Indiana Jobs Out Of College

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.

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!