If you’ve read Tim Ferriss’s popular book The Four-Hour Workweek, you’re familiar with the concept of seeking independence in your work, being in control of your time, working remotely, and then using your free time to indulge in things you love.
Independent, footloose and fancy-free, risktaking. That may be the popular profile of a self-made entrepreneur, but it’s not the only one. In 2012, the word “entrepreneur” almost Continue reading
It’s always easy for older generations to focus on what’s bad about the generations that come after them, but as Pam Majumdar suggests in her post last Friday, Gen Z’s predecessors might also benefit from taking some pointers from them.
For all of Gen Z’s downsides – poor social skills and boundaries to name a couple – they Continue reading
James Smits sitting in front of the Tiger Inn.
Today’s jobtalk is with James Smits, a brand-new college graduate who works at TigerLabs, downtown Princeton’s first co-working space for emerging start-up companies. Smits joined TigerLabs this past February to help coordinate and oversee its first summer accelerator program for college students, which is housed in the Tiger Inn.
Title: Program Director
Education:
B.A. Economics and Certificate in Environmental Studies, Princeton University, 2012
Age: 21
How did you get involved with TigerLabs?
I know a lot of people in the entrepreneurship community at Princeton. I worked for a start-up last summer, and I realized that is where I wanted to be – involved with start-ups. A buddy of mine connected me to Bert, who’s one of the co-founders of TigerLabs. He knew that Bert was looking for someone to fill a program director position at TigerLabs. At that Continue reading
Do you love what you do? That, say some career gurus, is the ultimate gauge of work satisfaction and what we should strive for. It’s an ideal situation, but not too common. As reported by Forbes, not even half of Americans (47 percent) said they were satisfied with their jobs in the fall of 2011.
The argument for seeking passion seems valid enough. After all, don’t we all deserve to have all the happiness we can get? And if we’re spending most of our waking hours at our jobs, passion makes it easier. Continue reading
Marissa Mayer, the new CEO of Yahoo
First Anne-Marie Slaughter’s admission in The Atlantic that she knows she can’t have it all, and now Marissa Mayer’s announcement that she’ll only take a few week’s maternity leave from her new CEO position at Yahoo. I’m thinking that Mayer should get together with Slaughter for a talk. But it’s more likely that Mayer is looking to Sheryl Sandberg as her mentor.
Why am I writing about this on JobTalk? Well, here’s the deal. Because of Slaughter’s article and now Mayer’s announcement (and don’t forget Sheryl Sandberg’s advice for women), there’s a flurry of discussion about women holding high-level positions and whether or not they can be the moms they want to be. Many people are touting Sandberg and Mayer as role models, but I’d recommend that you don’t look to them for a working-mother model. They simply aren’t the average woman.
Today’s jobtalk is with the teen entrepreneur, Jeet Banerjee. At 19, he’s already sold his first business and launched his first startup, StatFuse, an online tool to help students manage the daunting college admissions process. On top of it, he’s pursuing a college degree. Think he’s busy!
Title: Co-Founder of StatFuse, Former CEO of JB Media Force
Education: B.A. Business Marketing, California State University, Fullerton, anticipated 2014
Age: 19
How did you get the idea to start your first business, JB Media Force?
My father has his own software company and I learned a lot from the time I spent there. While I was in high school I worked there, but I didn’t like working under someone and being told what to do. I had spent so much time in his office that I thought I could do some of the things that he did. So I said to my dad, “You know, I’d like to try to do something on my own and see where it takes me.” That’s how it all began. Continue reading
It’s a question that likely every new graduate today will ask himself or herself: Should I find a job and start working right away, or, should I make myself more marketable by going to grad school?
The workforce or graduate school: sounds like either is a great move, right? Well, maybe not if you’ve been struggling just to get an interview, or if you’re already swimming in student loans. (And who says that a master’s degree REALLY makes you more favorable? That’s definitely a great discussion for another day.) Even in the best circumstances, with both options as possibilities, it’s one of the most definitive and difficult career-related decisions you ever make post-college. Continue reading
Recently, I sat down with Career Coach Alex Freund, who specializes in helping his clients improve their interview performance, to get some inside information on the hiring process. With an office full of books on interviewing, social media, and other work-related issues, Freund admits to being just a little bit obsessed with his work!
Freund’s qualifications for career coaching are grounded in his professional experience, maturity, and expertise. He’s held management positions at Fortune 500 companies such as Honeywell and Tyco International where he has been responsible for hiring talent, giving him a firsthand understanding of what the hiring manager is thinking during an interview. Continue reading
Guest Post by Dan Bauer
Today’s jobtalk is with Stevee Mills, an acrobat with Circus Oz, Australia’s internationally acclaimed contemporary circus. From New York to Hong Kong, Circus Oz has taken its self-crafted performances of wit, grace and spectacle to 26 countries across five continents, to critical acclaim. The Circus Oz show is a rock-n-roll, animal free circus that full of death-defying stunts, awe-inspiring acrobatic performances, irreverent comedy and a spectacular live band. The company had three performances at McCarter Theatre on April 7th and 8th 2012.
Title: Acrobat
Education:
B. A. Circus Arts, National Institute of Circus Arts, 2010
Age: 27
How old were you when you first realized you had a drive and talent for the circus?
I was 23 years old when I became interested in circus. I am a former gymnast so after 5 years of working in the animal industry, I realized I would rather be doing backflips again. Continue reading
I have great ideas for startups. You know how I know how great they are? Each time I think I’m on to something I research the idea, and I find out it’s already being done. While I know there’s room for competition, I haven’t yet found a techie person to work with, so each time I find my idea in action – even if the startup is still in beta, I write it off. Now I’m wising up and researching present and future trends in hiring and the workplace. (All of my startup ideas have to do with careerism, of course!) By looking toward the future, I’ll be able to hypothesize about career-related problems that people will have and different ways to address them in a way that can set my idea apart from others. Continue reading