Full-Time Jobs In Indiana

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.  

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!

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.

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!