By: Andrea Rice

If you are interviewing for a highly competitive position or looking for a job in a down market, you can’t afford to make these common mistakes.

1. Insufficient knowledge of key job details. At a high level, most people understand the key skills relevant for their target job (e.g. teamwork, communication, problem solving), but do you also know the types of analysis performed in the job, and the deliverables that are handed off to managers or clients? Do you know what other departments or constituencies you would interact with and why? It will be very obvious to the interviewer if you don’t understand the job well enough. Well before your interview, make sure to talk to someone with direct experience in that job. Make sure you can answer these questions about the job before your interview.

2. No personal narrative. Why do you want this job? Why are you a great candidate? Be prepared with 3-5 experiences from your life that answer those questions, and make sure to share them during your interview. It won’t be difficult, because the interviewer is asking you questions to try to get that kind of information from you. Don’t elaborate on irrelevant information about your projects, summer job, or extra-curricular activities. It might be interesting, but the interviewer needs to be convinced that you’ve got the right skills before they worry about whether you’re an interesting person to hang around. If you can, run your experiences by someone with relevant job experience. Ask them if you make a strong enough case for your interest in the job and your skill set. Take a look at What is an Elevator Pitch and Why is it Important to make sure you are selling yourself effectively.

3. Talking about what the job can do for you. Focus on what you can contribute to the company, not what you’ll get out of it. Interviewers aren’t evaluating candidates based on who wants the job the most or who would benefit from the experience. They want to hire the people who have what it takes to be successful, preferably those who can hit the ground running. Spend your time focusing on communicating your qualifications. They already know you’d get a lot out of the job.

4. Not enough of the right details. This is the biggest mistake people make. They don’t go deep enough in their answers. When asked about something on their resume, they provide only surface level information. Compare these two explanations of the same project: Example 1 - We analyzed investment prospects in the retail sector. We looked at market share and the stocks’ performance, and projected growth for each company over the next few years. Example 2 - We analyzed investment prospects for the retail sector, looking at the competitive landscape, growth opportunities, and industry trends to identify the companies we thought best positioned to succeed. Then we built a comp table and compared companies in the sector on key metrics including market cap, growth rate, P/E and PEG ratios, and liquidity metrics like the current and quick ratios, which are important for the retail sector. Provide depth on the points that reinforce the skills, analysis, and terminology that are important for the job you’re interviewing for.

5. Generic understanding of the company. Do your research and know what is truly distinctive about each company you interview with. As a rule, if you can substitute the name of company for another in the industry, then you did not personalize your comment sufficiently. For instance, communicating that you are interested in the company because they are an “industry leader” is not good enough. I could substitute the names of any of the top companies into that slot. If you say you’re interested in the company because of something that is only true of that company, for example the rapid market share gains from their new channel strategy, or because they lead the sector in transactions in the emerging growth economies, then it’s clear that you understand and have a good reason for wanting to work at that particular company. Take a look at Researching the Company and make sure you are comfortable talking about these topics.

We’ve seen many of you over the last week…but we’d like to see more of you! 

Nearly 200 of you have participated in Senior Registration, and most of those students now have full access to Babson Career Connections.  We still have one more Senior Registration session scheduled, 11:00 am -2:00 pm Wednesday Spetember 16th.  Stop by then, or we also have drop-in hours Monday-Thursday 1-4 pm. 

We have many GREAT jobs, with application deadlines coming up.  Don’t miss out!

The staff of the Undergraduate Center for Career Development is thrilled to welcome you all back to campus, and ready to help you jump start your job search.  

Seniors will need to register in order to participate in our on campus recruiting program.  We’d like all seniors to register as soon as possible.  Registration involves completing a survey and having a brief visit with a career counselor on staff to review your resume.  We have set up 4 dates for students to complete this registration, the first one will be this Friday (noon - 4:00 pm). If you have a need to apply to a fall internship prior to that day, feel free to come by (Hollister 220) during our drop in hours (1pm-4pm) and we will take care of you then.  Other options for registration are Wednesday 9/9 from 6-8 pm,  Monday 9/14 from 5-7 pm, or Wednesday 9/16 from 11 am-2 pm.

We are also offering Senior “Action Planning” sessions in our office on Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s beginning September 22nd.  These will be from 12:30-1:30 pm and lunch will be provided.  Please call CCD at 781-239-4215 to reserve a spot.  Feel free to create a small group of 5-6 friends (suitemates, teammates, etc) to participate in an Action Planning Session together.

Stop by, we look forward to seeing you!

Little did I think upon starting my internship working for a literary magazine, I would have the opportunity to not only put to practice what I have learned so far, but also to gain so much new knowledge. At the very beginning of the summer, I told my boss that I was very interested in consumer behavior and the psychology behind marketing. Fast forward almost three months now and I feel like I have taken a crash course in evolutionary psychology. Aside from my daily work, I have been assigned several books on human nature to read and comment upon. This for me has become a gem in my internship that I did not see coming at the beginning of the summer. To work for someone that is as focused on teaching you new skills as they are on their regular work, has truly turned out to be an added boon in my internship. I always imagined an internship to be a summer spent working on mundane tasks that you are assigned more so that you have something to do, rather than to produce anything meaningful. But how wrong was I. It is true that for a business student my internship is a little out of the ordinary. Though I am not working for well known financial giants or accounting firms, there is truly something unique in working with a small enterprise. These things I have called the hidden gems of my summer’s work. One would be surprised at the depth of knowledge writers have about human psychology. They of course spend years learning how to write about it in their pieces. Yet for me to just be around such knowledge, has helped me as a marketing major to gain insight into worlds I never would have imagined. I have learned that sometimes the knowledge you are looking for lurks in the corners that you pass over every day, not stopping long enough to realize that it is sometimes so close. Bringing this all full circle, I have realized that even though my internship was off the beaten path for a typical business student, it was exactly where I needed to take my next step. In it I have gained more than I could have expected, making the whole experience one to treasure.

Hello everyone!

My internship has been going great over the past few weeks, I’ve gotten to be really involved in many of the marketing decisions being made as of lately. One area I helped the company with a week ago was promotional products. We wanted to give students a promotional product that they would keep, use, and make them think to renew or become a laundry/storage customer. Being a student myself, I thought the task would be a breeze. However when it came down to choosing a specific product, I found it was very hard to do with a minimal amount of market research and a budget constraint! One thing that it is impossible to learn from reading cases about business situations is how to make decisions when only certain information is available. In our classes we often have all the pieces to complete the puzzle, but I’ve found that in the ‘real world’ this is not always the case. Sometimes you just have to do the best you can with your resources, learn from your mistakes, and work things through. As I was researching the different products out there I found that often times the ones I liked where either too expensive or were very gender based.

By now I’m sure you’re all probably wondering why my blog is titled “Barbados”. The reason it is titled that is because that is where I was for the last week! (July 12th to the 19th). I went with USA Athletes International to compete against different Bajan club teams as well as their U21 National Team playing field hockey. I thought it was important to include this in my blog to express how good companies allow their employees (or interns =) ) to participate in programs that will better themselves. I told Lazybones on my first day that I had this trip planned, and they were excited for me and generously allowed me to go without having to do any work while I was there. The trip wasn’t just about playing field hockey, the name of the program is the Bajan Friendship series, and in these series the athletes are there to promote goodwill among different countries and learn about each others cultures. The week I was there I did just that, and made some great friends along the way. I love seeing how different people live, both what they do for fun and where their priorities in life lie. The Bajan people were honestly some of the friendliest yet sincere people I have ever met while travelling, and I will never forget my trip. Not to mention their beaches are absolutely breath taking and their field hockey skills are unmatched here in the U.S. I learned so much on my trip, and I am so thankful to have an internship with a company that allows me to participate in these types of activities.

Great Opportunity to meet with some top executives!

The Business Today International Conference, one of the premier business conferences in the world.

This is an all-expenses-paid experience for college students, taking place between November 22^nd and the 24^th at the Grand Hyatt in New York City.  Over 70 leading executives from across the country and some of the finest students from around the world attend this conference every year.   Recent attendees include the CEO of UPS, founder of Blackstone, CEO of Blackrock, founder of Def Jam Records, CEO of Bloomberg, CEO of Universal Studios, Steve Forbes, Richard Branson, and many more.  This year we have confirmed  Dr. Paul Krugman and Bill Ford Jr. as two of our many speakers.

This is an unparalleled opportunity for students to interact with our nation’s top CEO’s, get to know their brightest peers from around the world, and become a part of the Business Today network.   Students may apply online through our website,  www.businesstoday.org. Applications are due August 1.

There is seldom a more rewarding moment than when one finally has the opportunity to apply what one has been taught in class to a real business scenario. When I was able to experience this very sort of moment this past week, I felt a sense of genuine accomplishment.  I was given a task that required me to draw upon my education at Babson and produce quality material that I had to submit for review. So far this internship everything has been a great learning experience, even the tedious hours spent doing computer based research. But finally I had the opportunity to present to other people what I had come to Babson to learn. Last week I was asked to come up with several marketing ideas that were to create a buzz for the literary magazine I am working for, without these ideas incurring a high cost. The moment was now mine, and I was keen to apply all that I had learned these past two years in order to complete this task. Like every good Babson student knows, I began my assignment by gathering as much information as possible. I started out by finding information on other literary magazines, how the Google search engine works, and perhaps most importantly, what are the key attributes of the literary journal I work for. I pulled out my marketing notes and set to work devising ideas.

It was only later that I truly began to think about the significance of this moment. It is undoubtedly true that one’s education is tested every day and helps one solve numerous tasks, but for the first time I felt as if I had come full circle. Now I was the expert sharing what I knew. My internship this summer has taught me a lot so far, and I am keen to learn from whatever it brings next, but it has also served as a great tool for me to finally use and apply what I have learned so far from my education.

My first month of my internship with the Boston Cannons is officially completed and it already feels like a whirlwind of experiences. With two game days under my belt and a consistent office schedule, I truly feel settled and a part of the “team” - minus my retired lacrosse career. Most importantly, June offered some unique outside marketing experiences that let me escape from the office and reach out to the general public. With hopes of expanding the already growing lacrosse world, I represented the Boston Cannons at both the Special Olympics at Harvard and the Health and Fitness Expo at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. Both events yielded very different experiences, yet both offered the opportunity to expand my current marketing and sales skills - as well as a chance to become more in touch with a diversified target market.

The Special Olympics, which took place on June 20th, was an experience that I will never forget. Along with two other fellow interns, I set up a Boston Cannons tent in the “Olympic Village” where ticket and camp pamphlets were distributed. In addition, we had our “inflatable” (a blown-up lacrosse net for shooting contests) which sparked significant interest amongst the crowd - many who had never even heard of lacrosse before! Every individual that visited our tent also filled out a “capture card” - a form which not only aids our marketing and segmentation, but also allows randomly selected individuals to win tickets. Yet, what made the day most memorable was the interaction with the Special Olympics participants - a set of individuals unlike any other. One boy I met (who was merely a young teenager) had just finished his first event upon visiting our table, articulating that he was a runner and had beat his record mile time - 5:15! This was amazing to me, and it absolutely impacted my thoughts on one’s capabilities - they are endless. It was a truly inspiring day, and I hope to volunteer at the Special Olympics again someday.

The Health and Fitness Expo, which took place on June 26th, was another exciting event that captured the local community. After ironing out some logistics (yes, my fellow intern and I originally thought it took place at the Bayside Expo Center.. oops!), we found our way through the crowded convention and set up a table in the Liberty Mutual Athletics Zone beside the New England Revolution representatives. Amongst the chaos of free health tips and exercise techniques, our table created a lot of buzz (thanks to the ever-popular spinning wheel!) and we generated a significant amount of capture cards from an extremely diverse audience. On the spinning wheel, individuals have a chance to win tickets, player bobbleheads, posters, yearbooks, and playing cards - of course, everyone was aiming for the set of tickets to our next game (which will be next weekend - July 18th!). At the end of the day, we managed to award ten individuals with tickets - some were fans, some had never heard of us before; nevertheless, they were thrilled. It was exciting to be part of an event such as the Health and Fitness Expo because it not only allowed us to get our name out, but connected us with individuals that DO care about their well-being (and, consequently, respect athletes of any kind). In addition, I was able to pick up a few of my own health and fitness tips throughout the day (I even found a new fondness toward Zumba!) - I hope to visit the expo again next year to learn even more, since I will be a retired college athlete by then.. eek!

And now I am here at the office, continuing to work on the revised master database and starting a new sponsorship project. I am currently researching potential sponsors in the fields of banking, insurance, and local restaurant chains. First, I am documenting all of the sponsors for the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, and Celtics, and then I am moving on to small-scale teams such as the PawSox, SeaDogs, Lowell Spinners, etc. Throughout the next few weeks, we hope to contact and capture a few more sponsors in these different fields, specifically start-ups and businesses that are not already targeted by the major sports clubs. In addition, we are continually working on selling tickets to our next home game (July 18th) - so far, we have ranked 42 tickets on individual sales in the office.. but I know that we can do much better throughout the next week!

-Lindsay

“Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play.” - Mike Singletary

Since working at S.O.B’s I have come to learn that the most powerful tool outside of your mind, is your mouth and the words you speak with it. As an intern, you want to make an impact on the people you work with, especially those in a position of power that can get you further in your career, one of my goals as an intern. I have the prime opportunity to do that. In the office, I sit less than two feet away from the owner of S.O.B’s, Larry Gold, who has been in this business for 27 years. He and his establishment are respected in the music industry, and revered in New York City as a prime venue. Making a good impression on him could open doors for future opportunities. Being that he is a very laid back and easy going, it makes much easier to approach him with ideas, or just conversation. They encourage interns to share new music with the staff and bring ideas to the table. They encourage us to attend all the shows and to mingle with the artists when they come to perform. What more could an intern ask for, free reign to spread our wings in this industry, and soar.

In that same breathe, it takes more than determination and ambition to seize all of these opportunities. It takes courage to strike up conversation with people you admire and revere, who have no clue who you are. At one of the earlier shows I attended, Lyor Cohen, the CEO of Warner Music Group was in the audience along with other music business professionals. An internship at a prestigious label like that could prove very beneficial, but I could not muster up the nerves to introduce myself. I’ve regretted it ever since then, and have been working on this Achilles’ heel of mine. Making small talk with people in the audience, and even getting to know the other interns have all proved helpful in working on my fear of approaching people. Getting over this fear will be the most valuable lesson I learn from this internship. Like the saying goes, “closed mouths don’t get fed”, and I won’t be able to get my foot through the door without making connections. No matter how talented and able I am to work in this industry, no one will ever know if I don’t use the only power I have as an intern, my words.

Your internship is going well. You settle in quickly, managing your time and performing your tasks. Sometimes you feel as if your skills are not being utilized, sometimes you find yourself wallowing under assignments that you have no clue how to figure out. It is all a learning experience, but how do you get the most out of your internship? And where does this all fit into your concentration? Where are the connections to all that you have learned so far?

I realized pretty quickly after starting my work for the summer that this experience was going to be unique unto its own and unlike anything I had learned so far at college. The first step as part of my internship working for a literary magazine was to become immersed in the world of literature. Not simply reading great works, but rather trying to grasp what lies behind in the world of the writer, the editor, and the publisher. This is where I saw the connection to the business world was being made. Discovering the intricate market that publishing is unto itself. Within the first two weeks I had probably read more material than I had at a semester at college, but that is what it takes to understand much of this unique environment. I had to determine what makes a story worth publishing, what is not worth a second glance. And even though I was not supposed to spend my entire time learning this, rather just to get a feel for what this work is like, I found myself being dragged into story after story. Reading what an author has written became akin to grasping a fleeting glimpse into that person’s thoughts. I had never considered essays this way, but when you realize that this is a person’s life work, and you might have to reject such an effort, the stories become that much more significant. I am glad that I am not an editor, I would find making such decisions too difficult.

But back to the initial questions, where does the world of literature align to business. It was then that I realized literature was akin to entrepreneurship. Both require creative thinking and an ability to persuade the audience. Instead of turning ideas into profit, writers turn words into art. And even though I spend much of my time trying to figure out how to get a grant or finding new ways to bring exposure to online magazines, I have managed to get the most out of my internship by realizing the many correlations between the world of creative writing and business.