Category: My Corporate Life

My Corporate Life

On By ashleyfausIn My Corporate Life1 Comment

I’m excited to continue the “My Corporate Life” series on the blog. My goal is to bring in some other corporate perspectives and career paths, so that we can all learn from some other corporate areas and environments. If you would like to be featured in the “My Corporate Life” series, please contact me for the details. I’ll be featuring the guest posts as time permits in my regular posting schedule, and I would love to hear from you!

Today’s post is written by Dustin “Dusty” Baker, a licensed real estate agent with Coldwell Bankers in Santa Barbara, CA. If you’re looking for a great realtor, or for any questions, you can reach Dusty here!

 

Why Real Estate?

In writing from the perspective of a real estate agent in Santa Barbara, CA, I feel that I should first explain why I chose this career. If you are not familiar with Santa Barbara, it is a very desirable, beautiful coastal town in southern California – and the prices reflect it. Since I want to live in Santa Barbara and survive the over-inflated prices, I knew I had to work in something “Santa Barbara” specific. Why take a run-of-the-mill corporate position that pays the exact same here as it does in Dallas, TX (where the cost of living is significantly lower)? I wanted a career where pay was directly correlated to Santa Barbara’s expensive lifestyle – in comes real estate. The exact same home that would sell for $200,000 in Dallas sells for over $1,000,000 here. It takes roughly $5,000,000 in sales to obtain a 6-figure salary. In Santa Barbara, that is about 3-5 deals a year. You do the math.

How To Get Here

Another great plus about real estate: incredibly low cost of entry. You simply need a high school diploma and a state-specific real estate license (which can be obtained in less than 2 months for only a few hundred dollars). That is all you need, however generally the most successful agents in town come with a college degree and a lot of experience. Once you are an agent, you can become qualified in many other areas such as a foreclosure specialist, short sale specialist, “green” agent specialist (selling homes that are eco-friendly), etc.

Be Your Own Boss

To me, the greatest part of real estate is being my own boss. That entails two very important things to me: 1) making my own hours and 2) getting out what you put in. Making your own hours is priceless; when I speak to friends and family members that have set lunch breaks and times they HAVE to be at work, it makes me sick. I refuse to be treated like a child and told what to do and when to do it. The funny thing about making your own hours and working for yourself is that you actually end up working harder and longer, which brings me to my second point: getting out what you put in. When your paycheck is directly related to how hard you work and how good you are, you better believe you get to work early and stay late. Working harder doesn’t even bother me, because I know I am fully compensated for every bit of overtime. I’ve seen employees that are fantastic at their job and true assets to their company, but unless their boss chooses to see it and reward it, they are simply spinning their wheels. I, on the other hand, get larger and more frequent commission checks the harder I work.

Day-to-Day

At its core, real estate is sales. It does not matter how knowledgeable you are in the field, or how great of a job you would do if you do not have clients. The day-to-day of a real estate agent involves a lot of sales: phone calls, meeting people, getting your name out there, etc. All the stuff people dread in a sales position. Because it is sales driven, and also very relational, your day never really ends. If my clients can’t see property until they get off work at 5… well it looks like I’m working past 5. If an offer needs to be submitted immediately… well it doesn’t matter if the Lakers game is on. With that is incredible freedom as well, so don’t think you are signing your life away becoming an agent. It is a lot of fun working with people, getting out of the office frequently throughout the day, and choosing when and where to do your work.

My Corporate Life

On By ashleyfausIn My Corporate Life1 Comment
I’m excited to continue the “My Corporate Life” series on the blog. My goal is to bring in some other corporate perspectives and career paths, so that we can all learn from some other corporate areas and environments. If you would like to be featured in the “My Corporate Life” series, please contact me for the details. I’ll be featuring the guest posts as time permits in my regular posting schedule, and I would love to hear from you!

 

This post was written by FrauTech, an engineer by day and a blogger by night. You can check out her insightful posts at her blog Design.Build.Play. or EngineerBlogs, where she frequently contributes!

 

What I am, professionally: I’m a mechanical engineer working in industry.

What is my daily/weekly job like: I do a little of everything. At the core, I’m making design decisions on products we buy to integrate in our product as well as designing parts and creating drawings for the items we produce. So sometimes I’m calling vendors or researching off the shelf parts. Sometimes I’m working with a vendor to get them to build us a custom part and sometimes I’m making and updating drawings and parts lists and controlling our internal configuration. I also write test plans and go to the lab or out to the field to test the new equipment.

What I like about my job: It’s nice when there’s some project that I get a decent amount of control over. Most programs have so many people senior to me that I’m only doing the work after the design decisions have already been made. But every now and then you get to have more control over your project and it’s very satisfying to see something all the way from conception to design plan to testing to final implementation.

What I don’t like about my job: Probably the same things most people don’t like. There are a lot of personalities and a lot of engineers at many levels, including into management. People don’t always agree on what the best thing to do and many departments are quick to point the finger at each other.

What’s the next level for an engineer: Some engineers move into senior technical specialist roles and many others move into lead and management positions. Though I’m comparatively junior, I find that you are forced to move up into project management types of responsibilities rather quickly and already spend a quarter of my time in meetings. If you work for a large corporation, as I do, there are many options that might be available to you.

 

Thanks, FrauTech, for sharing your corporate life!

My Corporate Life

On By ashleyfausIn My Corporate LifeLeave a comment
I’m excited to continue the “My Corporate Life” series on the blog. My goal is to bring in some other corporate perspectives and career paths, so that we can all learn from some other corporate areas and environments. If you would like to be featured in the “My Corporate Life” series, please contact me for the details. I’ll be featuring the guest posts as time permits in my regular posting schedule, and I would love to hear from you!

 

This post was written by Nicole Martin, an HR professional by day, and a fashion blogger by night! You can see her creative outfits and a glimpse into her life at the office by visiting her blog Employed Panache.
 
 
What’s your title and industry?

My title is Senior Human Resources Specialist, and I work in the CPG (consumer packaged goods) industry.  In my company, the HR managers and specialists are dedicated to one of the other functions (marketing, sales, finance, etc.)  I have supported a number of functions over the years, but I am currently supporting my company’s sales function.  I am also HR business partner for our summer internship program and sales rotational program, which is great because I get to see new talent coming into the company and growing!

 

Describe the top 3-5 skills that are most necessary in your position

HR is a career where “soft skills” are key.  It helps to understand databases and basic programs like Excel and Powerpoint, but it’s not a necessity.  That said, here are what I consider the most necessary skills for my position:

1. Time management & organization skills:  In HR, we have a number of requests and projects happening all at the same time.  We try to stay one step ahead, but since our work focuses on the people,  “putting out fires” – sometimes multiple a day – is to be expected.  Part of our time management and organization skills will then also include being able to prioritize what must be done first, and what can wait.

2. Communication skills:  When constantly dealing with people, your communication skills need to be spot on.  This can include anything from e-mail, to presentations, to function-wide announcements.  Where this can get difficult is when you have to deliver bad news or when you need to influence someone to see your side of things.  I’ve got the basics down pat, but I still double and triple check major e-mails and presentations, and sometimes ask others to review them as well.

3. Teamwork & collaboration skills:  Again, going back to the people 🙂  It is nearly impossible for me to make a decision by myself… not that I couldn’t come to one on my own, but it is vital to ensure that my key stakeholders (sales directors, HR colleagues, other business leaders, etc.) are comfortable with the decision made.  The best way to get their buy-in is to show that others are in support of the work being done.  And as they say, two heads (or 3 or 4) are better than one – I find the best ideas come from group brainstorming sessions.

4. Being able to see the whole picture:  I’m not sure how else to describe this “skill”, but in HR, I am often balancing what is best for the company with what’s best for the employees.  For example, while everyone would love a pay raise, it just may not make sense for the budget.  Also, when dealing with conflict, there are multiple sides of the story.  Diving in and getting all the details helps me get to the best resolution.

 

What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?

The most challenging aspect of my job is adapting my style to fit the teams that I support.  As I mentioned, I support the sales function, and I am quickly learning that the typical personality of a sales person is very different from other functions.  I am, by nature, a laid back person with a quiet presence.  While my direct colleagues/managers know that they can count on me, as I transitioned to supporting sales, I learned that laid back and quiet will not prove (to this team) that I am a competent HR business partner.  Let’s just say I’ve done more self-reflection in the past 6 months than I have in a long time 🙂  As a result, I’ve loosened up a bit and made it a point to get to know my employees on a personal level so that I could quickly make a connection.  Not that I didn’t do this in the past, it just wasn’t a priority.  I am still working on being more forward and aggressive in the right situations, and I know that soon this will all be second nature to me.  Overall, I guess I’m lucky that it’s taken me this long to work with a team where my natural style wouldn’t attribute to my success… but working in HR, this could be the case from day 1!

 

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job?

Without a doubt, the most rewarding aspect of my job is seeing people grow from a summer intern through to our sales rotational program, and then getting promoted out of that program into a permanent role.  Interns and recent grads are also so grateful for the opportunities given to them, so these groups usually thank me more than others (sometimes with a handwritten note!)  I know, a bit cheesy, but it’s the little things, right? 🙂  Also, seeing anyone progress in their career who I have personally coached is also rewarding!

 

What does career advancement look like for your type of position and skill set?

In HR, you have a couple options… you can move up to being an HR manager and then director, where you support a specific function and have a team of HR specialists and/or managers under you.  Or, you can branch into the specialized side of HR, such as compensation, benefits, recruiting, etc.  The difference between the 2 paths is that the specialized teams will often roll out initiatives to the HR managers and directors, and do not have much interaction with those in the business.  This is may or may not hold true for smaller companies (my experience has only been with larger ones).  It is good to get experience on both ends while early in your career, as this will help you determine where you want to focus your career while also building skills and knowledge.  Personally, my career started in compensation, then moved towards recruiting, and then I finally landed a specialist role.  As far as education goes, a lot of HR professionals get their SPHR certification (Senior Professional in Human Resources).  However, if you wish to progress to a manager role or above, having an MBA or masters degree in Human Resources is desirable.

 

What’s the best aspect of your company culture?

The best aspect of my company’s culture is the people!  My company tends to hire people who are friendly and down to earth.  At my company, you never feel like you’re competing against your peers because someone is always willing to help you out or point you in the right direction.  More often, you are competing with yourself to do better and better.

 

Thanks, Nicole, for sharing your corporate life!

My Corporate Life

On By ashleyfausIn My Corporate Life2 Comments

I’m excited to continue the “My Corporate Life” series on the blog. My goal is to bring in some other corporate perspectives and career paths, so that we can all learn from some other corporate areas and environments. If you would like to be featured in the “My Corporate Life” series, please contact me for the details. I’ll be featuring the guest posts as time permits in my regular posting schedule, and I would love to hear from you!

 

This post was written by Anna Runyan, publisher of Classy Career Girl, a blog that provides advice to young professionals on how to be classy as they climb the corporate ladder. Her blog covers topics such as business chic fashion, career motivation, personal development, networking, and office etiquette. Connect with her and learn more about how to network at www.classycareergirl.com.

 

A Day in my Life: Grad School Student/Consultant

6:00AM: I struggle to get out of bed, only two snoozes this morning. Fill my travel mug with coffee and quickly grab some breakfast. While I am getting ready, I check and answer emails. The day begins early since many of the people I work with live on the East coast meaning that I have way too many emails before I even make it into the office. You would think that would mean it would be slow at 3pm but nope; my client lives on the West Coast so I still have to be available into the evening.  I catch the latest news on the Today Show over breakfast and I am out the door.

8:00AM: My client is already calling me. I answer his questions on my way in.  Don’t tell my dad, he hates it when I talk on the phone while driving…

8:30AM: Telecon with our team in DC.

10AM: Answering emails and getting new emails.

10:30AM: Work with my client to help prepare him for an important meeting.

12PM: Finally leave the client site and head back to my office. I still have a lot to get done today! Looks like another lunch at my desk day.

1PM: Meeting with my co-worker to give input on my co-worker’s assessment.  After the meeting, I touch base with my study group to review a paper that that is due this week.

2PM: Meet with another co-worker to figure out how we are going to handle an urgent data call that we just received.

3:30PM: Finalize my expense report for my last work trip and make my travel plans for my trip in a few weeks.

5PM: Head to dinner at the Rady School of Management at University of California, San Diego.  Fortunately for me, the fully employed MBA program provides us with dinner before class so I grab some food and try to figure out last minute answers to the homework that is due today. I finish reading the case study I meant to finish during lunch.  Dinner is a nice break to forget about my mounting to-do list at work and to focus on learning something new. Who knows, maybe I can apply it at work tomorrow!

6:30PM: Class starts and for the next 3 hours I focus really hard and stay awake!

10PM: Home for the night. Catch up with my husband and American Idol before I go to bed. Thank God for DVR or I would not be able to keep up with work discussions tomorrow!

11PM: So much more I need to do but I know that if I don’t get some sleep, I will never be able to make it through tomorrow’s meetings.  At least I am one day closer to the weekend and to graduation!  Good night!

 

Thanks, Anna, for writing about your corporate life!

My Corporate Life

On By ashleyfausIn My Corporate Life1 Comment

I’m excited to announce a new series on the blog, My Corporate Life. My goal is to bring in some other corporate perspectives and career paths, so that we can all learn from some other corporate areas and environments. If you would like to be featured in the “My Corporate Life” series, please contact me for the details. I’ll be featuring the guest posts as time permits in my regular posting schedule, and I would love to hear from you!


So, without further delay, I’d like to introduce Joe Kiszka’s Corporate Life. In addition to his day job, you’ll find Joe sharing some culinary insights on his quirky blog Dine @ Joe’s, and pursuing his MBA at UT Dallas.

 

What’s your title and industry?

My title is “Business Development Manager.”  I work for a global manufacturing company, specializing in electrical components.  I work most closely with three of our brands, though our “Commercial Data Communications” side:  Ortronics, Cablofil, and Wiremold.

 

Describe the top 3-5 skills that are most necessary in your position

-Problem Solving and foresight.  (Being able to think ten steps ahead through problems, a goal, or a plan and then execute those ten steps.)

-Communication honesty and transparency.  (Being up front a and clear about expectations and commitment, and being able to deliver that commitment.)

-Resourcefulness. (Could be a lot of things–including being able to answer any question thrown at you, or how to find and contact a person at a new target customer.)

 

What’s the most challenging aspect of your job?

My job isn’t that closely “defined,” so it changes very rapidly.  For example, two weeks ago, it was consistency of marketing message and working with customers.  Last week, it was communication with partners.  This week, it could be something totally different.

 

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your job?

This is directly tied to the most challenging aspect, actually.  The fact that my job isn’t strictly “defined.”  Every day brings a new challenge, and it can be very rewarding.

 

What does career advancement look like for your type of position and skill set?

I’d like to be a manager someday, though I’m not certain what kind of manager. I would imagine my current career path would go from Business Development Manager, to a Global Account Manager, to a Director of Sales for one of the business units within my company,  to VP of Sales.  As for the timeline,  it’s largely based upon success and  personal capabilities to relative other employees. As you move up the ladder, you are responsible for a larger territory and direct reports, and ultimately, the division. I used to think I wanted to be CEO of a huge company, but the more I learn professionally (and the more I learn about life), I’m not quite as sure about that.  I may still want that, but perhaps on my own terms.

What’s the best aspect of your company culture?

The general lack of politics at my current company.  There’s still some, but it seems like management has been very open, honest, and approachable about everything.

 

Thanks, Joe, for writing about your corporate life!