The job search just started, and it is already is in full swing!
First of all, I must mention & thank my mentor who has guided me through the process. (If you haven't found a mentor, you simply must stop reading immediately and start looking into mentoring programs. The experience, wisdom and support a mentor can provide is simply invaluable!)
So far, the Mentor Extraordinaire and I have made a list of my ideal companies - even including the pie-in-the-sky ones! Next, we will begin selecting the top 10 to really target. However will I decide?!
So far, here are my "Must-Have's":
1)International training programs and/or international travel opportunities, and
2)A product or service that I can really get behind... No McDonald's expansion endeavors in the future for this girl!
I'm very excited to see what becomes of it all, especially since someone recently noted that now is the time to go after my dream job, and he is absolutely right. Why not!? At this stage, I can be flexible and committed to any opportunity. (That McKinsey article really resonated with me!)
I am now particularly open to those opportunities that will take me abroad! How exhilarating! A fresh start ahead, and with an MBA and a sparkling résumé (well, it will be once I'm done with it!), I may just find the perfect job I never knew I always wanted. :)
Now I just have to touch up my résumé and "get to work" so to speak! Wish me luck and pass along any tips you have on how you found your dream job!
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Commitment & Flexibility: What's YOUR Strategy?
Below is an excerpt from a recently published article by McKinsey & Co. The article's main focus is overall corporate strategy; however, this particular snippet, Test #7, can apply to any strategy for any undertaking: professional or personal.
Commitment and flexibility exist in inverse proportion to each other: the greater the commitment you make, the less flexibility remains. This tension is one of the core challenges of strategy. Indeed, strategy can be expressed as making the right trade-offs over time between commitment and flexibility.
Making such trade-offs effectively requires an understanding of which decisions involve commitment. Inside any large company, hundreds of people make thousands of decisions each year. Only a few are strategic: those that involve commitment through hard-to-reverse investments in long-lasting, company-specific assets. Commitment is the only path to sustainable competitive advantage.
In a world of uncertainty, strategy is about not just where and how to compete but also when. Committing too early can be a leap in the dark. Being too late is also dangerous, either because opportunities are perishable or rivals can seize advantage while your company stands on the sidelines. Flexibility is the essential ingredient that allows companies to make commitments when the risk/return trade-off seems most advantageous.
A market-beating strategy will focus on just a few crucial, high-commitment choices to be made now, while leaving flexibility for other such choices to be made over time. In practice, this approach means building your strategy as a portfolio comprising three things: big bets, or committed positions aimed at gaining significant competitive advantage; no-regrets moves, which will pay off whatever happens; and real options, or actions that involve relatively low costs now but can be elevated to a higher level of commitment as changing conditions warrant. You can build underpriced options into a strategy by, for example, modularizing major capital projects or maintaining the flexibility to switch between different inputs.
Making such trade-offs effectively requires an understanding of which decisions involve commitment. Inside any large company, hundreds of people make thousands of decisions each year. Only a few are strategic: those that involve commitment through hard-to-reverse investments in long-lasting, company-specific assets. Commitment is the only path to sustainable competitive advantage.
In a world of uncertainty, strategy is about not just where and how to compete but also when. Committing too early can be a leap in the dark. Being too late is also dangerous, either because opportunities are perishable or rivals can seize advantage while your company stands on the sidelines. Flexibility is the essential ingredient that allows companies to make commitments when the risk/return trade-off seems most advantageous.
A market-beating strategy will focus on just a few crucial, high-commitment choices to be made now, while leaving flexibility for other such choices to be made over time. In practice, this approach means building your strategy as a portfolio comprising three things: big bets, or committed positions aimed at gaining significant competitive advantage; no-regrets moves, which will pay off whatever happens; and real options, or actions that involve relatively low costs now but can be elevated to a higher level of commitment as changing conditions warrant. You can build underpriced options into a strategy by, for example, modularizing major capital projects or maintaining the flexibility to switch between different inputs.
One point that resonated with me was designing a strategy portfolio that incorporates big bets, no regrets and real options.
The more education we receive, the more we recognize the many inherent risks to our choices. McKinsey's suggestion allows us to manage risk without being crippled by the potential dangers we identify as consequences of our actions. Whether negotiating a business deal, a raise, a house, or a new job, knowing our options and managing our own risk portfolio allow us to craft a combination of commitment and flexibility that will yield success.
For more of McKinsey's tips on Testing Your Strategy, click here.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Stop Doing That! Five New Year's Resolutions
As we start crafting our 2012 New Year's Resolutions, check out these ideas from HBR on what we can stop doing to make life more enjoyable and balance the work/B-school demands in the upcoming year.
I think I'll put a couple of these to use to help minimize stress and (hopefully) better manage the pressure I put on myself to perform at 110% 24/7. It gets tiring after a while!
Check out the Five Activities the Harvard Business Review suggests we stop doing, and I hope the article will inspire you to come up with your own ideas on things you can do to make your life easier in 2012. If you brainstorm any doozies, feel free to add some comments to the post!
Warmest wishes for a Healthy and Happy New Year!
I think I'll put a couple of these to use to help minimize stress and (hopefully) better manage the pressure I put on myself to perform at 110% 24/7. It gets tiring after a while!
Check out the Five Activities the Harvard Business Review suggests we stop doing, and I hope the article will inspire you to come up with your own ideas on things you can do to make your life easier in 2012. If you brainstorm any doozies, feel free to add some comments to the post!
Warmest wishes for a Healthy and Happy New Year!
Secrets #'s 5, 6, & 7 of Highly Productive People
Here are the last three secrets of highly productive people. Check 'em out and feel free to share your own tips on how you stay productive!
Use the phone. Email isn’t meant for conversations. Don’t reply more than twice to an email. Pick up the phone instead.
Work on your own agenda. Don’t let something else set your day. Most people go right to their emails and start freaking out. You will end up at inbox-zero, but accomplish nothing. After you wake up, drink water so you rehydrate, eat a good breakfast to replenish your glucose, then set prioritized goals for the rest of your day.
Work in 60 to 90 minute intervals. Your brain uses up more glucose than any other bodily activity. Typically you will have spent most of it after 60-90 minutes. (That’s why you feel so burned out after super long meetings.) So take a break: Get up, go for a walk, have a snack, do something completely different to recharge. And yes, that means you need an extra hour for breaks, not including lunch, so if you’re required to get eight hours of work done each day, plan to be there for 9.5-10 hours.
Use the phone. Email isn’t meant for conversations. Don’t reply more than twice to an email. Pick up the phone instead.
Work on your own agenda. Don’t let something else set your day. Most people go right to their emails and start freaking out. You will end up at inbox-zero, but accomplish nothing. After you wake up, drink water so you rehydrate, eat a good breakfast to replenish your glucose, then set prioritized goals for the rest of your day.
Work in 60 to 90 minute intervals. Your brain uses up more glucose than any other bodily activity. Typically you will have spent most of it after 60-90 minutes. (That’s why you feel so burned out after super long meetings.) So take a break: Get up, go for a walk, have a snack, do something completely different to recharge. And yes, that means you need an extra hour for breaks, not including lunch, so if you’re required to get eight hours of work done each day, plan to be there for 9.5-10 hours.
Fun Times at our Semester End Soiree!
Awesome Time at Cantina - can't wait to see what we have planned for next semester! Check out our website to see what's ahead for next semester!
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