About A Job

Job title: Account Manager
Previous Job Title(s): N/A
Year(s) with Company: 1
Industry: Higher Education
Age: 24
Highest level of education (major if applicable): Bachelors Degree
Income: $40,000 - $45,000
City/Region: New York, NY
Company Size (employees and/or revenue): 40/$5 million per year.
What does your company do? Develop and deploy web based modules to engage and influence target audiences in higher education.
Who do you report to: Director, Client Services
Positions reporting to you (if applicable): Interns and Production Team
Typical day: There is a lot of travel involved. A typical day when I am in the office is spent following up on emails, training on different aspects of the software programs, coordinating the production of project with design and editorial, and communicating progress and next steps to the client. When on the road, we are typically gone for a week at a time focusing on a specific geographical region. Time is spent reviewing projects, training additional client team members, reinforcing the value of the product, and putting in face time with the client. Travel requires a lot of driving, cheap hotels, and a lot of late nights following up with what is happening back at the office.
What time do you show up in the morning? 9:00 am
What time do you leave at night? 7:00 Pm
Lunch Hour or Free Time? 1 hour. Go to the gym 3 days a week during this time and bring lunch back to the office.
Does someone monitor your attendance or track your hours? Yes. I get a hard time if I am late.
Corner office, Shared office, Cube, Work from home, Travel: Shared office with 4 other account managers.
Job duties/Responsibilities: Training clients, coordinating projects, presenting and engaging client throughout project duration, coordinating internal team to meet deliverables.
Essential skills: Presentation skills, negotiation, project management, patience, follow through.
What I do most is… answer emails and convince production to work more expeditiously.
How is your performance evaluated? Retention of clients.
Special Projects and assignments: Tasked with leading upsell initiatives which requires discovery, sales, and negotiations.
Perks? Corporate credit card and no out of pocket expenses when traveling.
The BEST thing about my job is… Autonomy to drive project from inception through delivery.
The WORST thing about my job is… My boss.
What they never told me when I was interviewing? FIND OUT IF YOUR BOSS IS A MICRO MANAGER OR NOT! Make it known what type of manager you work best with.
What I expect to do and desired salary in 5 years? Marketing/Advertising Executive making ~$100k.
Would you recommend this job to a friend? NO.
Would you recommend this industry to a friend? NO.
Do you think you are on the right career path? Yes.
Do you expect to go back to school? Yes for my MBA.
Company Events, Happy Hours, Friday Beer, Gym Membership, Summer Fridays, etc? Yeah right.
What else? Don’t hold back with your rant or rave: The job really gave me some great experience and learning by trial and error. Ufortunately, my boss was terribly rude to other employees and fostered an unpleasant work environment. The entire organization was aware of the problem and since management failed to do anything, a lot of good employees resigned. The higher education industry is very cumbersome and most people I encountered were highly educated and opinionated which resulted in a lot of resistance and time spent coddling them.
Overall opinion of this job on a scale of 1 - 10. 6

Formalities, nerves, and answers aside, there are actually only four stages to a job interview. For those OCD’s out there, take refuge knowing you can break down the process into four bite-size, easily digestible nuggets.

1. Introductions - Blow this and you now have a 40% less chance of landing the job. You never get a second chance to make a first impression. (Clean shaven, pressed shirt/pants/suit, polished shoes, etc). The interviewer will try to set a relaxed, though professional atmosphere. Again this is about first impressions, and this will set the tone for the remainder of the interview and evaluation.

2. Background review and interest identification. Most introductions will be handled by a representative from HR. He/she will describe the format for the interview process as well as whom you will be meeting with. The ensuing portion will consist of the who, what, when, where, how types of questions. Focus on what you like, what you have accomplished, your goals, and your plan for achieving those goals. Offer concise and thorough responses as the interviewer will evaluate your experience (work and education) to the stated and expected competencies of the job you are to assume.

3. Matching and Mapping begins. The interviewer will be evaluating your responses to match your interests, experience, goals, and personality to the job, team, and company objectives. This is the turning point in the interview. Don’t worry too much if the questions become increasingly difficult or probing. A GOOD SIGNAL is if the interviewer begins to describe the job. THEY ARE LOOKING FOR INTEREST! Be excited and stick to your guns. If you feel that you have to embelish or fake it, this is a good sign that you will NOT particularly like the job, company, or team you will be working with. You are interviewing them as mush as they are interviewing you. When the interviewer begins describing how you will fit into the company’s mission, you MUST ask the questions that are blaring in your head. If the interviewer is someone you will have daily contact with, and they don’t assuage your concerns, THIS IS A WARNING SIGN TO GET OUT!

4. Conclusion. The interviewer will begin to explain the next steps in the hiring process. MAKE SURE YOU UNDERSTAND THEM! If you don’t understand, ask questions. After the interviewer has addressed all of your questions one of two things will happen: 1) the interviewer will wrap up the meeting or 2) the interviewer will ask HR to wrap things up. Scenario 1: Make sure you get a list of everyone that you met with throughout the day. Thank them for your time. Scenario 2: HR will be called in to ask ‘operations’ type questions. When can you start? Salary expectations? **Note - if HR asks about salary and you have been working with a Head Hunter, defer all salary negotiations to the Head Hunter (that’s what they get paid to do - negotiate)**

5. Follow up. Send an email to everyone you met with to thank them for their time. Offer them the opportunity to contact you directly. Be polite and professional.

We all work for one reason…to make money. Some are more fortunate than others to actually enjoy what they do and have fun while they are doing it. for that small percentage of the workforce, the old saying “the definition of work is that which is not fun” does not apply. In Expedia.com’s 2006 Vacation Deprivation survey, they estimated that Americans failed to use 574 million vacation days over the last year, worth about $75.72 billion based on workers’ average hourly earnings. For some workers who don’t take all their vacation, it’s a “status thing” to work constantly — or at least appear to be working, said Peter Rose, a partner with the marketing research firm Yankelovich. In this uncertain employment market, unusually long hours and the fear of being downsized has provoke a self inflicted work frenzy that is eating away at our personal lives. Moral of the story, if you have vacation…use it because it has been given to you by the company to provide incentive for working so hard the rest of the time and to ultimately keep you form burning out.

A worldwide shortage of professional talent is forcing employers to raise wages and delay filling positions to the point that it is threatening to curtail growth opportunities, according to a new survey.

One in four employers who responded to a worldwide survey by the staffing firm Manpower said they were paying higher salaries for professional positions and 29 percent said they were unable to fill jobs because the appropriate talent was unavailable.

The situation is even more acute in the United States, where 38 percent said they were paying more to fill positions and nearly half said they would have hired more professional staff in the past six months if quality candidates were available.

-I say they just aren’t looking hard enough.

Job title:  Account Executive 
Previous Job Title(s):  Student
Year(s) with Company:  1
Industry:  Finance
Age:  23
Highest level of education (major if applicable):   Bachelors.  Marketing Major.
Income:  $22,ooo Base + Commission
Company Size (employees and/or revenue):  25 employees and $12 mil. money line.
What does your company do?  Brokerage and Private Equity Financing.
Who do you report to:  Vice President
Positions reporting to you (if applicable):  Cold Callers
Typical day:  Read Wall Street Journal on the train to work.  Arrive early and start cold calling through company directories.  Once you get someone on the phone, convince them to receive a research report and qualify their financial situation and likelihood to open an account in the future.  REPEAT 400 times a day.
What time do you show up in the morning?  7:45 AM
What time do you leave at night?  7:00 PM
Lunch Hour or Free Time?  None.
Does someone monitor your attendance or track your hours?  YES!
Corner office, Shared office, cube, work from home:  Everyone is on a long desk.  A bullpen.
Job duties/Responsibilities:  Cold Call, Qualify Leads, Open New Accounts.
Essential skills:  Poor, Smart, Hungry.  Ability to convince a stranger to send you money over the phone.
What I do most is…  Try to dial around at company’s to get past the gatekeeper and on the phone with an executive to pitch him.
How is your performance evaluated?  400 cold calls, 5 leads, and one new client a day.
Special Projects and assignments:  I got coffee for everyone for a while when I first started.
Perks?  Free lunch on Friday’s and a shoeshine on Tuesday.
The BEST thing about my job is… there was a potential to make a lot of money.
The WORST thing about my job is… Long hours, little pay if you don’t produce, and backstabbing colleagues.
What they never told me when I was interviewing?  The failure rate is 98%.
What I expect to do and desired salary in 5 years?  $125,000+
Would you recommend this job to a friend?  I wouldn’t refer my worst enemy to work for a boutique brokerage firm. 
Would you recommend this industry to a friend?  Yes.  Go learn the trade from one of the large brokerage houses like JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Smith Barney, Bear Stearn’s.
Do you think you are on the right career path?  Now, yes.  I am not in finance anymore.
Do you expect to go back to school?  Yes - MBA.
Company Events, Happy Hours, Friday Beer, Gym Membership, Summer Fridays, etc?  CEO took us to a nice dinner at Christmas.  Senior Brokers paid for drinks when we went out.
What else?  Don’t hold back with your rant or rave:   This is a great business to start your professional life with if you have no other opportunities.  Baptism by fire with regards to selling over the phone, especially in a down market.  Working for a small firm that has a pitiful money line can be very difficult since there really isn’t a large ‘pot’ for everyone to share in.  Seems a lot of people in the industry are out for themselves and can crush you very easily.  I definitely perfected the art of cold calling (great asset to have) and I also came to the realization that I don’t like cold calling.  Every negative that came out of this job helped me to define what career path I truly wanted to pursue.
Overall opinion of this job on a scale of 1 - 10.  3

Job title: Account Executive (Internet Agency)
Previous Job Title(s): Student
Year(s) with Company: 1
Industry: Internet
Age: 23
Highest level of education (major if applicable): Bachelors Degree
Income : 36,000 + 6-10% commission on accounts
Company Size (employees and/or revenue): 12
What does your company do? Co-registration, data, direct marketing, media buying and web design.
Who do you report to: CEO
Positions reporting to you (if applicable): N/A
Typical day: Check email, teleconference, follow up on unpaid accounts, call to solicit further advertising, track data and reports
What time do you show up in the morning? 9ish
What time do you leave at night? 6ish
Lunch Hour or Free Time? Probably about 2 hours a day
Does someone monitor your attendance or track your hours? No
Corner office, Shared office, cube, work from home: Cube
Job duties/Responsibilities: Manage clients, upsell, look for new business as well as promoting affiliate deals. Negotiating contracts for increased rev share and anything else money related
Essential skills: Understanding the internet industry, decent social skills, the ability to write concise, persuasive emails. The ability to entertain yourself.
What I do most is… Check email for client communications.
How is your performance evaluated? Revenue growth
Special Projects and assignments: Going to conferences
Perks? Sporting events, free liquor when a good deal is made
The BEST thing about my job is… It’s easy to have secondary income
The WORST thing about my job is … It can be insanely tedious
What they never told me when I was interviewing? Upselling and a large amount of lies is a major part of the job
What I expect to do and desired salary in 5 years ? 60+commision
Would you recommend this job to a friend? Depends on the friend
Would you recommend this industry to a friend? Definitely
Do you think you are on the right career path? Yes
Do you expect to go back to school? Maybe
Company Events, Happy Hours, Friday Beer, Gym Membership, Summer Fridays, etc? Free beer, come in late, leave early, flexible working hours, high speed internet.
What else? Don’t hold back with your rant or rave: A lot of small agencies focused on niche internet marketing have a lifespan of only a few years. This is a both good and bad.
Overall opinion of this job on a scale of 1 – 10: 7

Job title: Director of Sales/Marketing
Previous Job Title: Business Education Director
Industry: IT & Marketing
Age: 26
Highest level of education (major if applicable): B.A. Philosophy/ Business
Income: $65,000 - $75,000
Company Size: employees and annual revenue: 50-60 employees/ 7 million
Who do you report to:  Executive VP of Sales
Positions reporting to you (if applicable): 2 people setting up your schedule
Typical day: Cold calling, presentations to high level executives, sending follow up information and pricing, majority of communication is email.
What time do you show up in the morning? 9:00AM
What time do you leave at night? 6:00PM - 8:00PM (Although, when traveling much work is relegated to your evenings)
Lunch Hour or Free Time? You do get an hour for lunch but usually are too busy to go out to lunch. Dominantly ordering in.
Does someone monitor your attendance or track your hours? No, but if you’re not producing, then someone will make a point of how you’re spending your time.
Corner office, Shared office, cube, work from home: Cubicle in-house but mostly travel nationally.
Job duties/Responsibilities: Responsible for generating revenue with quarterly and yearly sales deadlines. Must be in the field usually at 1 week intervals. Although travel is rigorous, you are still responsible for getting your work/follow up’s done regardless of environment. (airplane, car, train)
Essential skills: The ability to present PowerPoint presentations to high level executives, articulate speech, patience to explain technology, ability to tailor the product to the client’s overall goals and strong writing ability.  Networking, positive attitude, energy, able to present and understand materials and job function, and the physical capabilty to work in a shipping yard because you will be on your feet all day.
What I do most is…talk
How is your performance evaluated? Numbers. End of story. If you’re not producing, you won’t be in the position very long.
Special Projects and assignments: Not many but within a small firm, you can create your own opportunites/projects if you have the time.  Management on all HR related issues-Hiring/Interviewing,
investigations,emergency recruitment, and operation success.
Perks? It’s very entrepreneurial. There is no one looking over your shoulder and you are responsible for your own success.
The BEST thing about my job is…You get to work with a cutting edge web-based technology which is applicable in many industries.
The WORST thing about my job is… I travel 70% of the time and sometimes bleeds into weekends.
What they never told me when I was interviewing? What you wish they
told you during the interview? There is considerable travel but they don’t tell you that you book all of your travel and cold-call to setup your meetings.
What I expect to do and desired salary in 5 years/ How this job will contribute to my future?- In 5 years, I’d like to be in the IT consulting industry with an MBA making at least 150k.
Would you recommend this job to a friend? I would recommend this job to someone that wants extensive experience in marketing, project management and IT BUT is willing to work many hours without being compensated considerably.
Would you recommend this industry to a friend? Higher Education (NO). Web-based software (Yes)
Do you think you are on the right career path?  Yes
Do you expect to go back to school? Yes. MBA.
Overall opinion of this job on a scale of 1 - 10. 6.5
(1 being: “I hate it and I search Monster and Craigs List all the time.)
(10 being: “I can’t believe I get paid to have this much fun.”)

Job title:  Production Coordinator
Previous title(s): Assistant Production CoordinatorYear(s) with Company: 1.5
Industry: Fashion
Age: 25
Highest level of education (major if applicable): Bachelor of Science
Income (starting an present): $ 37,000 - $42,000
Company Size (employees and/or revenue): I don’t know the size but is a public comp.
What does your company do?  Clothing design, production, and retail.
Who do you report to: Director of Production
Positions reporting to you (if applicable): Assistant Production Coordinator
Typical day:  Write PO’s, track samples, Responsible for on time delivery to DC…
What time do you show up in the morning? 9am
What time do you leave at night? 7pm
Lunch Hour or Free Time?  Only if time allowed.
Does someone monitor your attendance or track your hours? No
Corner office, Shared office, cube, work from home: Cube.Essential skills: Excel, Outlook, systems to write PO’s & reference BOM’s (bill of materials).
What I do most is… communicate with overseas vendors to answer any questions and deal with any problems in the production process.
How is your performance evaluated?  Yearly review.
Special Projects and assignments:  N/A
Perks?  Samples and merchandise discounts.
The BEST thing about my job is… potential for travel.
The WORST thing about my job is… tracking samplesWhat you wish they told you during the interview?  When first entering the production side of the industry, you are basically only tracking samples and packages.
What I expect to do and desired salary in 5 years?  $100,000 
How this job will contribute to my future?  You learn how to communicate with your counterparts overseas and work together to get product through the production process.  If you are with a good company, you will begin traveling overseas to further develop relationships and trust with the factory. 
Would you recommend this job to a friend? Why?  Yes.  Production gives you a good foundation of what needs to happen to get product to the store because you are working with a variety of departments. 
Would you recommend this industry to a friend? Why?  Yes.  There is a variety of career paths/opportunitites in the fashion industry. 
Are you on the right career path (if no, what do you want to do?)?  Yes.
Do you expect to go back to school? For what degree? Only to take occassional classes to further my skills within the industry.
Company Events, Happy Hours, Friday Beer, Gym Membership, Summer Fridays, etc? Summer Fridays and some happy hours.
What else?  Don’t hold back with your rant or rave:   I knew what I was signing up for.Overall opinion of this job on a sale of 1 - 10: 7
(1 being: “I hate it and I search Monster and Craig’s List all the time.)
(10 being: “I can’t believe I get paid to have this much fun.”)

Job title: Training Development Manager
Previous Job Title: HR Intern
Industry: Air Delivery & Freight Services
Age: 24
Highest level of education (major if applicable): Public Communications
Income: $30,000-$45,000
Company Size: employees and annual revenue: 100,000+ employees
Who do you report to: Employee relations manager
Positions reporting to you (if applicable): Anyone-situational
Typical day: Recruiting, HR admin (outside of Sec. duties) I-9s, Tax
Info, training compliance document, and presenting training material to
groups of 6-12, follow up in the field.
What time do you show up in the morning? Swing shift 2pm to 12am
What time do you leave at night? 10pm or 8am
Lunch Hour or Free Time? No free time-goals of the operation are shared
by you/you will report to most senior manager on each shift and can
opt out of helping with operation, but not advised. Although you can
make time for yourself if you need to and help selectively.
Does someone monitor your attendance or track your hours? No-but if are
giving a nightly presentation…you have to show up
Corner office, Shared office, cube, work from home: Class room and
shipping dock
Job duties/Responsibilities: HR compliance:training documents-class
activity-and success of operation as it relates to you(turn over and
competence)-turnover reductions is a good sign of your influence on
the operation
Essential skills: Networking, positive attitude, energy, able to
present and understand materials and job function, and the physical capabilty
to work in a shipping yard because you will be on your feet all day.
What I do most is…talk
How is your performance evaluated? Audits of HR material-turnover
Special Projects and assignments: You will work with HR and Operation
Management on all HR related issues-Hiring/Interviewing,
investigations,emergency recruitment, and operation success.
Perks? No boss during most working hours, free weekdays, no more than
7-8hour days, good people, physical activity, and fishing everyday you
want
The BEST thing about my job is…you get to meet everyone and learn
about everything
The WORST thing about my job is…no sleep and weird hours
What they never told me when I was interviewing? What you wish they
told you during the interview? Boxes +Trucks=box dust
What I expect to do and desired salary in 5 years/ How this job will
contribute to my future?- Lots of face time-present everyday for a year
or two in the middle of the night and you become numb to
presentations. I appreciate working first shift and working with lots
of different people -average age is 40 and diversity is an initiative.
Would you recommend this job to a friend? Why? Depends on the friend…
Would you recommend this industry to a friend? Why? same…
Do you think you are on the right career path? Yes
Do you expect to go back to school? For what degree? No
Overall opinion of this job on a sale of 1 - 10. 8
(1 being: “I hate it and I search Monster and Craigs List all the time.)
(10 being: “I can’t believe I get paid to have this much fun.”)

I was sitting at lunch today thinking of what the new year could hold in store for the job market, generation x and y, and life in general.  So many of us have made career decisions based off of the “fluff” that potential employers and recruiters describe in their eloquent job overview.  Though, the unpleasantries never seem to surface until 3 months after you start your new job when you realize that “this isn’t the right place, and I have to give it some time to look better on my resume.”  I want to alleviate or at least shed some light on what people REALLY do in their jobs.  Look out for profiles of industry and top down job descriptions, duties, and reasonable expectations you can have should you decide to pursue one opportunity over another.  If you are reading this and your job isn’t listed, please contact me at ryan@aboutajob.com .  Thanks and best in 2007.