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Career Management Rohit Gupta [email_address] April 14, 2008

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A couple questions <ul><li>How many of you know what you want to do in 5 years? </li></ul><ul><li>2 years? </li></ul><ul><li>What is the point of me being here: </li></ul><ul><li>What I wish I heard when I was sitting in your seat 4 years ago </li></ul>

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My Background <ul><li>MIT Class of 2005 </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Majored in 6.1, with a minor in 17 </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Worked in politics, technology startups, consulting </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Currently at Accenture specializing in software architecture </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Spend at least 2 hours/week on career status </li></ul><ul><li>Interview, on average, once every month </li></ul>

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Agenda <ul><li>My Background </li></ul><ul><li>Managing Your Career </li></ul><ul><li>Reinventing Yourself </li></ul><ul><li>Useful Links and Books </li></ul><ul><li>Questions </li></ul>

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Managing Your Career – Treat Like A Stock <ul><li>What does it mean to manage your career? </li></ul><ul><li>Why is it important? </li></ul><ul><li>What can I do? </li></ul>

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Managing Your Career <ul><li>Focus areas: </li></ul><ul><li>Assess yourself frequently and objectively </li></ul><ul><li>Be cognizant of yourself at work </li></ul><ul><li>Find a mentor </li></ul><ul><li>Get to know people </li></ul><ul><li>Develop a personal brand </li></ul><ul><li>Take on multiple projects, new challenges </li></ul><ul><li>The customer is king </li></ul><ul><li>Learn to estimate </li></ul>

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Managing Your Career: Assess yourself <ul><li>Constantly update your resume and have others review </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Have your family, friends and colleagues review it – ask for honest feedback </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Play to your strengths </li></ul><ul><ul><li>An example </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Minimize potential weakness areas </li></ul><ul><ul><li>An example </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Take a personal assessment test </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Gallup’s Strengthsfinder </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Be objective! </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Get feedback from people around you </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Be open to constructive criticism </li></ul></ul>

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Managing Your Career: Self-awareness at work <ul><li>Understand what other people think of you </li></ul><ul><ul><li>How? </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Attitude is key </li></ul><ul><li>The little things matter a lot </li></ul><ul><li>Pick your battles </li></ul><ul><li>Manage your boss or supervisor </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Set expectations often </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Seek informal feedback </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Learn when and how to delegate </li></ul>

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Managing Your Career: Find a Mentor <ul><li>Early on, find someone you can trust as a mentor </li></ul><ul><li>Talk to this person frequently, establish trust </li></ul><ul><li>Seek out whenever you need workplace advice </li></ul><ul><li>Update them on your career thoughts and vision </li></ul>

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Managing Your Career: Get to know people <ul><li>Get to know people (i.e. network ) </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Always have business cards handy </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Keep in touch, even if there is no immediate need </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Stay in touch with old contacts from MIT, UROPs, internships </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Take initiative </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Listen and care to what they have to say (be sincere!) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Join common interest groups </li></ul></ul>

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Managing Your Career: Develop a personal brand <ul><li>Learn the elevator pitch (30 seconds or less) </li></ul><ul><ul><li>What you do </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>What are your interests </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>What you see yourself doing down the road (even if you have no idea) </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Your experience </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Make sure the people around you know what it is you do </li></ul><ul><li>Talk to your boss and mentor frequently </li></ul><ul><li>Be positive about your contributions </li></ul>

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Managing Your Career: Take on new challenges <ul><li>An example </li></ul><ul><li>Why take on new challenges? </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Exposes yourself to more people </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Demonstrates initiative and leadership </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Helps you find potential interests and strengths </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Make sure to seek guidance when necessary </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Be open and honest about your skill-set going in </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Use your mentor </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Generally , it’s easier to ask for forgiveness than beg for permission </li></ul>

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Managing Your Career: The customer is king <ul><li>Old adage applies: “Customer is always right” </li></ul><ul><li>Understand who your customer is (not just your boss) </li></ul><ul><li>Cater your job around the customer and treat them well </li></ul><ul><li>Respond to them immediately </li></ul><ul><li>Turn your customer into an advocate </li></ul><ul><li>Talk to them frequently </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Seek feedback </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Be honest </li></ul></ul>

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Managing Your Career: Learn to estimate <ul><li>Estimation is an art, so practice </li></ul><ul><li>Measure pieces of the puzzle, not milestones </li></ul><ul><li>Brainstorm all possibilities </li></ul><ul><li>Factor in unknowns </li></ul><ul><li>2 + 2 ≠ 4 </li></ul><ul><li>Contingency (multiply by 2-3) </li></ul><ul><li>Always list assumptions </li></ul><ul><li>Seek help, research, look at old projects </li></ul><ul><li>Live and learn </li></ul>Cone of Uncertainty

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Agenda <ul><li>My Background </li></ul><ul><li>Managing Your Career </li></ul><ul><li>Reinventing Yourself </li></ul><ul><li>Useful Links and Books </li></ul><ul><li>Questions </li></ul>

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Reinventing Yourself <ul><li>An example </li></ul><ul><li>What does it mean to reinvent yourself? </li></ul><ul><ul><li>Find a new role </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Take on a new responsibility </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Pursue something on the side </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>Change jobs completely </li></ul></ul>

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Reinventing Yourself: The Learning Curve Learning Time 9-18 months 5+ years <ul><li>What does this mean? </li></ul>

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Reinventing Yourself: How much should I like my job?

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Reinventing Yourself: Environmental Factors Interest Learning Logistics People Pay Perks Everyone is different, but this is what I have found…

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Reinventing Yourself: Changing Jobs <ul><li>Determine interests </li></ul><ul><li>Explore everything </li></ul><ul><ul><li>What Color Is Your Parachute </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Do not incrementally improve </li></ul><ul><li>Play to your strengths </li></ul>

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Agenda <ul><li>My Background </li></ul><ul><li>Managing Your Career </li></ul><ul><li>Reinventing Yourself </li></ul><ul><li>Useful Links and Books </li></ul><ul><li>Questions </li></ul>

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Useful Links and Books <ul><li>Now, Discover Your Strengths </li></ul><ul><ul><li>https://www.strengthsfinder.com/ </li></ul></ul><ul><li>What Color Is Your Parachute </li></ul><ul><ul><li>http://www.jobhuntersbible.com/ </li></ul></ul><ul><ul><li>http://www.amazon.com/What-Color-Your-Parachute-2008/dp/1580088686/ </li></ul></ul><ul><li>The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers </li></ul><ul><ul><li>http://www.amazon.com/Patterns-Extraordinary-Careers-Achieving-Satisfaction/dp/B000AXRTTW/ </li></ul></ul><ul><li>A Car, Some Cash, and a Place to Crash </li></ul><ul><ul><li>http://www.amazon.com/Car-Some-Cash-Place-Crash/dp/1579546269 </li></ul></ul><ul><li>The Success Principles </li></ul><ul><ul><li>http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0060594896/ </li></ul></ul>

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References <ul><li>Varun Gupta </li></ul><ul><li>The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers </li></ul><ul><ul><li>http://www.5patterns.com/overview.php </li></ul></ul><ul><li>Career Warfare: 10 Rules for Building a Successful Personal Brand and Fighting to Keep It </li></ul><ul><li>Countless colleagues, interviewers, companies, professors, advisors </li></ul>

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Questions?