Welcome to my Career Advice Blog -  130+ articles with tips on career success, soft skills development, job search, and work life balance.   Become a fan on my new Facebook page.   Follow @bemycareercoach

If YOU CURRENTLY HAVE A JOB

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  Examples - Interpersonal Skills are more important than hard skills
• Boss relationship : How to discuss career plans with my manager;
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• Stress management: Overwhelmed at work - six practical solutions;
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• Career change:  Career change advice - 5 aspects to consider

There are 30 + more articles not listed here - You can also find them by looking at the Categories section or use the Search function in the sidebar.

Question: I am getting my MBA from University of Chicago and am doing a summer internship right now at a start up.  I have to deliver a final Marketing Plan due in 2 weeks.  I have collected a ton of data and am trying to write a draft now, but I feel like I will never finish.  I have 10 sections in the Marketing Plan.  Just for one section, I am listing 15 options with pros and cons.  It's literally 12 pages already.  I still have a lot of data that are in various files everywhere.  I feel like I need to organize them all but I will run out of time.    What should I do to get it all done?

As another example, the company wants me to do a competitive analysis as part of this plan.  There are quite a few types of competitors that competes with our company in different ways.  I have a lot of information on all the competitors but it will take forever to write about all of them even if I list them in categories and some don't really fit neatly in just one competitor category.  Again, any suggestions?

Lastly, I have opinions about what this company should do regarding their marketing.  I am just not sure how strongly I should write my recommendations vs. layout all the options for them to decide.  The stakeholders have been fairly open to my opinion so far, but I am just a summer intern.  I want to do a good job at this.  Pls help.

Thanks for reaching out. First of all, take a deep breath, it sounds like you have done a lot of research and already have in mind what this company should do with their marketing.  That's the good news.  It also sounds like that you are a bit stuck in analysis paralysis and your instinct to be comprehensive and perfect is dominating how you are approaching your work.

Remember, if you are getting an MBA for U Chicago, this company didn't hire you just to create an organized data summary.  They hired you because they value your opinion and your recommendations.  So to do a good job with this marketing plan and avoid being overwhelmed, try the following

1. Focus on writing your recommendations instead of summarizing all data - You want to finish this work leaving the company with at most 2 or 3 options of what they should do in each section, your recommendation of which option is best and support that with facts.  Everything else should be in the appendix.
2. Work top down instead of bottoms up - sounds like you are working from all the data up trying to summarize everything.  That can easily be overwhelming and make you lose focus of the bigger picture - company want to know what to do with their marketing.  So work top down - now you have all the data, ask yourself, if you are decision maker for marketing, what would you do and why.  That would be your executive summary.  Once you have that, you can better prioritize what is important to write about and what can be in the appendix.
3. Your main marketing plan should be <15 pages total with a 1-2 page executive summary - No executive has time or patience to read through 5o+ page report.  You say you have 10 sections, that sounds like a laundry list, break it into 3 sub-categories as it's easier to absorb.  Then draft the executive summary.  This will help you feel more in control and accomplished.  You will see what's important to include in the main plan to support your conclusion in the summary.
4. You will not finish everything - that's okay - there is no such thing as perfect data in business.    You will always be missing data or have more data than you really need to make your recommendations.   Remember the goal is to help the company move forward in marketing by helping them make decisions in an ambiguous situation.
5. Have confidence in your recommendations - A mentor once told me business is not like programming - there is no exact right answer that someone holds - there lies the beauty.  You just need to make your best recommendations based on sound logic and data.  As long as you can defend your logic, who says you are not right.  It sounds like you have been working on this for the whole summer and therefore more than anyone else, so you have the authority to make recommendations.
6. Use some time to gain informal feedback - by focusing on drafting the executive summary first, you can also use it to get feedback from key stakeholders to identify logic gaps or any blind sides.  This way, the executives already know what you may recommend and can be well prepared for your final deliverable.
7. Schedule a meeting to deliver your plan - I know it's easily to just hand in a written plan, but sometimes plans are not read if you don't force the issue.  If you want to make an impact, and you sound like you do, schedule a meeting with all the key stakeholders, deliver the plan, and help facilitate key decisions being made if possible.  You want to influence action in a company.

Question: I really like your article How to Ask Someone To be a Mentor.  My question is do I need to be able to offer something in return in order for someone to agree to be my mentor.  I don't know what I can offer.  I feel shy to ask anyone because I am not sure what I can offer.

Great question.  My short answer is - no, you don't need to offer anything in return to ask someone to be your mentor.  I think Mentorship is more of a pay it forward model rather than mutual mentorship.  The only things you need to offer a mentor are

• Ability to inspire them to care about your future potential  - this is key as a Mentor's reward is their ability to contribute to one's growth and future
• Sincerity, respect, and appreciation for help - Mentor's time is tight so be proactive and respect what they can offer.  Don't go overboard  Also show appreciation for their help.   This doesn't mean you have to buy them lunch or something, but a nice card once in awhile, a souvenir from a trip you took.  It's a token of appreciation that counts.
• Dare to ask - you cannot control whether the person will say yes or no to your request for him/her to be your mentor.  All you can do is ask and accept their response.  If you don't ask, you are guaranteed a no, so take a risk.  And in return, you are offering them respect.

Question:  I joined this software company before a year and was put on a live project immediately. I had to undergo training from one of the team members before i could start working. I looked at this as an opportunity to know more about project. So as i got to know about technology, the team mate started expressing his views about other team members i.e. developers, in how they would pressurize you to work and some other negative aspects. I was sort of concerned now and formed a negative impression about the people on this project. So i made a decision to keep distance with them. Soon it was shocking to see that the team member who told me all these was himself mingling with rest of the team as if all were in good sync. I could not get out of the negative impression i formed initially and so i always felt a bit wary when relating to others.

Same thing happened with another team member who kept complaining to me that developers(other team members) were mean to us and that they were to blame for the faults. However, he became a loyal dog to them
(developers) when they asked him to do something. It was as if they were friends and had good understanding with each other. And i was the one left out. I was clearly shocked at this double faced behavior of my co-workers. I would like to know if this type of behavior is common. Also is it me who is stupid in not being able to understand
these office behavior?

Question: Hello, I need your help. I am confused about my career. Though I am working for the last 3 years in education industry.
How can get I clear picture as to what I want to do. Please help.

Regards,

Ashish

Ashish,  this is really big question.  It's natural to question whether you are in the right career.  Many of us do and sometimes it can take years to get a clear picture of what you really want to do.

Question: We are getting ready to hire 4 people. What quality do I look for. I work for a Optometrists.

Answer: It depends on the position you are hiring these 4 people for. Assuming they have to interact with customers, then in addition to being knowledgeable for their position, they need to have good interpersonal skills (ability to deal with all kinds of customers types and handle complaints with grace). The best way is discover that is during the interview give them a scenario of a customer that is complaining and ask them how they would handle it.   Judge based on their answer where they have good interpersonal communication skills.

You can read about interpersonal communication in these two blog posts - what is interpersonal communication - definition and 3 myths and Examples - interpersonal skills are more important than hard skills.  Hope that helps.  Email me if you have more questions

Lei

Question: I am looking for a change in job role from clinical data manager to being a Clinical Project manager. Although a strong skill for clinical project managers is to have worked as clinical data manager in the past and that lead data managers actually perform as a project manager also, I am worried that I'll be offered a job below my present grade level or/and will not be given any salary raise. I am performing at an exceeds expectation level now and have the soft skills that are needed to perform as a project manager. How to prepare my resume and myself? Please advice. Thanks so much for creating this blog and dedicating your time to develop others.

Thanks for reaching out to me.  Here are four tips that may help prepare yourself and your resume.

Question: As an economics major, how should I prepare for a career in strategic planning? What classes should I take? What sort of research should I do? Any input will be appreciated.

Most university classes do not really teach strategic planning. The best things you can do to prepare for a career in strategic planning is make sure you have sound business sense, know how to learn quickly, and already some real business experience.

To that end, there are 5 things you can do to prepare while you are still in college

1. Do some outside reading on strategy - two recommendations - 1) understand fully Porter's Five Forces - a corner stone framework for analyzing a company's competitive advantage. 2) Read the book "The Mind of a Strategist" by Kenichi Ohmae. Both of these will give you better business sense and a basic understanding of strategy
2. Join the Consulting Club and do at least a project - Consultants are known to be some of the best strategist as many of them are hired by companies to develop strategy. Most schools have consulting clubs and it's a way to practice knowledge you learn in Economics to a real client in a safe environment. It also looks great on your resume when you apply for jobs.
3. Get a Summer Internship at a Consulting firm - preferably one of the big 4 strategy firms - McKinsey, Bain, BCG, Booz. These are really hard to get so if you can't get in, at least try to work in some business capacity for some company in the summer. This will develop your professionalism and again get you more experience in the real business world.
4. Consider applying to be a Consultant in a Strategy firm after college - I know this is not exactly what you asked, but the best step you can take after college if you want a career in strategic planning is do at least 2 years in a strategy consulting firm. Consulting gives you a wide range of experience quickly and will train you to be rigorous and structured in your approach. This will be invaluable when you switch to a company later and will raise your market value
5. Prepare for the case interview - Many strategic planning positions especially consulting openings will give you case interviews when hiring. It pays to prepare. Buy case interview books to practice how to answer brain teaser and real cases. Consulting clubs usually set up mock interviews for you to practice. You got to interview well in order to get into the best opportunities in strategic planning.Hope that helps.

Best wishes.  I am always in your corner

Lei

Question: What do you think are the key qualifications companies look for when they are interviewing students?

Answer: I would look for four factors if I was interviewing a college student for an entry level business position

1. Good attitude and hungry to learn – You need to demonstrate that they know why you are applying for this particular position. I don't expect students to have a lot of experience but I rather hire people who are willing to learn and are really flexible in doing anything necessary to learn.
2. Smart and has good business sense – You can have any major in college but should have a good GPA and could talk logically about business.
3. Sound communication skills – This is super important in business. No matter how smart you are, you need to be able to communicate your ideas in order to be appreciated and be effective.
4. Professionalism – this is very basic but for students this is necessary because not all students understand the professional working environment. You need to dress appropriately for work as well as conduct yourself in a professional manner at work.

Hope that helps.  I am always in your corner.  Also read my recent post on Can't Find a Job After College - 6 Ideas for more job searching tips for students.

Lei

Question: My Question to you is that I am an Engineer and I work for a logistics company as an Industrial Engineer after graduating from Rutgers University.  I took the GMAT once but I didn't score so good so I looked for schools that don't require GMAT or substitute with your undergrad GPA. I am almost half way done with my MBA via Strayer University.  Do you think it is a good place to get my MBA from? I am doing it online and it is been working out fine, since my work schedule is really crazy and I work different shifts and at different location based on operations necessity. I was thinking of transferring to another school that offers MBA online but perhaps a better known name, however I haven't got a chance to fully search of what schools offer that and how I can get into their programs and what not. I just don't want to get my MBA from Strayer and end up facing that it wasn't the best choice. I am not really sure how employers would view my MBA from there? Again my fear is that I am not certain of how my degree would be worth at the end. Any feed back on that? I am not asking to hold you liable or anything like that. I am just trying to make better choices in life and trying to get help. So please help if you can :)

Thanks for reaching out.  In regards to your question, I don't have an easy answer for you.  You are already half way invested and it's up to you to decide.  I can only offer you some ways to think about your decision.   I think it's important for you to know why you want an MBA. To get an MBA just to have a higher education and hope for better pay is NOT realistic and will not help you get the most out of school.   So ask yourself

Question: I am currently a freshman at the University of Calgary, and my desire is to attend Wharton, Harvard, or Stanford for my MBA.  However, as a freshman, there are very limited opportunities for myself to build a good basis and ultimately succeed when I graduate.   My question is, what would you recommend I do over the summer to achieve that base and move forward with confidence and experience?

Answer: The short answer is anything that can give you basic business experience.  Go work as a business intern if possible anywhere - best if it's a good brand name company.   Do it for free if you have to just to get the experience.  You are planning early which is good.   I actually worked at Denny's as a hostess my freshman summer - not helpful in getting into Wharton but I still got in later, so no worries if you don't get anything good after Freshman year.  Just keep trying.