while they're working for their current company. What it means is that, as an employee, you should constantly be thinking of better ways to do things in your current company, and thinking of new business opportunities for your employer. These new ideas don't have to be world-changing, million dollar ideas, but rather small innovations that get things moving the right way.

I'd venture to guess that most employees at entry-level jobs in Indiana do not have this mindset. But when you're working with high growth start-ups "thinking like an entrepreneur" is practically required. A lot of the companies that are part of the Orr Fellowship are small, entrepreneurial companies in Indianapolis. They don't all have a full marketing or finance department. These companies need Orr Fellows to come up with unique ideas to help build their business.

How can you be "thinking like an entrepreneur?"

Are there certain things that are done at your company every week just because "that's the way they're always been done?" If they no longer make sense maybe it's time to make a change.

Do you have a perspective from a previous internship or organization that no one in your current company has?

Maybe there peripheral activities that are outside the responsibility of your everyday job that you can address. Starting a recycling program or fitness routine could make a bigger impact than you think.

There are countless ideas just waiting to be taken. Are you thinking like an entrepreneur?

It's Hard To Imagine Doing Something You Hate For A Living

Wednesday, January 6, 2010 by Ally Hill

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:

Didn't want to teach people how to dive
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!

Why havent you started a business yet?

Thursday, December 10, 2009 by Trey Buck

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?

The In's and Out's of an Orr Fellowship Host Company

Tuesday, December 1, 2009 by Blaine Cooper-Surma

We've all talked about our host companies and what makes ours better than the rest, but how are these companies chosen, and why would someone want to work for an entrepreneurial company in Indianapolis? In order to shed some light on the Orr Fellowship host companies, I have given the information in a question/answer format.

Q: What is a host company's role in the Orr Fellowship?
A: Orr Fellowship host companies have the responsibility of providing their Fellow(s) with a unique experience that cannot be found anywhere else. We want these companies to give their Fellows important projects that help them learn and grow as a working professional. In addition, we require these companies to provide their Fellows with ample exposure to executive-level management so that they can become more comfortable in that type of an environment (this is exactly what we're talking about when we say that the Orr Fellowship is one of the best networking opportunities in Indianapolis).

Q: How are host companies selected to be involved in the Orr Fellowship?
A: Although this process may seem unscientific at times, that's probably because it is. However, host companies are invited to join the Orr Fellowship if they've successfully demonstrated their ability to move at a fast rate of growth, created an environment that is conducive for great learning experiences, and have emerged with a product/service that has the ability to thrive in a changing society for years to come. Overall, we seek out companies that we're confident will provide our Fellows with a wonderful two years of experiences coupled with strong promise of job security with that particular company.

Q: How long are host companies allowed to be involved in the Orr Fellowship?
A: There really isn't a straight-forward answer to this question. There have been companies like ExactTarget and Angie's List that have been a part of the Fellowship essentially since the beginning. However, some companies participate for a year or two while others take Orr Fellows for four, five, and even six years. We typically allow host companies to be in the Orr Fellowship until they've grown out of the stage of being a small, entrepreneurial start-up or until they've shown that they no longer are a suitable company for an Orr Fellow to work in.

This year the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship has agreed to allow twenty host companies to participate in our program. Over the years we've made a conscious effort to grow the organization - and this year we've finally made the decision to double the size of next year's class. So why have we decided to take so many more Fellows? With an increase in name recognition in Indiana, and the development of a strong reputation among business leaders, we've experienced a tremendous growth in the amount of applications that we've received. It's because of this recognition that the Orr Fellowship has proven itself to be one of the best places to work in Indiana. With that, I want to go ahead and congratulate those candidates that have moved on to the final round of recruitment. You've managed to set yourselves apart from the rest of the competition and have proven yourselves over and over again. Good luck to you all on Friday and I look forward to meeting the Orr Fellowship Class of 2010!

Group Service Date Set for Fellows

Monday, November 30, 2009 by Katie Lindahl

The date has been set for the Orr Fellowship's Holiday Group Service Project! On December 20, we will head up to the Amazon.com fulfillment center in Whitestown, IN for Gift Wrap With a Smile, an opportunity for local Indianapolis non profits to earn extra money by having its volunteers gift-wrap products for Amazon's customers. For every gift wrapped, 75 cents is donated to the non profit.

This year Orr Fellows will be wrapping gifts to raise money for the Shepherd Community Center. Shepherd's mission is to break the cycle of poverty on the near east side of Indianapolis. Shepherd offers programs for children, teens, adults, and families, helping to meet their physical, emotional, academic and spritual needs.

The Service Initiative is yet another aspect of the Governor Bob Orr Entrepreneurial Fellowship that makes the Fellowship one of Indiana's best jobs. In addition to the Personal Service Initiative, which Natalie referred to in her previous blog, the Fellowship Group Service (FGS) is designed to bring Fellows together for a day of service where we can give back as one. One unified group, one cause. When you work at jobs in fast paced companies like we do, it's hugely beneficial to slow down and take a minute to appreciate all of the opportunities afforded to us.

Not bad for your first full time job, hm?

Spreading Holiday Cheer!

Tuesday, November 24, 2009 by Katie Veatch

The holiday season is my favorite time of the year. But since I love Thanksgiving too, every year I wait patiently until Black Friday to start listening to Christmas music, watching my favorite holiday movies, and putting up decorations. I’m looking forward to Thanksgiving, but come Friday, the holiday festivities kick into high gear!! My all-time favorite Christmas movie (and one of my all-time favorite movies in general) is It’s a Wonderful Life. I’ve seen it more times than I can count, and I think I could probably recite most of the lines.

See that lovely Christmas tree in the picture above? Looking at it makes me wonder, what did they do with that tree after Christmas was over? As much as I love the holiday season, the clean-up afterwards can be quite a pain. If only the Bailey’s had the Orr Fellow Tree Luggers to come to their rescue!

Working at Angie’s List I’ve learned that you can find reliable people to help you with just about anything to get you through the holidays, from decorating to party planning. And after all the chaos dies down, the Tree Luggers are there to help Indianapolis residents with the clean up. For the Orr Fellowship's annual fundraiser, current Fellows (our Tree Luggers) will come and pick up your Christmas tree and take it to a nearby Indy Parks location to be recycled. We will pick up trees from several neighborhoods in and around Indianapolis for four consecutive Saturdays starting on January 2nd. The program is a fundraiser for the Fellowship, local churches, and local charitable organizations. The suggested donation is $20, and all donations are 100 % tax deductable. Click here to find out more information and schedule your tree pick-up!

Tree Luggers is a great example of how Orr Fellows work together outside of our various full-time jobs in Indiana. As the Finance champions, Ty and I are heading up this year’s program, but every Orr Fellow has a different job and is involved in the organization, planning, and execution of the fundraiser. Tree Luggers gives us a chance to utilize our ambition and talent and apply what we have learned so far in the Fellowship and working in our respective high growth start-ups. Being able to take part in opportunities such as this one truly shows the “entrepreneurial” part of the Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship and allows us to give back and get involved with the Indianapolis community.

Orr Fellowship Recruiting Secrets Unveiled

Tuesday, November 17, 2009 by Blaine Cooper-Surma

So you've heard about the Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship, but one thought that may have crossed your mind is, "how do I get noticed by the Orr Fellowship, and what types of attributes/experiences are they looking for in their candidates?" For the next couple of minutes I'm going to share with you some of our recruiting secrets that will undoubtedly make you a more attractive candidate for this prestigious Fellowship opportunity in Indianapolis.

First and foremost, we firmly believe that the most valuable experience that one can attain while in college is leadership experience. Now that I've said this, let's take a minute to try and better understand what I'm talking about. When we're going through Orr Fellow candidate applications, having a candidate that was a "member" of twelve different clubs on campus in no way compares to a candidate that was president of two or three reputable clubs on their campus. To take this one step further, having a title means nothing if you didn't have any notable achievements while holding that particular position. We want to see that you were elected by your peers for a leadership position, but it is much more important that you made a positive impact to your organization during your tenure as officer. Leadership experience can be gained in many different ways, so there's no excuse for a lack of leadership on your resume.

The next piece of information from your resume that we find extremely important is your GPA. This may come as no surprise, but the easiest way to demonstrate your intelligence is by getting good grades. Being that you're looking for Indiana jobs out of college, much like thousands of other students in their senior year of studies, this is one of the only standardized means of measurement that we can use to juxtapose you with the rest of the candidate base. So what if your GPA isn't as good as you'd like it to be? If this is the case for you, it in no way means that your chances of getting into the Orr Fellowship are gone. What you do have to figure out at this point, however, is how you're able to justify your lower GPA, in addition to being able to describe what qualities/experiences you have that make you a perfect fit for this distinguished entrepreneurial fellowship.

Another attribute that we look for in our candidates is their ability to demonstrate an entrepreneurial spirit in their lives. One of the inherent qualities that all Orr Fellowship host companies possess is a strong sense of entrepreneurship. In fact, it is critical that our Fellows hold that same entrepreneurial attitude so that they can seamlessly integrate themselves into these high-growth Indianapolis companies. As history has shown, joining the Fellowship often leads to entrepreurial opportunities after the two-year committment of being in the Orr Fellowship has been completed. Since this is the case, candidates that demonstrate this entrepreneurial attitude in their own lives prior to joining the Orr Fellowship typically find themselves fitting in well within the Fellowship and their respective host companies.

So what are the most important attributes/experiences that the Orr Fellowship looks for when evaluating their candidates each and every year? We are looking for hard-workers, well-rounded students (being a college athlete is a nice bonus), and intelligent people. More specifically, though, we are seeking people that have great life stories and are passionate about our organization. We truly believe that what you've done in your life defines who you are today. In addition, being passionate about the Fellowship and what it stands for is something that is necessary for all Orr Fellows - choosing to join the Orr Fellowship is making an investment in the future of your career, and it takes a certain kind of person to be willing to take the "leap of faith" and join the Orr Fellowship.

Now that you know what kind of people the Orr Fellowship is looking for, do you think you have what it takes? Do you fit any or all of these criterion? If so, and you're looking to secure one of the most distinguished post-grad jobs in Indianapolis in 2011, apply today on the Governor Bob Orr Indiana Entrepreneurial Fellowship Homepage.

A Day in the Life of an Orr Fellow

Thursday, November 12, 2009 by Blaine Cooper-Surma

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!

And the Rivalry Continues...

Thursday, November 12, 2009 by Natalie Ciambrone

As DePauw and Wabash students and alumni everywhere get ready for arguably one of the greatest sports weekends (for our schools at least), I can’t help but start feeling nostalgic. Even though I’m less than one year out of college, it’s weekends such as “Monon Weekend” that make me long to be back at DePauw.

But then I remember the stresses of senior year and am quickly snapped back into the reality that my entry level job isn’t bad! No longer am I balancing finding my first full-time job with senior seminar, other classes, and extracurricular activities.

At this time last year I was in the middle of the Governor Bob Orr Fellowship recruitment process – excited about the possibility of working in a high-growth Indianapolis company. Never did I consider that a year later I would be working closely with a couple of Wallys. But, despite our innate desires to compete with each other, the reality is that when it comes to doing great work, we are able to put aside our alma maters and come together.

And that’s one of the things I love about the Orr Fellowship. Not only has the DePauw/Wabash rivalry been enhanced (no longer does the distance between our schools hinder the pre-game trash talking), but it brings together individuals who might never have gotten a chance to meet/work with each other.

The sad reality is it takes more effort to find friends in the “real world” than on a college campus; especially when working with a small, entrepreneurial company where you could be one of only a couple 20-somethings in the office. So having that built in network of young professionals the Orr Fellowship brings together is a very unique opportunity.

(GO TIGERS!)

My Path to the Orr Fellowship

Tuesday, November 10, 2009 by Blaine Cooper-Surma

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!"