Regardless of where you stand politically, I think we can all agree that the 2008 election turned “conventional thinking” on its head in way that very few events in recent history have been able to. As a business student and a huge fan of socio-political trend watching, I also find that there are really interesting lessons we as MBAs can take away from the election, no matter what discipline we’ve chosen.

1 – The Next Generation Has Arrived

3.5 Million new voters were registered this election spanning not only age but also ethnicities.  In fact, according to national exit polls, 68% of voters that chose Barack Obama and 31% that chose John McCain were voting for the first time. To boot, turnout was as much as 89% in some states.

What this means for MBAs is that this election has marked the arrival of The Next American Generation culturally and demographically. Because of the strong impact this generation has shown in the election, what were once talking points for experts in finance, marketing, strategy and human capital will now become more like facts.

The lesson here is that the impact of this generation is no longer abstract for many of us, it’s reality.

2 – Stay On Message, Stay Authentic

If you had to pick a single word that described each candidate’s message, chances are that it would be “Change” for Obama and “Maverick” for McCain. Wait a minute, wasn’t it also “Change” for McCain as well? What about “Country First?”

The fact of the matter is that this election also proved a seminal rule about how consumers view authenticity and marketing. Because of the shifts that kept on being made in his message strategy, McCain lost a brilliant opportunity to capitalize on his own authenticity.

With the rise of new media and the Internet, consumers are becoming hyper-aware of who’s trying to get their attention and are becoming less forgiving to those they believe are just pandering to whatever they think they want to hear. The lesson here is to pick a message, whether in your marketing, strategy or in your mission statement that hits at the very core of your authenticity and then stick with it!

3 – The Black Swan Is Real

Even before you begin business school, you start to deal in probabilities.  In fact much of modern learning is built on confidence intervals, majority populations/outcomes and marginal risk.  What happens if an event lands in the long tail however, where the improbable becomes reality like it did in the recent financial meltdown?

Nassim Nicholas Taleb calls this a black swan and it hit this election like a Mack Truck.  The point of a black swan is though it has a very very small probability of occurring, it’s impact all but wipes out the effects of all the “normal” and “predictable” outcomes.

The lesson here is that risk and innovation go together hand-in-hand and just because a scenario has a very small probability of happening, it’s effects should at least be considered in forward-thinking.

This election has been an incredible ride; one that has kept us glued to CNN for way more hours than some of us would like to admit.  Now that its over, we have to ask ourselves “what’s next?” After all, we are all in this together and regardless of who you voted for, we all have to get jobs come May.

Technorati Tags: Black Swan, Election 2008, Financial Meltdown, MBA, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Owen Graduate School of Management, OwenBloggers, socio-political, Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, voter turnout

Technorati Tags: Black Swan, Election 2008, Financial Meltdown, MBA, Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Owen Graduate School of Management, OwenBloggers, socio-political, Vanderbilt, Vanderbilt Owen Graduate School of Management, voter turnout

It’s been almost 6 months but I am finally getting back to DC for the annual Reaching Out for GLBT MBAs. Ever since I learned about the conference about a year ago I have been psyched up for this opportunity.

Given the fact that much of what I have gotten to talk about on this show about being gay and in business, you can imagine how great this going to be.

If you happen to be in town or are going to the conference, shoot me a message via the blog – I would love to meet up!

Best,

Jared

Technorati Tags: GLBT MBA, LBGT MBA Conference, Reaching Out

If you ask me what it is that I have done with my new media experience while getting my MBA – I probably won’t have a single, decent answer. Oh, I have plenty of decent answers, mind you; I just haven’t found one that fits all occasions.

At first, I started off thinking new media wouldn’t be a good hook for the more traditional brand management MBA internships I was after. Then, I realized that new media MBA internships actually existed and tried to pivot my search in that direction and new media became my main selling point. Ultimately, I ended up wasting so much time figuring out how to market myself that April came around and I still didn’t have an internship locked down.

While most of my friends were signing great summertime commitments with companies like P&G and Deloitte, I was stuck trying to figure out if I could realistically pass off the title of “Barista” as graduate-level job experience. Then, it happened; my dream internship fell into my lap when I was least expecting it.

Granted, the experience did come with a few strings. Before I could take the internship, for instance, I would also have to spend a month coaching undergraduates in business strategy. What happened here was real life…apparently it happens, occasionally.

Flash forward to the last four weeks of summer: Most of my friends are either getting ready to complete their internships or have so, already. I, on the other hand, am only a quarter into my dream internship, trying to figure out how to cram 8 to 10 weeks of experience into just 4. Though I have to spend countless hours over the weekend working on presentations and creative briefs – literally turning out pages of the best marketing ideas I have ever had – it’s the reminder that this is real life that keeps me going.

In new media, when we step out of the digital-meta-wiki-blog-pod bubble, we’re sometimes surprised to find that the real world can, and will go on without us. The benefit I have found however is that my time in new media has made me more entrepreneurial and ready to face those glimmers of opportunity, no matter how strange or oddly they are presented to us.

For that, I am eternally grateful for my circle of new media friends and the people I have met along the way. Thank you.

Technorati Tags: new media, mba internships, surviving business school

Brief introduction of a brand new contributor to 20-Something Marketing. We also list out the top 3 lessons learned in upward management.

• Owen Accelerator (OwenBlogger’s Blog)
• The Marketing Diner
• Follow Me On Twitter!

Listen To Episode:

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Technorati Tags: MBA, owen accelerator, upward management, Vanderbilt

For the last four to five months, I have been knee-deep in work related to finding something substantive to do over the summer. Today, I am finally getting a chance to get in front of a company where I think can align all of things I am good at, with a position where I can make an impact.

As with any interview for an MBA Internship, the fact that I am coming from a non-core school is a sizable hurdle. Normally, the advantage in such evaluations goes to the students from the business schools from which the company already is aquatinted. However, I hopefully have something else up my sleeve that will give me a competitive edge equal to any other; new media.

Though not my main selling point for this particular position, my work in new media illustrates how strategic analysis intersects with creativity and technical competency. In interviews, I like to say that I can bring more to the table than just the ability to crunch spreadsheets and create SWOT analyses; that I also have the technical and creative background to bridge that work with just about any type of cross-functional implementation team.

It occurs to me that this revelation is not only my selling point, but the selling point of many of those traditional marketers fascinated by the world of interactive media, blogs and social networking sites. Its not just about being the marketer who can visualize solutions in the “cool new medium,” its about being able to apply analytic solutions to a rapidly-evolving playground of consumer choice.

Cross-Posted From The Marketing Diner

Technorati Tags: Marketing Diner, MBA, MBA Interviews, new media interviews, surviving business school

Answering questions related to getting your MBA including admissions, full time vs. part time, and what it’s like “on the inside.” Also, answering a deep backlog of other viewer mail.

• 20SMF’s MBA Spin Series
• Kindo – Cool Family Tree Building Site (Sent To Us By Daksh)
• Amazon.com – 20 Something Manifesto by Christine Hassler
• Christine Hassler’s Web Site

Listen To Episode:

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Technorati Tags: 20-Something Manifesto, Christine Hassler, mba applications, mba full time, mba part time, Kindo

Palms sweating and nerves racked, this time of year 1st year MBA students are frozen in place, hovering in a anxiety-stricken state of uncertainty. And that’s just before you hit the submit button.

It goes without saying that one of the most important parts of being an MBA student is finding the perfect internship. As a school climbing the rankings, Owen does all it can to help students get the right kind of exposure. However, the team here at Owen Career Management Center (CMC) seldom gets the kind of recognition that it should.

As rising stars in the career marketplace, Owen MBA, MAcc and MSF students have to work a little harder than most. In fact, some top tier employers are just now getting a glimpse of the kind of authenticity, drive and innovation Owen students bring to their respective positions.

What this means for Owen students is that the job hunt is more than just walking in the door of the CMC and expecting a job to be waiting. It means investigating multiple opportunities and dispelling the stereotype of the entitled business student.

In very real terms, the CMC is the living embodiment of how Owen works; a team of the best professionals in the business, succeeding when students decide to step up to the challenge. The only limiting factor to your job search is how much you want it.

Technorati Tags: MBA, MBA Internship, Owen Graduate School of Management, OwenBloggers, Vanderbilt University

In what has become a 20SM tradition; the first podcast of the year, I dedicate to resolutions and some words to live by in 2008.

Referenced Links:

• OwenBloggers

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Technorati Tags: Owen Graduate School of Management, OwenBloggers, resolutions, Vanderbilt

My friend Steph called me this morning to alert me to the fact that a recent post I did on my business school blog at OwenBloggers.com was quoted in a recent web-article on the word “w00t;”

“But w00t has done just the opposite: it started on the keyboard, made its way into SMS texting, then into writing, until it was finally spoken out loud….”This momentous selection is just another sign that the American lexicon is increasingly defined not by scholars but by raving lunatic bloggers like us,” writes Jared, a blogger on Owenbloggers.com”

Now normally, I don’t consider a ton of what I write to appeal to mass audiences. In fact, the very nature of writing about business and marketing makes me, by default, a niche blogger. That’s exactly why when someone tells me that a popular newsmagazine thinks I am on-point enough to cite, I begin to realize that blogging is a much more powerful tool than most people think.

Think about it, where else would you be able to add “have been quoted in Newsweek” to your list of accomplishments in an interview?

Technorati Tags: blogging, w00t

Between papers here at my MBA program at Vandy, its always cool to check my RSS feeds and see an article like his that says what we’ve been saying all along; 20-somethings are the next great business tool.

I’ll let you read the entire article (click here >>) but there was a snippet I wanted to point out:

“Of course, not every Gen Yer we’ve met is hankering to be an entrepreneur, but many still want to change the world through where and how they work, exuding an optimism more reminiscent of the 1950s than any other era in recent memory.”

It feels great to be an MBA student at this period of time and to anyone who is wondering if ambition is worth it, just ask Jack and he’ll tell you it absolutely is.

PS: In case you’re wondering; exams are next week – wish me luck!

Technorati Tags: Gen Y, Jack Welsh, MBA

“Out of a Job, In Front of a Mic” is four part series covering the ups and downs of being a 20-something marketing strategist.

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“Out of a Job, In Front of a Mic” is four part series covering the ups and downs of being a 20-something marketing strategist.

Listen To Episode:

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“Out of a Job, In Front of a Mic” is four part series covering the ups and downs of being a 20-something marketing strategist.

Listen To Episode:

Download audio file (20SMF67.1.mp3)

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At this moment, I now think I have a good idea what it must feel like to be a ghost walking among the living.

It must be the same feeling I felt this week sitting in on group interviews for the person who will eventually replace me once I leave to go to business school; I am sure of it. What’s worse, everyone wants to get my one-on-one candid assessment of these people.

Forget, for just one second, that I have done some incredible things at this organization I doubt I could get away with at larger, more traditional businesses. There is no getting around that interviewing your replacement – no matter what the job looks like after your gone – is just plain weird.

The funny thing is that with the advent of the Internet and blogs, I am able to discern more information about a candidate than ever before. Exactly the same could be said of the candidates, who frequently research this blog before stepping into the office to be interviewed by me.

So, the end result is a situation where you want to say something about a candidate but know that decorum prevents it. I know who I want to replace me but by openly “dissing” a candidate, I am opening myself up to being evaluated and that distracts from them finding someone they can be happy with once I am gone.

The one interesting thing that this experience is leaving me with is the ability to see what truly exceptional candidates look and sound like. They paint a picture of what they would be like in the position and leave the room with you buzzing with excitement. A sub-par candidate leaves you with the feeling; “well, they can do the job but what else?”

Any warm body can fill a position, sit in a chair and take orders, blindly. Hell, I have seen people promoted for doing just that. The question is; do you have the capability to leave an organization better than when they brought you into it?

Demonstrate that and you’ve got me in your corner.

Summary:

This position is responsible for writing, reviewing and coordinating marketing communications in order to deliver an organizationally coherent sales/marketing message to members of a national financial trade association.

In case you haven’t guessed, this is the official announcement for my replacement at my full-time job here in DC. If interested, e-mail me and I will help you get the ball rolling.

In the e-mail, you should include your resume, a cover letter and, come to think of it, some liberal sucking-up to the tune of how much you love this blog wouldn’t hurt.

Here’s the rest of the info:

Primary Responsibilities:

• Write copy for promotional materials, mailings, press releases, speeches, marketing campaigns, brochures and advertisements for both print and online applications.

• Write and publish articles to support sales and marketing efforts.

• Assist in the development of all for-profit sales/marketing promotions and programs.

• Create and deliver value-add marketing programming including, but not limited to, print resources, webinars and podcasts.

• As directed, provide communications support for event programming, market research and media relations efforts.

• As directed, coordinate graphic design, layout and distribution of online and print publications with internal designer and web specialists as well as outside design firms and printers.

Qualifications:

• Four-year college degree from an accredited educational institution with a concentration in communications/journalism, public relations, marketing or business.

• Excellent professional writing and marketing communication skills. A portfolio of prior/current work must be presented.

• Two – Four years of related professional experience.

• Proficiency with Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint; familiarity with common database utilities.

• Layout, design and/or audio editing skills or experience helpful.

Special Co-host: Penelope Lee (Marketing Diner)

Show Notes:

• Why business podstar-dom kicks ass
• Podcasting and blogging tips to bolster your personal brand
• Debunking the most common misconceptions of running your own podcast and/or blog

Listen To Episode:

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The show is pretty much a grab bag including the long-awaited interview with the boss, who steps in to talk about what its like working with Jared and communication during the MBA application process.

Show Notes:

• My thoughts on why the UNDERGEAR swimsuit catalogue makes for unrealistic marketing
• Interview – The Boss (no, not Bruce – Jared’s Boss)
• Why spring can be a long, long wait

Referenced Links:

• OwenBloggers.com – If you haven’t checked this out yet, you obviously are new to the show.

Listen To Episode:

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If you’re like me, your buddy list probably has a mish-mosh of old friends, family, casual acquaintances and some folks you might not even keep in contact with anymore. Your professional contact network is the same way.

The only difference is that most of us don’t have the professional network in a handy, easy-to-use medium like AIM.

What happens is that unlike your AIM list where re-connection is only a click away; your professional contact network may languish unused most of the time in a card file or an electronic address book. In order to make it easier for you to tap your professional contact network like you AIM, you need to do a couple of things.

First of all, you need a network medium that makes your professional contacts as easy to connect with as your personal one. This means you not only need a system that organizes your contacts in an easy-to-view manner (like an AIM list), you need one that helps you associate those contact with particular causes.

Personally, I try to use a card file that lays out business cards I collect like CDs. On the back of each one I write a note to myself about what they do and how I can refresh that network contact. I then send an e-mail to them, saying it was nice to meet them and reminding them about who I am.

Later on, as I riffle through those contacts, I am always reminded of my network. Just like AIM, I am more prone to keeping those contacts top-of-mind and maintain regular contact with them.

Small things like forwarding on an article of interest or inviting them to a professional reception can help feed your network so they are warmed up when you eventually do need them.

Show Notes:
I) 20SMF Nominated For A Marketing Sherpa Award – VOTE NOW
II) Interview With Dr. Marty Nemko, US News And World Report Contributing Careers Editor
III) Game Plan: Powerful Perception

Referenced Links:
MartyNemko.com – 500 Free Career and Office Place Politics Articles
20SMF Nominated For A Marketing Sherpa Award – VOTE NOW
Win At Office Politics Without Selling Your Soul - By Marty Nemko

Podcast:

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Nothing and (I do mean NOTHING) has ever been more of a hindrance to my professional life than gossip. Most often occurring because of the “need to elevate one’s status by lowering the status of others” (Words That Hurt, Words That Heal), gossip in my mind is hypocrisy given voice.

Now, I am as guilty as anyone else of the secretive whispers and side-hallway meetings. However, experience has lately yielded a truth that if it can damage anyone, it can damage 20-somethings more than anyone else.

Think about it; we grew up during the emergence of talk shows like Oprah and Jerry Springer. Because of them, never have other people’s lives been such the target of juicy gossip with such a level of acceptance.

Granted, office gossip is about as old as the invention of the water cooler but in this new reality-obsessed culture, office gossip has reached new levels of intrigue. This has prompted underlings to gossip about their bosses, bosses to gossip about their underlings and none of it is good. In fact, gossip has evolved into a currency of social office status and has turned many office places into cold war battle zones for ego-driven superiority.

Gossip, in any form, has become toxic. Anything that can’t be shared openly and honestly is only going to get someone hurt. To avoid this, just don’t participate. If you are in a conversation and it turns to gossip, just politely walk away. You’ll be doing yourself a favor by inoculating yourself from the pitfalls of gossip.

Refuse to let toxic gossip get in the way of good intentions and be a bigger person. Its tough, its not the ‘cool’ thing to do but then again, its an office, not the set of Jerry Springer.

Today, online publishing like blogs and podcasts have completely changed the game.  Those same recruiters (and now even love interests) now have literally reams of unvarnished testimonial about what we really think and that, sometimes, can be a problem.

Just like products often have long tails in adoption our content that we produce now, sometimes in the heat of the moment, can still be picked up long afterwards.  For instance, I like to blog about my hatred of Starshmucks.  The danger with that is who knows when I might get into a situation when a recruiter might think those comments are childish and inflammatory, disregarding their context?

My point is this; sometimes we are so quick to prove ourselves that we disregard that long tail of content.  Remember that what you put out there now is probably still out there years from now.

I only bring this up because I was reminded at a recent meeting that ego is an important part of the 20-something mindset, and thereby one of those double-edged swords that define the situation we are in. I had just completed a project and was eager to show off by results to my internal clients. Being of a creative mind, it’s hard to separate your work from your ego and was devastated as I stood there listening to the critique that seemingly unwound my reason for being.

Classically, I thought that because I thought my work was masterful (spelled E-G-O), that it was above reproach and would be welcomed as the DaVinci-esque solution I thought it to be. Boy, did I peg that one wrong…

Later on that week, determined not to be done in, I was wrestling with an on-going project that required my detailed attention in order to get it to our set previously-set goal. As my ego got the better of me once again, I put myself in a position where I crossed the line from being mindful of my marketing goals to being over-controlling to the point that I was going to damage the long-term objective of the project. Sure, I was ensuring that the short-term project goal was met but as my boss pointed out, at some point, I needed to shut my ego up and say “no” to my continued involvement to ensure long-term gain.

The problem with ego is that it is an intangible monster that can wreck more than just your day. You really can’t tame it and it makes you open your mouth when it would do you better to keep it closed.

Ultimately, it will be how you harness the ambition and drive associated with ego that determines whether it lifts you up or sends you spiraling towards the ground.

If you figure out how to do the latter, please feel free to tell me how you did it. I am very eager to know.

Show Notes:
I) Back From Nola, HUD Scandal, Special Event for DC Metro Area Listeners
II) Interview w/Marcos Salazar, Author of the Turbulent Twenties Survival Guide
III) Game Plan: Maybe its time to take a trip?

Podsafe Music:
Calvin Owens – “Coffee Man”

Referenced Links:

• Amazon.com – The Turbulent Twenties Survival Guide: Figuring Out Who You Are, What You Want, & Where You’re Going After College
• Marco’s Blog – TurbulentTwenties.com
• District Tees

Podcast:

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or

In business lingo, companies describe what they think they’re “good” at a core competency. For instance, Apple’s core competency is creating products that have a marketable lifestyle element to them. On the other hand, Whole Foods’ core competency is sourcing local and national organic growers.

Each of these things is both part skill and part reputation, and they make up the edge each respective company has in the marketplace. Core competencies can evolve over time whether by coincidence as it was with Apple (whose originally core competency was hardware and software development) or by choice, as with Whole Foods. The point is that they both use their core competencies to their advantage in the marketplace.

Core competencies can exist within the workplace too, especially in marketing. Some core competencies in marketing may be an acute sense of humor (great for op-ed’s and creative endeavors), a particular eye for the aesthetic (for graphic designers and layout artists), or even a knack for organizational thinking (perfect for technical writing). The challenge is drawing them out and deciding what to do with them.

Additionally, what happens when you are stuck in one situation where your core competency doesn’t seem to be particularly suited? Again, I remind you that The Friday Line doesn’t answer its own questions, it just poses them.

Start with this exercise; ask yourself what you do best. Chances are that you can accomplish any task with a little help and an eye for your strength so once you know what your core competency is, exploit it to the advantage of getting your project done.

Just remember, a core competency isn’t necessarily an expertise, but it should have three key elements to it:

1) You have to like doing it

2) You have to be curious about it

3) You need to have proven that you can use it to get things done.

For example, you may not be the best writer in the world but you’re a damn good explorer. It has the three pre-requisites; its something you like, that you’re curious about, and has proven you are good at it to get ancillary elements (such as research). You then approach writing as an exploration, don’t just sit down and type, go out and pose yourself some questions – then answer them and try out those writing skills.

Till next week folks, that’s your Friday Line.

Their newest issue features 6 jobs that won’t exist in 2016 and guess who doesn’t get the ax?  Marketers! (At least the ones that happen to show their ROI from time-to-time).

I can’t say I am surprised by their predictions but it’s always fun to see what they do and do not say explicitly.  Do you have thoughts on the matter?

Show Notes:
I) Jared Mocks Cara
II) Cara Mocks Back
III) Interview Prep, Targeted Follow-Up, and Potfolios
IV) Game Plan: Be Happy – NOW!

Podcast:

Right Click And ‘Save As’ To Download Full Show

In roughly 3 years of working full-time professionally and at least 2 years prior to that part-time, I’ve met resistance in just about as many forms as possible. I have been discounted because of my appearance, walled-off by indifference to change, and ostracized because of my ambitions. I play to win. I don’t, and can’t, hide that.

When someone hires me to do a job, I have one directive that’s my own – leave a place better than I found it. I will keep every other direction that you give me but frankly I am not content to wallow in my own mediocrity and neither should you as my co-worker, boss, or friend.

As the newest generation enters the workforce, I feel like there is a growing tension between the ages. Once content to withstand the yolk of entry-level doldrums, the workers that are now emerging are eager to stretch their legs and apply ever–evolving tactics to age-old problems.

We were the generation inspired by “Doogie Howser, MD” and the tech-savvy boom brought on by Generation-X. I can only imagine what it must feel like to be a manager of someone like this; cringing like Jerry Seinfeld hearing Newman is coming down the corridor at the prospect of keeping one of us under control.

In the same way, we are also the generation of spell-check, snood, and the 5-second attention span. Ritalin was just a drug before we came along. We made it a lifestyle. It’s no wonder that if you want something big, you call us. If you want something done right – ask someone still on a first cup of coffee.

I picked up a book last week (ok, so I didn’t go to the store…I got it on Amazon) on Millennialas, the proper name of this workplace terror. It describes the newest generation of workers as the “next, great generation.” This moniker is of course derived from the WWII generation. They gave their lives and their livelihoods to wipe a great evil off the face of the planet.

Do we really deserve to be the ones that follow in their footsteps? Are the feats we are going to achieve going to be that great?

Our predecessors can only make that determination. I can say one thing for certain, though; if it’s going to happen, it’s going to be because we embrace our reality more than simply our potential.

It’s not enough to be good at what you do. You have to be willing to embrace the faults as well as the strengths and figure out how to profit from both. I’ll leave the rest for fate but I will leave this thought off with one story:

In high school I worked for a small bagel shop. About 6 months in, the manager made me a shift manager. This was my first promotion ever and so I was very excited. I got the keys to the store, my own security pass code to the register system, and the responsibility of the weekend operations of the store.

Another 6 months passed and we got a new manager. This one was 180 degrees opposite from the old one. She promptly demoted me and handed the reigns of the weekend operation over the head baker who was about 15 years older than I was. After a few missed shifts and middle-of-the-night calls to her to open the shop in the baker’s absence, I asked her “Why won’t you trust me with this shift? You know I can do it and I am as reliable as any other staff member we have and at least twice as eager.”

Her reply was something that still sticks with me today; “If you want to be a manager, you better well damn start acting like it.” This struck me just because as long as I had the keys and the skills, I didn’t think anything else was necessary.

As a generation, we have the skills – its time to earn the keys. If we want them, we better damn well start acting like it.

Show Notes:
I) What did you do to the host?
II) Entrepreneurs
III) The Spector of Real Life