Wanna Be Happy...Work for Google.

According to Fortune magazine, there are 100 top companies to work for. Guess who's number one? Yep, it's Google. The search engine is a household name and gasp, this
"Blogger" is through none other but Google. We even use it as a verb. When you don't know something, what do you do? Just Google it, duh.

But Fortune doesn't just name them the best company to work for and be done with it. They give you a glimpse of what it's like to work for Google, what their 11 cafeterias are like and most importantly why the company is number one. Fascinating, huh? Go to the website yourself and check it out. My company was number 25, so that's exciting and makes me think I am going places in life.

If Google doesn't quite strike your fancy, you should also check out the survey on the right hand side of the linked website above. You can answer a series of questions about personal preferences in order to find a company that would be a good match. I did it and got Medtronic in Minnesota. Hmmm, not interested. It might work well for you though!

Hook Me Up With A Retirement Fund

As I'm about to start my new job, I am reminded of some of the things I now need to think about. Healthcare, a dental plan, you know, that grown up type of stuff. It's also not too early to start thinking about my retirement plan. I know I'm only 22 and have my whole life ahead of me, but considering I am only taking care of myself right now, it might be the perfect time to start putting some money away.

Most employers can set you up with a retirement fund and you can put money in there each pay period pre-tax. You might have to work there for a certain amount of time before you can start putting money in there, but that will just give you time to establish yourself and get all of your other finances in order. Then you can determine how much per month you might want to contribute. If you're lucky, your employer will match a percentage of what you put in, which is like free money. Hey, I'll take it.

Share Your Knowledge

Time value of money is a key concept you learned in probably your first finance class. It's pretty neat though. I remember my professor showing us how you could become a millionaire by investing small amounts of money. I was amazed and thought it would be pretty sweet if I became a millionaire. Well, this summer, at the camp I am working at, I'm going to show the 8th and 9th graders how THEY can become millionaires.

Each counselor has to do a 45 minute presentation on anything of their choice. I figured everyone knows what money is and would like to have a lot of it if they could, so why not explain to them what my professor showed me? I haven't quite figured out all the details of the presentation, but it is a great way for me to share my knowledge of finance with kids who are going into high school. Perhaps it will spark their interest and inspire them to study business. At the very least, hopefully they won't be completely bored. I love learning about new things that will be useful to me in the future, so hopefully they will too.

How's That Internship Going?

If you haven't already graduated like me, perhaps you have an internship this summer. You are probably working hard to make the best impression and most importantly, seeing if you like the line of work you are in (whether it be consulting, accounting, investments, etc.) and the company that you are working for. By the end of the summer hopefully you will have received an offer and be well on your way to starting your career.

Here are some things that you should be doing in order to have the best shot at a full-time offer:

1. Ask meaningful questions (as opposed to ones you already know the answer to).
2. Be early. Who cares if everyone comes in between 8 and 8:30am, you should be there at 8.
3. Do not be the first one to leave the office, there is probably more that can be done (ask if there is at least).
4. Always have a positive attitude, smile, and don't act like you don't want to complete a task (even if it's stuffing envelopes!).
5. Act professional! Don't be loud and obnoxious.
6. Dress appropriately. It always best to dress more conservative than less.
7. Don't get drunk at office happy hours. You might embarrass yourself.

Some companies give most interns a full-time offer unless they really mess up. But some companies have only 2 full-time positions for 8 interns. It really just depends on where you are working. Remember that an internship is just as much about you finding the right fit as it is for the company you are working for!

Consulting in the Long Run

Yesterday I came across an article on CNN Money whose headline link struck me: "Best jobs in the long run". I'm thinking, okay I'll click on it, but I really hope consulting is on there, or else I'm in trouble. Well, here's what they came up with as the top seven:

1. Operations and Production Management
2. Software Sales
3. Fundraiser
4. Hotel Management
5. Sales Representative
6. Anything with cars or medical supplies
7. Aerospace

So I don't see consulting in there, but I bet it is still a good place to start, right? The best thing about it is that consultants could technically do all of these things. The field of consulting is so broad and can be applied in most industries.

Plus, CNN also had a list of 20 great employers for new grads. So here was another chance for me to reaffirm that I made the right career choice. Again, unsuccessful. I'm getting a little discouraged. I search the entire CNN site for news about the consulting industry. These are the results that showed up:

• How to marry a billionaire
• Working for your kids
• World's most expensive cities

These are just to name a few, but the last one sounded interesting. I bet I'm out of luck, again. Surprisingly, Washington, D.C. was not on the list...the top 20 were not in the United States. Regardless, CNN.com entertained me for about an hour and I learned what was going in the world.

Driving To Work

If you think it's time for a new car to go with that big time job you just got, then let me help you out. Though I have not purchased a car yet, I'm in the market, which is exciting. If you're living in a large city like New York, you may not need a car. Even in Washington, D.C., if your office is on the metro line and you will be working there every day, you can spare yourself the expense of having a car in a city. Parking is either a pain to find or you have to pay about $75 per month for a parking space. Plus, it's likely to get a hit by a parallel parker or something...now aren't you excited to put your insurance to use?

When buying a car it's important to look at a lot of factors. You want to make sure you are getting what you pay for and that you won't have to put a whole lot of money into after the fact. Carfax is a great way to find out if a used vehicle has ever been in an accident (which could mean lots of money in the long run). Be sure to run one of these checks before purchasing a vehicle! Also, does it have all the bells and whistles you just HAVE to have in your car? For me, it's a sunroof. You should also look to see if there is a warranty left on the car and obviously how many miles it has. Then of course, be sure to know exactly how much you can afford per month factoring in insurance and any parking costs you may incur. Cars can be a lot more expensive than you think!

Here are some great websites to check out used cars in your area:

Automart.com
Autotrader.com
Internet Auto Guide

A Video Guide to Consulting Interviews

Are you sick of just reading about all of the different types of consulting interview questions? Do you want to see the real thing in action? I thought that would be a lot more helpful too. Vault, a career information company, produced a video that does just that. It takes you step by step through an "estimation" question to see how a potential employee would go about answering the question. Along the way, they give you tips and clues to what the interviewer is looking for, which is very helpful in first interviews.

Beware of the wrong things to do as well, you don't want to lose the interviewer's interest right away. Here is the full video and check out Vault.com for additional career information.

The Devil Wears Prada

As I walked through the streets of some of the most famous cities in Europe, I marveled at the gorgeous architecture and how different the buildings look than in the United States. But for three girls, that wasn't always the main attraction. In every city we visited the tourist spots in addition to, of course, the main shopping streets. Without fail, each city had their street of designer stores, you know, Gucci, Prada, Chanel and the like. I was in awe. Being from the suburbs, I didn't even know these stores existed. I had only heard of the brands and definitely did not own any of their items. However, with my new job and a steady income, I could be shopping at these places, right? Wrong.

If I even attempted to shop at Fendi or Cartier, it would be like Carrie from Sex & the City trying to survive in New York while just having to have her Manolo Blahniks. It really just isn't possible. Plus, it's not my style. But, you would be surprised how many young professionals just start spending because they think they are making the big bucks now. They forget about all the bills that come along with living on your own when they go out and buy that new BMW.

Be sure to sit down and budget your money so that you aren't living in poverty even though you look nice!

Star Struck at the Cannes Film Festival

While in France about two weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to attend the Cannes Film Festival. The event is filled with A-list stars and is the highlight of a filmmaker's year. Unfortunately you needed special passes that are reserved only for film people in order to go to the movie screenings and if you were so lucky, to walk the red carpet as well. Well, for being normal tourists, we did get lucky. About a half hour upon arriving to Cannes, we passed an area crowded with paparazzi and assumed someone famous must be coming soon. How exciting!

Not even 15 minutes later, Joaquin Pheonix, Robert Duvall and Eva Mendes got out of fancy black cars and the cameras were flashing. We later saw them on the red carpet as well. We obviously made ourselves at home and snapped some up-close photos of the bunch. But I can tell you we did so while acting like little kids in a candy store. It was as if seeing these celebrities was the best thing that ever happened to us.

These people are famous in Hollywood, but perhaps not so much in the business world. However, once you start working at a consulting firm, you are put on clients where you have the opportunity to work with CEOs, CFOs, COOs and the like. These may be people who you have heard of and greatly admire, but you probably shouldn't act as star struck as we did. You have a job to do and your ability to handle yourself around those who are significantly higher up in the business world is a great reflection of your character.

Gym Membership? Check.

In college it was easy to stay in shape, if you weren't completely lazy, that is. We had a brand new gym on our campus within walking distance and only a few hours of class each day. Even with the occasional homework assignment, I could usually find at least an hour during the day when I had just enough energy to make it over to the gym and workout. I mean, of course I had enough energy, I didn't wake up until 10am every morning.

Now, I'm getting nervous. I'm working at this summer camp where the kids are surely in better shape than I am. I was just in Europe hiking through the mountains of Italy and being passed by 70 year olds as my friends and I stopped every 10 stairs so we didn't die. Pretty pathetic huh? My only thought is that things are going downhill from here.

Working 60 hours per week and finding time (and energy) to go to the gym is going to be difficult! However, it's important to remember the "balanced lifestyle" firms always boast about their employees having. You can even join the firm softball or soccer league to stay in shape. I might do it just to save myself the embarrassment mentioned above.

Wow I'm Old...Or Am I?

My summer job is about to kick off and I can't tell you how excited I am. Essentially, I am a camp counselor at an overnight camp for six weeks. I attended the program in 1999 and 2000 and have always wanted to work there, but because of study abroad and internships, I never got the chance. So this is my last hoorah before the real world and let me tell you, it makes me feel old.

The kids that attend the camp are 8th and 9th graders, so we're talking 14 and 15 years old. It seems like just yesterday I was in their place thinking how old the proctors were and now I am one of them...so does that mean I AM old? Well, relatively speaking, yes. But, once I start my job in the fall, I am going to be in the youngest class of professionals, so maybe I'm not that old after all.

The most important thing is that you remember who you are dealing with and what is appropriate. If you think about it, what is appropriate in the workplace is similar to what is appropriate around younger children. Not only will this summer be incredibly fun for me, it will be great preparation for office life!

Homeless

So I am supposed to be moving to Washington, D.C. in August. Of course I am excited but there is still one major issue to resolve: Where am I going to live? My two roommates and I have been searching and searching...and searching, yet we haven't been able to find an apartment. We narrowed our search to the specific neighborhoods we would like to live in, but still, everything we've found thus far is either too expensive, too small or large, not the right number of bedrooms, etc.

You can imagine how frustrating this is when you are trying to plan when you will be moving and what furniture you need to bring when you don't know what your apartment or house will look like! There are some essential items like a couch (that is, if you like sitting) and maybe a tv for the living room where you can relax with roommates after work. But even the thought of us not being able to find an apartment is just a little bit scary. Some people move to a city and then find a job, so it seems as though we are doing things a bit backwards. We have jobs, but no home.

This weekend will be dedicated to the good ole' apartment search. Watch out, Craig's list, I am on a mission.

Pizza...Well That's Original

When in a different country, it's customary to try the special foods that you can only find there. You know, paella in Spain, croissants in France and pizza in Italy. Although we didn't venture too far out of our comfort zone, trying new things is necessary to figure out what you like and don't like. Pizza could become your new favorite food, as if it wasn't already. If only you could get pizza like in Italy here.



This goes for your career as well. Try out new things. Ask to be put on an interesting project or see if you can work with another division of the company for awhile. Finding a particular area of business, or within the consulting industry, the types of clients you would like to work with, allows you to develop expertise in that area. Keeping an open mind and being flexible is key in order to keep your career progressing smoothly.

So, although you may end up hating brussel sprouts if you try them, at least you can say you did without regret (well, maybe).

Dear Diary

When on a once in a lifetime vacation, it is certainly necessary to document every minute of it. That is why my girlfriends and I decided to have travel journals to write about the progress of our trip and all of the funny things that happened. Reading them on the plane back to the States was quite entertaining.

Similarly, in my current relatively bored state, I am thinking of starting a post-college journal. After all, this is a huge transition, one that all graduates must eventually make. Although this blog is somewhat of a recap of my experiences, it doesn't do justice to the everyday details of starting your career and becoming a grown up.

Journals are used by all ages. Don't pretend like you didn't have a diary growing up where you wrote about your latest crush and the gossip going on in Mrs. Kelly's fifth grade class. Well, career journals are also popular. Perhaps more sophisticated and mature than fifth grade, it is a great way to monitor the progress of your career and keep track of all the people you have met through the years for networking purposes.

North, South, East or West

For the past 3 weeks, street maps were my best friend. And even then we still seemed to get lost quite frequently. Lucky for us though, street maps are strategic. If you can figure out where you are, you can follow the map to get where your going. Wouldn't it be nice if your career was like that? You would never have to make important decisions about which path to take and there wouldn't be a question of whether or not you would achieve your goals. But then again, that is too predictable and not very exciting.

Life doesn't have a road map. As anxious as I was about actually getting a job, it doesn't end there. In order for your career to progress, you must constantly be making decisions. Moving to a new city, switching job functions, moving to a different company or changing careers altogether all factor in to the direction of your career.

I've found that the easiest way to give myself some direction in the business world is to sit down and make a list of things that I like, such as what types of projects and what is important to me in the workplace. In addition, think about your ultimate goals. It sound cliche, but where do you see yourself in 10 years? Don't be afraid to be overly ambitious! Although you don't have a street map for your career (or GPS these days), having a sense of your destination will help create a path to success.

English - The Universal Language?

After spending about a week each in Spain, France and Italy, it was a comfort to land in Newark, NJ yesterday and hear the sweet sound of voices. English speaking ones. Though my Spanish is okay and Italian is like Spanish (some vocab at least), trying to communicate in another language is difficult! And attempting to speak French, well that's just a whole other story. However, speaking another language can be extremely helpful in the business world, particularly in the consulting industry, where multinational firms would love to have bilingual professionals as one of their assets.

But you also have to be careful when trying to speak another language. Though you might know the right vocabulary, context is key. In Spain we learned that using the wrong vocabulary to say that you are warm temperature-wise can give a very wrong impression. I'm not sure how well telling your boss you are hot for him would go over with upper management.

And don't assume that everyone does or does not speak English. You could be talking in English thinking those around you can't understand, but beware, more people know English than you think! On the other hand, don't expect everyone to know English. If you're in their country maybe you should try speaking their language. Asking someone if they speak English before conversing with them only perpetuates the idea that Americans think they rule the world. The field of business may be universal, but English is not. Be sure to make sure you know what your getting yourself into when traveling abroad to a client!

We Think We're Better

Throughout my four years at Richmond in the Robins School of Business, I always noticed that we did things a little bit differently. We were insanely competitive. Everyone wanted to know people's grades on a test and who they were interviewing with. We got taken out to fancy dinners by international firms, had b-school wine and cheese receptions and the notorious Senior B-School Dinner. We were clearly distinct from the School of Arts & Sciences.

Most notably, b-school students simply acted like they were better than everyone else. We were seen as the students who were going to make the money, even if our lives were miserable. Surely working 100 hours per week at an investment bank was worth the $90,000 per year and sleep deprivation. We insisted that we got the fancy dinners and state-of-the-art resources because people that graduate from the b-school make a lot of money and then donate it back to their alma mater. Where did this ego come from? American capitalism perhaps?

Business school students were rowdy and fun. It was where most of my friends were. We had the same interests and the same goals. I could only smile when the b-school section at graduation was the loudest and most excited to have our school and names announced. It's always a good policy to be humble while still taking pride in your accomplishments. Don't let your head get too big even if people are telling you that you are the best.

Graduation Weekend - Meeting the Families

Graduation weekend is the one time that EVERYONE's family is in town for sure. Parent's weekend is another possibility, but that isn't enough reason for people to travel from everywhere in the country just for a few days. Graduation is the real deal. The icing on the cake. For me, graduation was one of the first times I got to meet the families of all my friends. I had met a sibling here, a parent there of my very best friends, but graduation weekend I found myself talking to people I didn't even know. What a perfect networking tool.

Most parents or older siblings want to know what you're doing with your life. Being able to describe what you will be doing and how it fits into the firms business structure is key to making your new position sound impressive. If you can speak with other adults intelligently about what you will be doing in the months to come and even find out what their career path has been like, that could be your next "in". After your first job, it's all about the contacts you have made that can help to point you in the right direction. So, don't just play the sad card about graduating and dreading actually having to work. Show anyone you meet how much you are looking forward to your new found responsibility and goals for the future. This could be your ticket on the fast-track to success.

How Far Does B-Stats 101 Take You?

As I sat in each of my two in-class finals during exam week in my final semester at Richmond, I couldn't help but wonder why they insist on giving second semester seniors final exams. That of course extended into why we even have exams in general. I have always pondered whether or not what I learn in the classroom will actually be applicable in real world situations. Not suprisingly, the answer is both yes and no.

As I think back on my past consulting internship experiences, I can't say that I have used the t-test from B-Stats II or overhead variance from Managerial Accounting, so why are we forced to memorize all of these things and demonstrate our knowledge of them? Clearly the business world has computers that do this for them. But then I thought about classes like Organizational Behavior, Strategic Management and best of all, Software Tools. Now those will get me somewhere.

Last summer some of the most important skills I used from school were those that involved working in a team. How you react in given situations and interact with your coworkers tells others a lot about you and can ultimately influence your success. Oh, and I hope you paid attention in that Microsoft Excel course, because spreadsheets don't just make themselves. That's what first year staff are for. Brush up on your shortcuts to save some time in the office.

So, although I'd like to think that showing up for class and exams was just a formality, I might actually use some of the things I learned in business school in the real world.

And I'm Back

After a month long break from the blog scene, I am back. A lot has happened since my last entry. For one thing, I graduated! That's a sigh of relief. But I also had final exams, went to beach week in Myrtle Beach and then of course there was graduation weekend and three week trip to Europe. Maybe graduating from college doesn't mean my life is over. We'll have to see.

This summer I hope to share with you what it is like to be a college graduate making the transition from the college world to the real world. Though many people choose to hang around for their last summer, mine is packed with things to do. It's helpful to make a sort of laundry list of things you need or want to do during your last three months of freedom (although for some it may be just a few weeks). My summer will be spent figuring out where to live, figuring out my financial situation (a budget would be nice), working at an amazing summer camp and basically just making sure I've got everything in order for when I move to Washington, D.C. in August.

Lately I've found lots of good lessons in the ordinary happenings of every day. My three week adventure to Europe with two friends opened my eyes to the way others do things and what is acceptable in other cultures, which is really important. As I get closer and closer to my official "start date" I notice more and more how everything relates back to business and hope I can offer up some good advice to make your transition a little easier or at least show you that life after college isn't all that bad...yet.