Question: What does Harvard, Bain, Kellogg, Cummins and Entrepreneurial Finance have in Common?

The answer is Stephen Rogers – he has been a part of them all. I-Motivate was glad to host Stephen Rogers in an I-Check meeting on Monday 31 October. He was definitely worth listening to.

About Stephen Rogers

Steven Rogers is the Gordon and Llura Gund Family Distinguished Professor of Entrepreneurship. Professor Rogers teaches Entrepreneurial Finance at Kellogg and is the former Director of the Entrepreneurship Department. Before joining the Kellogg Faculty, he owned and operated two manufacturing firms and one retail operation. Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Professor Rogers worked at Bain and Company Consulting firm, Cummins Engine Company and UNC Ventures, a venture capital firm.

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I-Motivate: We are so glad you agreed to speak with us. Your profile is very impressive. The fact that you have been successful in both business and academia puts you in a very good position to offer advice to us. More so, your students speak very well of you.

Steven: thanks for inviting me to speak; I have been look forward to it.

I-Motivate: First we would like to know what you would look for if you were recruiting an MBA into your organization.

Steven: That’s a great question. In recruiting MBAs there are three basic things I would look for: communication skills, a sound foundation in finance and leadership skills.

Oral and written communication skills are very important skills that MBAs should have. The ability to communicate effectively is always a distinguishing factor. For instance, Olaide sent me an email requesting that I speak at an I-Motivate meeting. Before getting his email, I had never met Olaide before. He introduced himself and the I-Motivate group in his email. He explained that his friend who attended Kellogg told him about me. Though I did not care to find out whether or not I knew Olaide’s friend, he communicated so clearly that I was willing to accept his invitation. So communication is a pretty important skill I would look for in MBAs.

The second thing that I would look for is a sound foundation in finance. An MBA should not be intimidated by finance. They should have a clear understanding of core financial concepts. MBAs should be able to look at numbers and make meaningful interpretations from those numbers. Irrespective of their background or interests, MBAs should work on improving their finance skills.

The third is leadership skills. I would be interested in knowing an MBAs leadership track record. I would like to know if they have lead teams or project before. I would like to know how successful they were in leading teams and what achievements they had in the process. I would look for natural leaders.

Additionally, I would seek for evidence that these individuals have the ability to master a lot of information. They should be able to digest a tremendous amount of information and make meaningful interpretations from it.

I-Motivate: Thanks Prof. Rogers. In your interactions with MBAs in business and academia, what irritates you the most about the MBAs you have interacted with?

Steven: I like that question (laughs). What irritates me the most about MBAs? Two things. The first is when MBAs do not know what they want and the second is when they don’t know how to do certain things and do not go the extra mile to learn how to do those things.

When MBAs come to me, my first question is always “what can I do to help you?”. I like them to know exactly what they want. I honestly do not appreciate people who are not clear about their objectives. I have also seen this to be very applicable in networking. When you are seeking to network with someone, you need to have an explicit understanding of what you want from the relationship. In addition, always make sure you understand the importance of reciprocity. Always look for a means of giving back to the people that you are networking with.

The next categories of MBAs that irritate me are those who do not know how to do things and do not work hard to fill their knowledge gaps. I get irritated when a student has not done adequate research before coming to me for help. How about trying your hands out on that difficult problem? Get on Google or something. Do the best you can and then if you still cant find a solution, you can ask for help.

I-Motivate: You touched briefly on networking; can you tell us what else we need to be aware of when networking?

Steven: Apart from being clear about your objectives and reciprocity? Well, I have to like you. You need to find some commonality between you and the person you are networking with (your host). In your attempt to find commonalities, be careful not to insult the other person. For example, discussing topics that you know little or nothing about (simply because you are aware of your host’s interest in that topic) might be an insult to your host.

I-Motivate: Thanks. What should we look for in target companies as we seek internships and full time job opportunities?

Steven: I would say look for fit. Look for a company whose values are in sync with your personal values and goals. Find out the culture of the firm and be honest with yourself about which firm blends most with your personality. Do not just seek for more money. Also for your first job, you want to go for a company that does things the right way. Look out for how the company treats people. These factors are very important. That is probably why about 75% of MBAs change jobs within 2 to 3 years of obtaining their MBA.

I-Motivate: Looking back at your experience, tell us about the time you consider to be a defining moment in your life.

Steven: That is a very good question. Upon completing my MBA in Harvard, (I was in my mid-twenties) I accepted a job with Bain & Company. I was offered a $60,000 starting salary with a $7,000 signing bonus. In addition, the work environment was great and the work was very interesting. However after working for 2 years I decided to leave the job. I left because I had a defining moment. While working on the job, I had an opportunity to learn about myself. I realized that I desired independence. I wanted to work for myself. So after leaving Bain, I bought my first company. Two years, later I bought another company and then another company two years later. Today (about 30 years later) I still crave the same independence. That is one of the reasons why I like being a professor. I enjoy being independent. But I remember it all started with that defining moment when I realized that I wanted to be independent.

Alright, I need to go now. I have to catch up with another meeting in downtown Chicago. Thanks for inviting me.

I-Motivate: Thank you very much Professor Rogers. We really appreciate your time and we look forward to connecting with you again.

I-Motivate -The Mission

If you would like to know more about I-Motivate (purpose, dynamics and schedule of events), please click on the link below to view and download relevant documents.

1.  What is it all about?
2. I-Motivate Purpose and Dynamics
3. I-Motivate Curriculum - Schedule of Events

You can also post your comments, questions and contribution on the blog.

Thanks.

Save Trees: Write a Great Cover Letter

From my interactions with several recruiters, I have come to understand that most cover letters are trashy. They quickly reveal that the prospective candidate has done very little work in putting the letter together. Thus, giving the recruiter no other option than to quickly trash the letter – this is not tree-saving. I am sorry if that sounds harsh. I am speaking from experience. I have had my cover letters trashed too. A little while ago, an Illinois MBA Alum offered to refer me to a very senior person in one my target companies. The Alum asked me to send him my resume and cover letter so he could forward it to this very senior person. “Sure” I said. So I quickly tweaked my “prototype cover letter” and sent it to the Alum. Below is a ‘copy and paste’ of the reply I got from the Alum.

“Your cover letter is too general.  I could replace the company’s name with any company’s name and send it to 20 different places.  These are the types of cover letters that get thrown out.  You need to make it more company-specific.  Show that you’ve done your research in the company.  Visit the webpage link below and draw as much information from the website into your cover letter as possible.  You need to show them why you are a good fit and want to be a part of THEIR organization.  That is extremely important…..”

As you can see, I have had my fair share of writing trashy cover letters. When I read the above email, I was startled but also really grateful. I was startled because I thought the response was sharp and very brisk. I was grateful because the comment came from an Illinois MBA Alum and was therefore a no-risk case. It then occurred to me that each time I send out a “thoughtless” cover letter, I am misrepresenting the Illinois MBA. Thus, I made a resolution to never send out a one-size-fits-all cover letter (and/or resume) again.

As I researched, I realized that writing a winning cover letter is not that difficult. It does, however, take going the extra mile to find out what the recruiting company wants, compare that with what you have to offer and structure your cover letter to reflect how much you fit the role/company. To write winning cover letters, you need to follow four simple rules:

1. Customize your cover letter to a specific firm. Research the firms you are applying to via the internet or by attending company presentations. This gives you are very good idea of what the firm is looking for in an ideal candidate. You can then marry your strengths with the requirements of the company.
2. Be aware of the nuances of the industry. For example, the consulting industry is a conservative industry hence; you should keep your cover letter simple and professional. On the other hand, if you are applying to an advertising company, you need to show some creativity in your writing.
3. Proofread as many times as possible. Make sure your grammar and spelling are correct. Crosscheck for common mistakes like writing the name of a wrong firm. For example reading an application to Apple with a Microsoft name in it will automatically get your application discarded – no matter how qualified you are.
4. Keep it simple and short. Brevity is the soul of wit but make sure you answer yes to the question “Would I preselect myself for an interview if I was the one reading this cover letter?” If you need to make your letter a little longer to prove how much you fit the company/role then do it.

My conclusion is that, a successful cover letter should make whoever reads it want to meet you. Keep it in mind that recruiters read tons of cover letters everyday. So write it right! Keep your cover letter out of the trash and save trees.

Fake IT or Make IT

"If you “fake IT”, you really do not have IT, why not break the habIT and try to “make IT”"


Simply speaking there are two basic approaches to getting a job – you can either  “fake it or make it”. Most prospective job candidates advertently or inadvertently use one of the two approaches.

The ‘fake it’ approach is a “ready, fire and aim” approach to getting a job. It entails simply acting to be who your target employer wants you to be. To put the term “faking it” into perspective, I will give you an example of a hypothetical MBA student called Tyrone who uses the "fake it" approach. Tyrone often starts out not being clear about his target industry/company/role. He is simply concerned with getting a well-paying job (the closer to six digits the better). So once he sees an attractive employer on I-Link (the career website) or at a career fair he immediately reaches out to them. He selects a pitch from his bag of instant-ready-to-use 30-second pitches and lashes out at the prospective employer. Since he is equipped with a generic one-size-fits-all resume and cover letter, he wastes no time in filling out an application. Once he clicks on the “submit application” icon, he takes a deep breath and hopes for luck. Yes, his luck shines and one of the ten companies he applied to invites him for an interview. He gets excited and can hardly think of any thing else but his interview with company X. He gets on the company’s website and studies the company’s financials and other key indices. He checks for the attributes the company is looking in prospective employees and convinces himself that he has all those attributes. Next, he tweaks his life’s stories in readiness for the behavioral interview and BAM!! He is ready for the interview. You know the rest of the story.

More often than not, people like Tyronne do not get past the first interview. Moreover recruiters have gotten smarter over time and most of them have learned to see through the “faking” shield. Besides, there are more authentic candidates out there for the recruiters to invest their time and resources on (that really hurts). In short, to get your target job you need to be more than qualified, you need to be the best applicant.  You need to “make it” happen.

The “make it” approach is really not about trying to impress the interviewer. It is about being the best person for the role. To start with, you are very clear about your career objectives. You have an idea of what your target companies are and you are clear about your target role. For instance if you are using the "make it" approach, you are convinced that after your MBA, you will like to be a Business Development Manager in a fortune 100 consumer goods company. Next, you compile the list of companies that fall into these category and you begin to research them. Upon researching the companies, you realize that only four of those companies are a great fit for you (that is, your skills, personality and experience). Thereafter you compare your strengths and weaknesses with the requirements for the job role in those right-fit companies. You then start working on improving on your weaknesses and building more experience that will be relevant to your target job role (I refer to this as the “breaking it” process). For example, if you would like to become a Business Development Manager in the consumer goods industry and you have no prior experience in that functional area or industry, you may consider joining IBC (or some other experiential learning platform) and working on projects that are similar to the type of work you would be engaged with in your future job role. Thus you will become more focused with your learning and have great stories to tell during interviews.

Thereafter, you start networking with professionals who are currently working on your job role. This is a more focused approach to networking. You are more concerned with learning from your connections than you are with getting interview slots. More so, you will grow through this process and become a more attractive job candidate. Ultimately, you will be able to write better resumes and cover letters and also land interviews (by levering your insider networks). Once you land the interview, the rest is history - preparation breeds room for performance. The other steps to “making it” are outlined in the “Fake it or Make it” framework (Please see the “Fake It/Make” Model in Fig 1 below”).

The framework was put together based on the lessons learned from people who went above and beyond to achieve their career aspirations. It is definitely not tamper-proof but applying the underlying principles will go a long way in improving your positioning with target employers, consequently increasing your chances of getting your target role.

In sum, if you “fake IT”, you really do not have IT, why not break the habIT and try to “make IT”.