Finance Jobs Indianapolis

The May 2006 issue of Human Resources magazine featured an article by Sommer Kehrli and Truy Sopp in which the authors attempted to share tips with older generations on how to manage Generation Y, a group roughly 80 million strong born after 1978 that began entering the workforce five years ago. Often the onus for change is on older generations. After all, we 'Millennials' are coming into the workforce whether current generations like it or not. Why should the 'new' be the ones to change our habits or learn new ones from the 'old'? 

An an entrepreneurial fellowship, we constantly strive to place distinguished college graduates into high growth start-ups. But at the same time, we also communicate the need for constant improvement and learning from industry leaders. Nobody is a subject matter expert anymore and while entry-level jobs in start-ups will help you become more knowledgeable about a specific area, it won't guarantee career-long success. To quote Dr. Thomas Mason, Professor of Economics at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, "to be successful at [an older] age, you need to keep learning." 

Need real world examples? 

Did you major in Public Relations or Marketing in college? Are you pretty confident writing press releases? Cool. BUT, looks like Presslift is a step ahead and that skill set will become mainstream in the near future.

Did you major in Web Design or UX in college? Are you pretty confident designing emails for your company's marketing team? Great!. BUT, Toddle is making email newsletter design and marketing a breeze.

Major in Finance? ChubbyBrain is democratizing your skill set.

Going to Law School? Legal Zoom has the basics covered.

Are you a scrapbooking professional? Yup...the semantic web has taken over this too.

EVERYTHING  is changing. High-growth start-ups and technology jobs in Indianapolis will KEEP changing. Being an expert today doesn't ensure anything for tomorrow. As Gen-Y'ers, we want to be mentored, use new technology, and be given the space to try new things. But we can be too confident, and in the process, atrophy our innate strengths of learning and development.

Your job won't be around forever, and if you don't keep learning, neither will you. The first step is accepting that a college degree doesn't make you an expert. The second is opening yourself up to learn skills, habits, and lessons from Generations past.

Oh...and sign-up to have your tree lugged through TREE LUGGERS or follow our tweets @treeluggers.

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?

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.  

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.