Do your emotions ever get the best of you? Have you ever lost your composure while at work?

Like it or not, there’s a stigma associated with emotional responses in the workplace. Nevermind that Life has a way of popping into our daily agenda while we’re in the office.

So what’s the solution to keeping emotions in check while at work and in other professional settings?

Last week, The Wall Street Journal featured a piece which offers tips for staying in control of your emotional state. We’ve re-published the article here and invite you to read it. Afterward, let us know:  What’s the secret to controlling your emotions while you’re on the job?

Don’t Cry (at the Office)
By DENNIS NISHI

After successfully closing a $25 million deal with Sony, Anne Kreamer, a senior vice president at the children’s cable channel Nickelodeon, got a call from Sumner Redstone. It was the first time the chairman and majority owner of Nickelodeon’s parent company, Viacom, had ever called her.

“I was anticipating high-fiving and congratulations. Instead, I got eviscerated. He screamed at me for 90 seconds,” says Ms. Kreamer, who believed that Mr. Redstone, who was then planning a takeover of Paramount Communications, was expecting Viacom’s share price to sharply rise as a result of the Sony deal. It didn’t. She cried after the call ended.

“It was a completely natural response to the circumstances. I realized [Mr. Redstone’s] was the inappropriate behavior,” says Ms. Kreamer, who told the story in a book she later wrote about emotions in the workplace: “It’s Always Personal.”

“If I knew what I know now, I wouldn’t have felt as ashamed by it,” she says. “Nobody should.”

Whether you cry or lose your composure because you’re blamed for something that wasn’t your fault or snapped at by an angry customer, there’s a stigma attached to emotional responses in the workplace that compels many executives to just bottle up their feelings.

The unhealthful result of what experts call “emotional suppression” has been shown in studies to cloud thinking, promote job unhappiness and negatively impact work performance. That’s why experts say that it’s important for employees to be attuned to what their emotional triggers are so responses—even in more extreme cases—can be predictably managed for more productive outcomes.

The problem is people tend to catch strong emotions from each other like viruses. It’s called “emotional contagion,” and it can be an instinctive response to mimic those strong emotions, says Sigal Barsade, a professor of management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, who researches the influence of emotions in organizations.

She recommends that employees first consider their place in the hierarchy and regulate themselves appropriately.

Don’t vent at work. Excuse yourself if necessary and go home. Lean on your personal network, a therapist or even a career coach who can offer some objective advice. You can also try writing about the incident from the point of view of your antagonist. Stopping to reflect will allow you to cool down, deconstruct the problem and find ways to move forward by understanding why your antagonist acted the way he or she did.

If you’re constantly battling strong emotions at work, consider whether you really fit in, since every organization has a different emotional culture, says Ms. Barsade. “What’s acceptable to express or suppress varies widely from place to place. Southwest Airlines is the culture of love where you’re expected to show positive emotions. American Airlines has a more constrained emotional culture. Being in the wrong place can take an emotional toll.”

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303916904577376170985180382.html?mod=WSJ_hp_us_mostpop_read

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Readers, tell us:  What’s your secret to controlling your emotions while on the job?

Do you tend to say in twelve words what could be said in five?

Do you like to inject big words into your writing to appear smart?

Do you want to know the secret to writing well?

Brevity.

We discovered a great piece from Lifehacker.com and have republished a portion of it here. We urge you to click on the link below to get the full story. Loaded with examples, it demonstrates the power of brevity.

Write Less, Say More: The Power of Brevity
When it comes to great writing, less is more. But even if you’re familiar with the mantra to “omit needless words,” tightening your writing is harder than it looks. Which words should you omit? How can you write more clearly? Danny Rubin, a national news consultant and former television news reporter, demonstrates—with examples—the power of brevity.

There is a common misconception when it comes to writing that is professional in nature that a person must write in a verbose manner to come across as intelligent.

I am sorry. Let me do that again.

People often make a mistake in thinking that writing long-winded sentences with big words makes them appear smart.

Actually, let me try this one more time.

You don’t need to write a lot or use big words to sound smart.

Now, that’s better.

Too often, people write sentences like the one at the top when they should choose version #3. The main culprit, in my view, is the loathsome college essay. Only in college are we forced to write a paper a certain length. We develop strategies that balloon our paragraphs so we can fill out eight, 10 or 12 pages and pick up our gold stars on the way out.

In the real world, most people don’t enjoy reading cover letters, resumes and presentations. It’s extra work and burdensome. Worst of all, trying to write beyond our skill level screams ‘I’m in over my head.’

When you write with brevity, you make your points quickly and shrewdly. You don’t waste words and, in doing so, you don’t waste a person’s time. An employer or hiring manager, for instance, then sees you as sharp and courteous.

The secret to brevity (and, in turn, clarity) is something we are rarely taught growing up and may appear anathema to a professor of English lit:

Write like you are talking to a friend.

I don’t mean write in Internet jargon or shorthand. Whenever I am stuck on a sentence, I step back from the computer screen and ask myself, ‘OK, what am I trying to say here?’ Rather than come up with the most eloquent way to make my point, I write it out in plain English as if talking to a buddy. And once I have my conversational sentence, then I go and attack it with a red pen.

Let’s use the examples from the top.

(Click here to read the rest of the article, and see for yourself the differences between verbosity and brevity:
http://lifehacker.com/5909543/write-less-say-more-the-power-of-brevity?utm_source=Lifehacker+Newsletter&utm_campaign=fe9d881119-UA-142218-1&utm_medium=email )

Buy-in refers to agreement about a decision or course of action. You may encounter it used something like this:  Management has opted to put more advertising dollars toward promoting the failing product instead of scrapping it altogether; they’d appreciate your buy-in.

Exercise caution when using the term as it can have a disingenuous ring about it. According to David Logan, a professor of management and organization at USC’s Marshall School of Business, “Asking for someone’s ‘buy-in’ says, ‘I have an idea.  I didn’t involve you because I didn’t value you enough to discuss it with you.  I want you to embrace it as if you were in on it from the beginning, because that would make me feel really good.’”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/groupthink/2012/01/26/the-most-annoying-pretentious-and-useless-business-jargon/

“Don’t compromise yourself. You’re all you’ve got.”  - Janis Joplin

http://pinterest.com/pin/215821007113228710/

Eve Pearl epitomizes the art of reinvention. From secretary to five-time Emmy Award-winning celebrity makeup artist, she’s worn many hats throughout her career.

Recently, Eve conducted an interview with Linda Descano of Women and Co. We’ve republished the content here and encourage you to read Eve’s tips on how to successfully reinvent yourself. After you’re through, tell us:  how might you reinvent yourself this year?

Changing Careers: Insights from Eve Pearl
By Linda Descano, CFA®, President and CEO, Women & Co.

A five-time Emmy® Award-winning celebrity make-up artist, Eve Pearl knows a thing or two about what it takes to make a big change. But beyond the glitz and glam of eye shadow and Hollywood, Eve’s successfully applied the art of reinvention to her career, as well. Read how she created her very own cosmetics brand and took back the reins to her personal life—simply by starting her own business.

In a sentence, what do you actually do all day in your job?

No one today wears one hat or has one job, especially women. I’m a mom. I work on The Today Show. I have my company and I work with individual clients. It takes a lot of work and a lot of multi-tasking. It also requires me to constantly stretch and grow. Every once in a while, I take a step back and focus on one thing, and one thing only. I find it gives me a sense of accomplishment and helps me re-charge, which in turn helps me be more productive.

What prompted your career change?

I started my own business because I wanted more control over my life—I wanted to be able to make choices about how I would work, when I would retire, and how I would finance my life. I wanted more financial flexibility.

What’s the key to successfully reinventing yourself?

At one point in my life, I was on welfare and had no insurance. At another point, I was a secretary. At yet another, I took companies public. Today, I focus on makeup and skincare. Many of us don’t recognize what we have to offer. We think of ourselves as being able to do this or that. We need to fight against labels. Don’t put yourself in a box. You can do many things.

What’s the key to running a successful enterprise?

Most importantly, you need a website. Don’t wait for customers to come to you—you need to create your own opportunity. Develop a presence online—YouTube videos and a website have been instrumental in building the Eve Pearl® Cosmetics brand and opening up opportunities not just in the U.S. but internationally. Today, we are in more than 60 countries across the globe.

Who is your financial role model?

I look up to people and companies who have grown, especially women-owned businesses. Women such as Arianna Huffington or Martha Stewart, who have taken their knowledge into books, established themselves as experts at what they do and created huge brands around that knowledge.

What words do you live by?

Give thanks.

https://www.citibank.com/womenandco/article/changing-careers-insights-from-eve-pearl.jsp

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Readers, tell us:  How would you like to reinvent yourself?

In recent years, women have been making strides in acquiring CEO positions. Meg Whitman (CEO, Hewlett-Packard), Virginia Rometty (CEO, IBM), and Sherilyn McCoy (CEO, Avon Products) are just a few names that come to mind.

Still, when it comes to Wall Street, women are conspicuously absent from the C-Suite.

From resume gaps to gender prejudices to a lack of golf skills, theories abound as to why there’s a shortage of female CEOs on the Street. Recently, FOXBusiness published an article addressing this issue. We’ve reproduced the content here and encourage you to read through it.

After you’re finished reading, tell us:  what do you think is the biggest hurdle that women face in becoming CEO in the financial arena?

Where Are the Women on Wall Street? Cultural Obstacles Still Block CEO Posts
By Matt Egan, Published April 11, 2012, FOXBusiness

While the glass ceiling keeping women out of the C-Suite was shattered at blue-chip technology and industrial companies many years ago, it continues to hover over the sharp-elbowed world of Wall Street.

The causes of this unseen barrier to the CEO position remain complex, but insiders point to Wall Street’s reluctance to change its aggressive, hard-charging and clubby culture that can stifle rising females.

And even though a number of women have briefly flirted with the highest rungs of the financial world, the prospects do not appear strong that a major Wall Street firm will hire its first female chief executive any time soon.

“I think the cultures have to undergo a tremendous amount of more change before we’re going to see a woman CEO of a major financial-services firm,” said Gayle Mattson, who runs the board and CEO practice at executive-search firm DHR International. “I just don’t see it happening in the next five years.”

‘Why Can’t I?’

According to a 2011 Catalyst census, even though women make up 40.5% of all employees in the securities, investment banking and commodities sector, they account for just 17.7% of the executive officers and managers.

“There’s no excuse for that big of a difference. I think the women that are coming in today they look at the Street and say, ‘Why can’t I?’ They want to be a part of it. They’re working hard to get to a higher level,” said Muriel “Mickie” Siebert, who was the first female to own a seat on the New York Stock Exchange.

Out of the 38 female CEOs in the Fortune 1000, just one is from a financial company: Beth Mooney, 56, of KeyCorp (KEY), according to Catalyst. By comparison, over the past six months Meg Whitman and Virginia Rometty have assumed the top job at tech titans Hewlett-Packard (HP) and IBM (IBM), respectively.

Siebert, the so-called “First Woman of Finance,” said, “How can you have a woman coming up as head of IBM and not have it in the financial field?  I understand it’s a hard leap from one to the other, but there’s no reason it shouldn’t happen.”

Culture Clash

To be sure, there are women such as former Citigroup (C) exec Sally Krawcheck who have become powerful figures at Wall Street firms in recent years.

“It’s easy to say it’s all because of prejudice,” but that would be oversimplifying the matter, said Saul Cohen, who served as chief financial officer at Lehman Brothers in the early 1980s.

Still, cultural issues appear to be among the biggest hindrances keeping women out of the C-Suite on Wall Street.

“These are businesses that have been resistant for women to take part in them anyway. The vestiges of those cultures are still intact in some of these companies,” said Mattson.

There is also a clubby atmosphere that still exists on Wall Street, potentially hurting rising females.

Alluding to this atmosphere, Cohen said, “Not enough women play golf. There is a lot of business that is done over golf. If you don’t play, then you’re not there for it.”

Resume Gaps

There are also very few women who have the breadth of experience across trading, retail and investment banking needed to qualify as a CEO of a major company.

“I don’t think a woman that’s had experience on the top level is going to be given the same chance a man would be to operate another facet of the business. I don’t think she’s the first choice,” said Siebert.

Cohen acknowledged the dearth of females who scale to the upper echelons of trading, which is where today’s Wall Street CEOs like Goldman Sachs’s (GS) Lloyd Blankfein tend to come from. “It’s highly intense…It’s a very tough business. There aren’t a lot of men who make it up the ranks,” he said.

Sometimes this ultra-competitive environment can conflict with the way women are traditionally perceived.

“Women that are aggressive can get to a particular level but they are systemically rejected by these companies as being too aggressive because we have a particular image of a woman,” said Mattson. “It’s a double standard that exists for women and I don’t think that double standard has gone away.”

Female Power Figures

Despite the cultural challenges, there are a handful of high-ranking female execs in financial services.

BNY Mellon (BK) vice chairman Karen Peetz, 55, recently said she would love to be CEO of a major financial institution someday. Peetz, BNY’s first female vice chair in its 227-year history, was named the most powerful woman in banking by American Banker in 2011.

Peetz was unavailable to comment for this story.

Many believe Abigail Johnson, a president at Fidelity Investments, is likely to run the company that was founded by her grandfather. In 2010, Ruth Porat, 54, became chief financial officer at Morgan Stanley (MS) and she is also a member of the Treasury Department’s borrowing advisory committee.

There are a number of women who stood out in the financial world over the past decade but for various reasons didn’t land a CEO job.

Few would have been surprised to see Krawcheck’s name floated as a potential CEO years ago. However, Krawcheck left Citigroup (C) in 2008 after a contentious relationship with CEO Vikram Pandit. While BofA hired Krawcheck to lead its wealth management unit, Moynihan eliminated her position in 2011 amid struggles to keep Merrill Lynch brokers and their new parent company happy.

Similarly, Erin Callan was looked at as a superstar in finance, becoming the first-ever member of Lehman’s executive committee. But Callan was ousted as the company’s CFO just months before its collapse and lasted only five months at Credit Suisse (CS).

Other high-level female execs in recent years include former JPMorgan execs Dina Dublon and Heidi Miller, both of whom have retired.

Unconventional Path to the C-Suite?

Cohen said while he doesn’t believe Wall Street has an “immediacy of women moving forward to the top,” he does believe a scenario could develop that would open the door to a female CEO soon.

For example, Cohen said a company mired in legal troubles could turn to a general counsel who happens to be female, pointing to Bank of America’s (BAC) selection of former general counsel Brian Moynihan as its CEO in 2010.

Cohen also said a female CFO at a non-financial company could be “parachuted in from the outside” if that’s what a board feels is necessary.

Some would argue Wall Street’s resistance to cultural change may have hurt the industry, which is still healing from the scariest financial crisis since the Great Depression.

“I have found that where you have strong voices of women and diversity on boards, the less likely those organizations are going to run into a crisis situation,” said Mattson.

According to Catalyst, women held just 18.3% of board director seats in the finance and insurance industries at Fortune 500 companies. Less than 9% of women are CFOs at Fortune 500 companies.

Mattson said she thought it was “fascinating” that the only female board member at Lehman was former movie actress Dina Merrill, who served for nearly two decades before the investment bank collapsed in 2008.

“That’s what they consider diversity on the boards,” Mattson said.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/2012/04/11/missing-women-in-wall-street-clubby-c-suites/?cmpid=cmty_{linkBack}_Where_Are_the_Women_on_Wall_Street%3F_Cultural_Obstacles_Still_Block_CEO_Posts
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Readers, tell us:  what’s the biggest hurdle that women face in becoming CEO in the financial arena?

Option chain. Short put. Long call. Do these terms sound like Greek to you? Maybe yes, maybe no.

By no means do we intend to over-generalize or stereotype, but the reality is that many out there are flummoxed by these terms (including this very writer).

Good news:  help is on the way, packaged in the delightfully chipper form of The Liz and Jenny Show.

Liz and Jenny are former traders, now busy moms, who use easy to understand concepts for a basis in making logical, financial investments. With clarity and humor, the women share their expertise and explain trading terms, techniques, and tactics on their live, on-air program.

You can access The Liz and Jenny Show show by clicking on the link below. After doing so, let us know in the comments section what you learned from Liz and Jenny!

https://www.tastytrade.com/#/shows/the-liz—jny-show

The word scalable is used often in business contexts where it means something entirely different than its original definition.

In the corporate world, scalable refers to an activity or business that can be reproduced with little additional cost or effort for each additional unit of output. For example, making pharmaceutical drugs is a scalable business -researching and developing the medication entails great upfront costs, while production of the actual drug requires relatively few.

“The most difficult thing is the decision to act. The rest is merely tenacity.”  -Amelia Earhart

http://pinterest.com/pin/215821007112992149/

It’s been said that women often lack the intangible skills necessary for climbing to the top of the corporate ladder. As a result, they’re not getting noticed by the higher-ups in their companies who are in a position to help them.

So, what’s an ambitious woman to do?

Never fear… help is here!

We discovered timely tips -culled from senior female executive and leadership coaches- in a recent article published by FINS. We’ve included the article here along with a link to its original source where you’ll find additional data. After reading, tell us:  Which tip benefited you most?

Nine Rules Women Must Follow to Get Ahead
By Julie Steinberg

Many companies can point to a woman high enough on the food chain to show naysayers that anyone can make it up the ranks of power. Facebook has Sheryl Sandberg (photo left), Google has Marissa Mayer, J.P. Morgan has Mary Callahan Erdoes.

These women, however, are few and far between. Women held just 14.1% of executive officer positions in 2011 at Fortune 500 companies, down from 14.4% in 2010, according to recent research conducted by Catalyst, a nonprofit organization that seeks to advance women in business. When it comes to boards, women held 16.1% of seats in 2011, compared to 15.7% in 2010.

Why are the numbers so low? Despite their talent, education and hard work, many women simply aren’t chosen for roles that lead to greater success later. Women often don’t have the “intangible skills” needed to gain the attention of higher-ups at the company, says Elena Rand Kaspi, a former consultant to law firm White & Case and the president of LawScope Coaching, an executive career coaching company.

Getting “chosen,” then, is an art that many women need to learn. FINS spoke with women executives and leadership coaches to determine the best ways you can position yourself for the next great position.

Work hard

Doing excellent work is a baseline. If you don’t produce outstanding results, you won’t attract the notice of bigwigs at the firm who can propel your career forward. Hard work also entails knowing which skills you need to develop to get to where you want to be.

“Many people want to jump levels and get to the top by their gut feel, but what you don’t know can really create a minefield for you,” says Karen Peetz, vice chairman at BNY Mellon and one of three women on the executive committee. “Things like driving a strategy, managing staff, understanding financials are often learned more at the micro level before you get to the macro. You need that experience before leaping ahead.”

Before she arrived at BNY Mellon, Peetz, 56, had experience in sales and cash management, but in order to rise, she needed profit and loss experience. Once she managed people in a P&L business line, she was able to make her next move. Today she’s in charge of 17,000 people at BNY Mellon.

“You’re only as good as your last trade,” said Erin Duffy, 34, a former vice president at Merrill Lynch and the author of “Bond Girl,” a novel that chronicles one woman’s sales career on Wall Street. “If you’re not doing well, even if you’re hanging out every night with the managing directors, they’re not going to promote you. It’s very democratic in that way.”

Do work no one else wants to do

Stepping up when no one else is will is a great way to get noticed. In 2001, Donna Milrod was a recently-minted managing director at Deutsche Bank when she offered to take on a project no one else wanted. Her task was to devise a strategy for handling internal regulatory issues stemming from the firm’s acquisition of Bankers Trust.

“I took a risk early on to volunteer for this really horrible assignment that was really critical,” she said. “I felt that I had the skills, even though I was relatively junior.”

Succeeding in the assignment gained her exposure to the board and to senior management. As a result, she was offered a permanent post overseeing regulatory issues, and eventually given responsibility for corporate governance and client strategy for the Americas, two other management areas. Succeeding in those positions ultimately landed her the title of deputy chief executive of Deutsche Bank Americas, which she holds today.

Cultivate the people in charge

Figuring out who has the most powerful voice in the room is the first key to your success. The second is devising strategies to attract their interest in your career.

Mentors are important for giving you guidance on your career. Sponsors are more critical because they’re the ones banging on the table to bring you on for a new job or assignment.

Accordingly, you must treat them differently. Rosalie Mandel, a principal at accounting firm Rothstein Kass, recommends telling your mentor the good, the bad and the ugly and telling your sponsor only the good.

“The sponsor has heavy political capital and can place you into your next slot,” she said. “The mentor needs to know everything about you so they can help you grow and guide you.”

When Kelly Hoey, a former lawyer at White & Case and the founder of Women Innovate Mobile, an accelerator for tech companies with women founders focused on mobile applications, wanted to get people to notice her, she bent her schedule around theirs.

While at a law firm in Toronto, Hoey, now 46, knew that to get time with a certain partner, she had to do it on his schedule. Before noon, he would give her “all the time in the world.” After noon, he was focused on his own work. She scheduled morning meetings with him.

Similarly, Hoey, said she routinely shows up to meetings five minutes before they start so as to have extra time with the bigwigs in the room. She’ll also sit closer to them in the meeting itself and stay a few minutes after to chat with them.

It can be difficult to get one-on-one time with a male mentor or sponsor at some firms where sexual harassment training has made casual interaction like drinks after work a no-go. You need to find other time to bond, Hoey said. “If they send you an email and they’re in their office, take the opportunity to meet with them in person. Drop off research you’ve done in person. Find opportunities to get in front of them.”

Know what you want and go for it

Being clear about your goals is paramount. Veronika Sonsev was the first woman in AOL’s business affairs department, which handled the company’s mergers and acquisitions as well as corporate transactions through ad sales, when she joined in 1998.

Now 37, she’s had experience starting her own companies and is the founder of Women in Wireless, a nonprofit that promotes female leaders in mobile and digital media.

“In the summer of 2010, before I quit my job, I would go around telling everyone I was an entrepreneur and that I was starting my own company,” she said. “Once I called myself an entrepreneur, I was thought of as one.”

Women who get to the top understand that no one else can do for them. Sheila Ronning, the president and CEO of Women in the Boardroom, which helps place women on corporate boards, recalls the distress of one woman who had lost her board seat on a bank in Chicago due to a merger and hadn’t looked for a seat on another.

“The woman said, ‘I just thought boards would find me,’” Ronning recalled.

Ronning is still working with the former director to revamp her board resume. “Women directors want to help other women, but only if you let them know you’re looking,” Ronning said. “She should have been reaching out to people while she was on that board to look at other seats that may have interested her.”

Promote yourself legitimately

You can be doing great work, but if no one knows about it, you might as well be invisible.

Deborah Buresh Jackson worked at Goldman Sachs in the 1980s in healthcare investment banking, a group that was just starting to get hot. Her first week, she was assigned to work on a $95 million transaction that involved raising money for the expansion of a hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

“When you’re on the road, it’s really hard for senior management back in the office to know what you’ve done. I learned early on to tell the senior people how exactly I had contributed to the deal,” she said.

Her team discovered the hospital couldn’t borrow as much as it wanted. She told the bank’s three partners, and as they learned of her interactions with the clients, they felt comfortable assigning her to more projects and allowing her to develop her own clients. She was promoted to vice president from associate and remained at Goldman for a decade before starting her own boutique investment banking firm.

Another former Goldmanite, Jacki Zehner, 47, was both the first woman trader to be made partner and the youngest woman to be made partner at the firm at age 32 in 1996. Zehner routinely volunteered for assignments that gained her visibility at the top. For example, she put up her hand whenever the firm needed someone to make a speech to incoming analysts or recruit at college campuses, she said.

“Those things really mattered at Goldman,” Zehner said. Ultimately, she served on the firm’s compliance control committee, leadership development committee, multiple task forces and also co-founded a women’s initiative in the fixed income group.

Network with your peers

Many women make the mistake of seeking sponsorship from only the people above them. Some of the people you work with are going to be in charge and could help you rise in the ranks.

“It’s connections with people your own age that will help you get promotions,” said Amy Siskind, a former head of distressed debt trading at Morgan Stanley and the co-founder of The New Agenda, an organization dedicated to advancing women into leadership roles. Siskind, 46, was the first woman managing director at Wasserstein Perella because a friend she had worked with in her mid-20s had landed there and pushed for her hire.

“I had older people help me,” Siskind said. “But most of it was with people my own age. People you work with will eventually become your clients, too, and if they can advocate for you, that’s just an important as an older person at the firm.”

Make your own career

If a position you want doesn’t exist, create it. Similarly, if you don’t have the mentors and sponsors helping you get to the next opportunity, get there yourself.

Carolyn Buck Luce, 59, learned this firsthand when she joined Ernst & Young as a partner in the corporate finance and restructuring group in 1991. “Most women had grown up there and I wasn’t well-known,” she said. “I didn’t have large networks that would have normally helped me progress.”

So she volunteered to run the firm’s e-commerce strategy, which would guide the firm’s investments in certain e-commerce companies. From there, Buck Luce was asked to become the national director of strategic investments, a new position, and lead E&Y’s investments into other companies such as IT security and smaller tech-related operations. Her track record in those assignments, coupled with her previous experience in banking, made her the natural choice to become the global pharmaceutical leader.

“The common theme is being willing to take a risk and understand the strategic direction of the company,” she advises.

Leave to get ahead

Sometimes you can fast track your career by walking out the door.

Casey Stavropoulos, 35, joined APCO Worldwide as a manager of crisis communications in December 2004, then left last November to become vice president of strategy and marketing at Tula Foods, a Chicago-based consumer goods company. She believes it would have taken her 15 years to move up the corporate ladder. Now, she’s one of three principals at the start-up foods company.

“It’s definitely stepping outside the box, but there’s something about paving your own way,” she said.

Dress well and play golf

The old adage “dress for success” still holds true. “Men of a certain caliber have bespoke suits. Women tend not to be as conscious that dress is part of their professional brand,” says Rand Kaspi of LawScope Coaching. You don’t need a bespoke suit, but you do need to avoid walking around in flats and khakis with a sweater set.

Once you dress the part, act the part with both clients and superiors. Whether that means studying up on squash because a client is a devotee or brushing up on vintage wines because a vice president once expressed his penchant for them, you’ll need to delve into hobbies you may not have considered.

If all this talk of hobbies is making you think of the one sport through which deals are made, you are correct: You need to learn how to play golf. You don’t have to be good, but you have to be competent enough to be invited for quality bonding time.

Pippa Woods, former manager of strategic planning at New Jersey Transit, used her ability to play to get closer to her bosses when she was starting out in her career. As a research officer for a transit agency in Vancouver, Canada, Woods, now 56, frequently took to the golf course with the three senior men at the company.

“My boss was a big golfer so we played a lot,” she said. “My mother gave me golf lessons when I was 16. I thought it was the worst 16th birthday present ever. But it was one of the best things she ever did. I didn’t play that well, but it was an opportunity to be on a level playing field.”

That bonding over golf gave her the confidence to ask for time off to enroll in masters degree courses in public administration. Her golf buddy bosses not only encouraged her, they didn’t dock her vacation pay to take them.

“I felt more equal on the golf course than in the workplace,” she says. “They could see me as a 360-degree person.”

http://www.fins.com/Finance/Articles/SBB0001424052702304723304577365812402273808/How-Women-Get-Chosen#LeftCol

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Readers:  Which tip benefited you most?

Did you know that the number of highly-qualified women in the CEO-candidate pool has been steadily growing?

Earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal published an article about the strong pipeline of female senior executives who are poised to land CEO roles. We invite you to read the article below and then click on the accompanying link to view more details, including a list predicting the Next Ten Female CEOs which features a brief description of each woman along with her achievements.

More Women Are Primed to Land CEO Roles
In the U.S., a Strong Pipeline of Female Senior Executives Means a Larger Pool Eyed by Recruiters

By JOANN S. LUBLIN and KELLY EGGERS

Companies are grooming more women for the corner office.

With a growing pool of highly qualified women and intensified investor pressure on boards to diversify corporate management teams, companies “are hiring more high-potential women who could be CEO,” says Judith von Seldeneck, head of Diversified Search, a Philadelphia executive-recruitment firm.

The ranks of female chief executives remain thin, with women in the top spot at just 35 Fortune 1000 companies. But the pipeline is promising, says Maggie Wilderotter, CEO of Frontier Communications Corp., adding that she has noticed a number of “women in waiting” at Xerox Corp. and Procter & Gamble Co., where she is a board member.

She adds that she wouldn’t be surprised if the number of major-company female CEOs doubled by 2017. At her own employer, a diversified telecom firm, half of Ms. Wilderotter’s six direct reports are women.

“If you want a CEO role, you have to prepare for it with a vengeance,” says Denise Morrison, chief of Campbell Soup Co. and Ms. Wilderotter’s sister.

Ms. Morrison says she cultivated ties with leaders of other food makers by attending food-industry events in her off hours. Joining a corporate board outside their industry also helps prepare executive women for CEO spots, she adds, as directorships can show rising talent how chief executives get things done.

The next wave of women who will command major U.S. corporations likely are senior managers today. “Some phenomenally well-qualified women” hold top operational jobs, says Ellen Kullman, CEO of DuPont Co.

Nearly 73% of Fortune 500 companies now have at least one female executive officer, though women comprise just 14% of executive officers, according to Catalyst, a New York research group.

In good news for the pipeline, a study conducted by McKinsey & Co. for The Wall Street Journal, to be released Monday, found that 24% of senior vice presidents at 58 big companies are now women.

A lack of profit-and-loss experience may stall some women’s progress. Four of Douglas Conant’s 10 direct reports were women during most of his tenure as CEO at Campbell, but Ms. Morrison, his successor, was the only such lieutenant with P&L responsibilities.

The Journal has compiled a list of 10 female executives whose operational expertise and track record make them likely picks to lead a Fortune 1000 company within five years.

The lineup was drawn from an informal Wall Street Journal poll of 15 U.S. search firms, executive coaches and women’s organizations. Human Capital News, a newswire owned by market-research firm HSZ Media, also surveyed 75 human-resources executives for the Journal.

The 10 top choices received support from at least two nominating groups. One popular pick—Johnson & Johnson executive Sherilyn McCoy—isn’t included because she already has a CEO perch, taking the top job at Avon Products Inc. this month. Several others have already been wooed to be chief executives elsewhere, says Clarke Murphy, CEO of recruiters Russell Reynolds Associates Inc.

Another frequent mention who isn’t on this list is Facebook Inc. executive Sheryl Sandberg, because she doesn’t work for a Fortune 1000 company—yet.

Of the 10, seven already have outside directorships. And of the nine in the group who have children, many have husbands who abandoned the fast track to support their wives’ careers.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303990604577368344256435440.html?mod=WSJ_business_LeftSecondHighlights#articleTabs%3Darticle

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Readers, place your bets! Who’s your pick for the Next Female CEO?

Have you been Pinned?

We here at Forté Foundation have recently joined the millions who use Pinterest as a tool for self-expression. In this modern, text-heavy world, we love Pinterest’s visually-rich platform for adding another dimension to what we’re all about. (Psst! Check out our profile here:  http://pinterest.com/fortefoundation/)

But did you know that Pinterest can also be used by YOU as a personal branding and job-search tool? Whether you’ve got an artistic, creative background or a more analytical one, Pinterest provides a way to stand out from the crowd. While the tactics you employ may differ, the potential for self-expression is sky-high.

In the same way, Pinterest also offers a glimpse into companies’ cultures. For example, you can glean fascinating insights about PepsiCo, Home Depot, and GE from their Pinterest pages -ideas that aren’t necessarily conveyed through their corporate websites. 

For tips on how to use Pinterest in your job-search or personal branding strategy, we invite you to read the following article published by NACE. Then, in the comments section below, post a link to your Pinterest profile!

Using Pinterest as a Job-Search and Branding Tool

Spotlight for Career Services Professionals, April 25, 2012  

Pinterest—a content-sharing social media website on which account holders “pin” images, videos, and more to their virtual pinboards—is gaining popularity for its broad spectrum of uses. 

Thom Rakes, career center director at the University of North Carolina Wilmington, sees two ways students can use Pinterest to enhance their job-search efforts—as a tool to research potential employers and as means for students to market themselves. 

“Some large and cutting-edge companies have created Pinterest pages, providing a different view of the employer than more traditional web pages,” Rakes says. “And since the focus of Pinterest is on graphics and images, it is of most use to students pursuing visually related careers, such as graphic or digital design and marketing. It may help more visually orientated job seekers stand out.”

Brie Weiler Reynolds, the content and social media manager at FlexJobs and a former career counselor at Emmanuel College, agrees, saying it’s much easier for students in creative majors to use Pinterest because of the visual component. 

“The arts, graphic design, marketing, and other heavily visual majors will probably find using Pinterest for their job search to be easy and straightforward,” Reynolds says. “Students in more traditional majors—business, social and life sciences, and others—will need to be more creative in their use of Pinterest.”

Why is Pinterest attractive to job seekers? First, it’s easy to get started. Unlike setting up a website or professional blog, it takes just a few seconds to create an account and start pinning, Reynolds says. 

“It shouldn’t necessarily replace those other two options for personal branding, but it’s a good way to get started,” she adds. “And, it’s a strictly visual medium in a world of text-based job-search tools, so it’s very different from other options.” 

With that in mind, Reynolds touts the importance of students thinking about how they can represent their majors and career interests visually—whether it’s by using pictures of organizations with which they’ve interned, or pins of student organizations and activities with which they’ve been involved.

Reynolds offers some other tips for career services practitioners to share with college students using or interested in using Pinterest as a personal branding or job-search tool. To use Pinterest as a personal branding tool, college students should:

  * Create resume boards on which they pin pictures related to their schooling and experiences.
  * Create portfolio boards with examples of their work, which is especially good for creative fields.
  * Pin a copy of their resume with text that says “please share me.”
  * Create boards related to their interests to give more insight into them.
  * Place their Pinterest URLs on their job-search materials, including resumes, cover letters, e-mail signatures, profiles on LinkedIn, and more. Make sure they use their actual name as their Pinterest page name so people can easily find them through a search.

For using Pinterest as a job-search tool, students should:

  * Follow employers they want to work for on Pinterest to learn about the employers’ marketing efforts and corporate culture.
  * Follow career services offices and experts to learn the best job-search strategies, trends, and advice.
  * Get ideas for places to work by seeing what organizations their employers of interest follow.
  * Create boards for “Places I’d Like to Work” and “Jobs I’d Like to Have.”
  * Use keywords like “hiring,” “human resources,” “recruiting,” and more to find employers that are using Pinterest to recruit.

Reynolds says that one of the biggest mistakes college students make is thinking they can use Pinterest for both personal and professional purposes. 

“Students will want to keep their Pinterest pages clean and professional, because they never know who might be looking at [the pages],” she explains.

Reynolds also strongly suggests that students make use of the text box available for each picture. 

“[Students should] say something about each picture they pin—what it is, how they were involved, when and where it occurred,” she says. “That text is the student’s only chance to tell viewers what they’re looking at, and how it relates to the student as a professional.”

http://www.naceweb.org/s04252012/pinterest-social-media/

Core competencies are what a business excels at. Phrased another way, core competencies are the things a company does best.

Example:  Experts continue to debate over Apple’s core competencies, but many agree that innovative technology and elegant design are at the top of the list.

Note:  The term can also be applied to individuals. In fact, in an interview situation you may encounter the following question:  What are your core competencies? (Hint:  make sure you have an answer along with a couple of supporting examples!).

“Courage allows the successful woman to fail- and learn powerful lessons- from the failure- so that in the end, she didn’t fail at all.”  -Maya Angelou

The year’s flying by, and many of us are already dreaming of a vacation. We can almost hear the rush of water at Victoria Falls, smell the fresh air of Patagonia, and feel a jolt of adrenaline from a Himalayan hike.

To help our dreams become reality, our partners at Women & Co. have created a list of helpful tips for planning an adventure excursion. We invite you to read the article re-posted here and click on the accompanying link to access additional insights on wise planning. Then, in the comments section let us know:  what’s your dream adventure destination?

8 Tips for Planning an Adventure Trip

For Women & Co., by Robin Kamen, Head of Digital Strategy, Citi Cards

I love adventure travel. One of the best trips I’ve taken was a 10-day family trek to the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu, where rugged camping, amazing scenery and the chance to walk in the footsteps of ancient history tightened our family’s bonds and created wonderful memories. Another was a weekend getaway with my husband to New York’s Adirondacks, where we bushwhacked up one of the state’s tallest mountains and celebrated with a romantic dinner at a charming inn. Are you thinking of hitting the adventure trail? It’s getting easier to find adventure trips of all kinds in the U.S. and abroad, and over the years I’ve picked up a few planning tips that will guarantee a great time for all.

1) Choose the destination based on the month you plan to travel. Go when the weather is best for the kind of trip you want. You’ll save money if you can travel during a “shoulder” season, when the weather is good but the crowds haven’t arrived yet. For more specifics by world region, click here.

2) Include travel days when calculating the length of your trip. If you only have one week and your destination includes two full days of transit in either direction, you won’t have much time to spend once you get there. As well, when calculating the budget for your trip, make sure to include all local transportation costs. You can find these costs in the transportation sections of most good guidebooks and at websites like Fodors.com, Frommers.com, and LonelyPlanet.com

3) If planning family travel, make sure all activities are suitable for all involved. You’ll want to do plenty of research using travel sites and blogs to learn exactly what other travelers experienced at a destination. Read as many posts and articles as you can, and see if you can find photos or videos. A great place to start is TripAdvisor.com. And, when you return from your travels, pay it back by posting your own travelogues.

4) Be realistic about how much you can accomplish. Often, it is better to spend more time visiting a few attractions than to try and cram in everything. One way to rank activities is by the cost—including admission fees, food and beverage, and travel expenses. On a recent trip to China, this method helped me veto a side trip to a museum in a city far from our base in Beijing.

5) If you plan to hire a local outfitter, check their references. If you can’t find independent reviews of the company by searching online, ask them for references and/or check with your hotel’s concierge. You can also post a request for information on traveler forums hosted by the travel sites mentioned above.

6) Before you book, review the travel benefits offered by your credit card. My Citi Thank You Premier card, for example, has no foreign transaction fees and gives me access to one free domestic companion ticket each year. It also earns me rewards that I can exchange for hotel nights and gives me access to discounts at merchants who sell travel-related items. Your card may offer the same kinds of benefits.

7) Do as much contingency planning as you can. If you are traveling abroad or to the wilderness, bring extras of the essentials it will be hard to replace if lost. Before you go on any trip, call your credit card company to let them know you will be charging purchases from a new location. And, bring copies (both sides) of all your travel documents - including insurance cards and credit cards. Store the copies separately, and keep a set in the hotel’s safe.

8) Include everyone in planning the itinerary. Research the options and let members of your travel group, including older children, vote on the day trips or sightseeing events they’d most like to do. This way, everyone has a vested interest in making the trip a success!

https://www.citibank.com/womenandco/article/8-tips-for-planning-an-adventure-trip.jsp

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Readers, what’s your dream adventure destination? Share your answer in the comments section!

Good manners never really go out of style, but many etiquette rules have evolved over time. Still, according to a recent article published at inc.com, there are some timeless rules of business etiquette.

We’ve included the article here for your reference and invite you to read through it. Then, in the comments section, tell us:  What’s your essential business etiquette rule?

Business Etiquette: 5 Rules That Matter Now
by Eliza Browning

The word may sound stodgy. But courtesy and manners are still essential—particularly in business. 

The word “etiquette” gets a bad rap. For one thing, it sounds stodgy and pretentious. And rules that are socially or morally prescribed seem intrusive to our sense of individuality and freedom.

But the concept of etiquette is still essential, especially now—and particularly in business. New communication platforms, like Facebook and Linked In, have blurred the lines of appropriateness and we’re all left wondering how to navigate unchartered social territory.

At Crane & Co., we have been advising people on etiquette for two centuries. We have even published books on the subject—covering social occasions, wedding etiquette and more.

Boil it down and etiquette is really all about making people feel good. It’s not about rules or telling people what to do, or not to do, it’s about ensuring some basic social comforts.

So here are a few business etiquette rules that matter now—whatever you want to call them.

1. Send a Thank You Note

I work at a paper company that manufactures stationery and I’m shocked at how infrequently people send thank you notes after interviewing with me. If you’re not sending a follow-up thank you note to Crane, you’re not sending it anywhere.

But the art of the thank you note should never die. If you have a job interview, or if you’re visiting clients or meeting new business partners—especially if you want the job, or the contract or deal—take the time to write a note. You’ll differentiate yourself by doing so and it will reflect well on your company too.

2. Know the Names

It’s just as important to know your peers or employees as it is to develop relationships with clients, vendors or management. Reach out to people in your company, regardless of their roles, and acknowledge what they do.

My great-grandfather ran a large manufacturing plant. He would take his daughter (my grandmother) through the plant; she recalled that he knew everyone’s name—his deputy, his workers, and the man who took out the trash.

We spend too much of our time these days looking up – impressing senior management. But it’s worth stepping back and acknowledging and getting to know all of the integral people who work hard to make your business run.

3. Observe the ‘Elevator Rule’

When meeting with clients or potential business partners off-site, don’t discuss your impressions of the meeting with your colleagues until the elevator has reached the bottom floor and you’re walking out of the building. That’s true even if you’re the only ones in the elevator.

Call it superstitious or call it polite—but either way, don’t risk damaging your reputation by rehashing the conversation as soon as you walk away.

4. Focus on the Face, Not the Screen

It’s hard not to be distracted these days. We have a plethora of devices to keep us occupied; emails and phone calls come through at all hours; and we all think we have to multitask to feel efficient and productive.

But that’s not true: When you’re in a meeting or listening to someone speak, turn off the phone. Don’t check your email. Pay attention and be present.

When I worked in news, everyone was attached to a BlackBerry, constantly checking the influx of alerts. But my executive producer rarely used hers—and for this reason, she stood out. She was present and was never distracted in editorial meetings or discussions with the staff. And it didn’t make her any less of a success.

5. Don’t Judge

We all have our vices—and we all have room for improvement. One of the most important parts of modern-day etiquette is not to criticize others.

You may disagree with how another person handles a specific situation, but rise above and recognize that everyone is trying their best. It’s not your duty to judge others based on what you feel is right. You are only responsible for yourself.

We live in a world where both people and businesses are concerned about brand awareness. Individuals want to stand out and be liked and accepted by their peers—both socially and professionally.

The digital landscape has made it even more difficult to know whether or not you’re crossing a line, but I think it’s simple. Etiquette is positive. It’s a way of being—not a set of rules or dos and don’ts.

So before you create that hashtag, post on someone’s Facebook page or text someone mid-meeting, remember the fundamentals: Will this make someone feel good?

And remember the elemental act of putting pen to paper and writing a note. You’ll make a lasting impression that a shout-out on Twitter or a Facebook wall mention can’t even touch.

http://www.inc.com/eliza-browning/business-etiquette-rules-that-matter-now.html

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Readers, tell us:  What’s missing from the list? Let us know your thoughts on what’s imperative when it comes to business etiquette.

Ever wonder what it would be like to attend business school while keeping your day job?

The Wall Street Journal recently posted an article featuring three Evening and Weekend MBA students who attend Haas School of Business at University of California, Berkeley. It’s a fun, interactive piece where you can click through slides highlighting moments from each student’s busy day.

We invite you to click the link below to read the article and scroll through the accompanying slides. Then tell us:  in your opinion, which of the three students has achieved optimal balance?

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303425504577351790945374020.html?mod=djemCJ_h#project%3DBSCHOOLHAAS0412%26articleTabs%3Darticle

Parallel processing conveys the concept of doing at least two activities simultaneously. The term is used in various contexts, such as to describe the brain’s ability to process multiple incoming stimuli or as in parallel computing by machines.

In business, you may encounter the expression used something like this:  By way of parallel processing, why don’t we have Tonya work on generating new leads while Ingrid connects with current clients?

“It isn’t what we say or think that defines us, but what we do.”  -Jane Austen

As a young girl, Vatana Watters immigrated to the U.S. from Thailand and eventually founded the bridal gown powerhouse Watters Design. Whether you’ve got an entrepreneurial bent or not, Vatana’s story is likely to inspire you. Vision, drive, creativity, passion, and success are just a handful of the elements it contains.

We invite you to sit back for a few minutes and read the following exchange between Vatana Watters and Linda Descano, President and CEO of Women & Co. After reading the article, tell us in the comments section:  who inspires you?

A Woman of Style and Substance:  A Conversation with Vatana Watters of Watters Design
By Linda Descano, CFA®, President and CEO, Women & Co.

I first met Vatana Watters, CEO of Dallas-Based Watters Design, through a video she taped on behalf of Citibank Business Banking, where she is a client. A native of Thailand, Vatana moved to the U.S. at age seven and eventually earned a degree at the Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. One year after graduating, Vatana moved to Dallas and embarked on creating handmade special occasion dresses for friends and family, which has developed into a bridal gown powerhouse. After watching the video and visiting her website, it was evident that this designing woman was someone of style as well as substance. So, when the opportunity arose for me to visit Dallas, I asked to meet Vatana and she graciously invited me to her offices for an up-close and personal conversation. After spending time with Vatana, I now see why her designs are so beautiful; they reflect her inner spirit and soul. Provided below are highlights from my conversation with this inspiring entrepreneur and designer, who just recently was inducted into the DEBI (“Distinctive Excellence in the Bridal Industry”) Hall of Fame in the “Style Innovator” Category.

On the best professional advice she’s ever received…

Vatana doesn’t miss a beat when I ask her about this. “Use determination to see your vision through. You need to push forward, beyond the day-to-day hurdles,” she says. Vatana continues, “I think a lot about Steve Jobs and how he has changed how we communicate by his vision and drive to excellence. You have to have focus.”

On pushing yourself when things get tough…

”There are days,“ Vatana acknowledges, “that I have to really push myself because I’m thinking about whatever the latest ‘hurdle’ is. But, then I think about my daughter, what message I would be sending her if I backed down when things were tough. That’s my wake-up call; my reminder that I have to keep moving forward if I want to be a positive role model for her.”

On what’s the one thing she wish she knew before starting her own business…

For Vatana, it comes down to money. “I wish I would have been smarter about money and had my finances in order early on,” she admits. “When you start a business, you are wearing so many hats. I can remember meeting with retail partners then packing up gowns for shipment and then driving the boxes to our shipper, while also working on designs and sorting out production issues. You are really stretched and it can be challenging to give proper attention to your financials and to the legal fine print. But, you need to make the time and think critically about what you are committing to. And, don’t confuse your passion for the business with the business of your business, so to speak.”

On tapping investment capital to finance growth…

“If you decide to bring in investors,” Vatana advises, “be sure you are talking apples to apples, that you understand their motivations and expectations. Investors won’t necessarily share your passion—and that’s ok, but you need to both be on the same page about where the business is going. You need to be disciplined. All money isn’t equal.”

On traits for success…

In addition to passion and determination, Vatana believes successful leaders are careful listeners. “While confidence is critical as a leader, you don’t want to be overconfident and ignore other people’s points of view. You need to be willing to admit what you don’t know and surround yourself with people whose experiences and skills complement your own. It’s important to cultivate real, authentic conversations.” Lastly, Vatana believes leaders need to act with a sense of urgency, to keep pushing the envelope and striving for excellence.

On the key to her longevity in the fashion business…

Vatana attributes her company’s 25+ years in the bridal industry to bringing consistent, high quality, differentiated products to market as well as openness to change. “Your business has to constantly evolve. You have to be willing to adapt to change or else you will lose your edge,” Vatana shares, adding, “We are always doing research; we are out speaking to retailers, consumers, business partners and each other. We read. We get inspired by travel, by exposure to other cultures, art, and even food. We draw on all types of resources. All of this helps us bring a fresh perspective to our designs. But, at the end of the day, you have to deliver with a quality product.”

On what money means to her…

“Choices,” Vatana says emphatically, “Money gives you options so you are not boxed in. You can make different decisions. Financial flexibility is very important.”

On financial lessons learned and taught…
Vatana’s parents didn’t really talk to their daughters about money. One of her early financial memories is of her aunt, who owned a sewing business. “I remember being fascinated with the idea that my aunt was earning money even when she physically wasn’t sitting there sewing. The idea of ‘earning money when you aren’t working’ really appealed to me. It’s something that always stayed with me – it’s no wonder I own my own business.” But, Watters isn’t actually Vatana’s first entrepreneurial venture. When she was a young girl, she and her sister would by coloring book kits for $1 and resell them for $3, pocketing their profits. “My coloring book sales gave me my first taste of growing money. I liked it!” When it comes to her teenage daughter’s financial savvy, like many moms (and aunts), Vatana is concerned about how much her daughter has absorbed. She adds, “Financial literacy is so important yet it’s not covered in schools today. This is an area where our children need foundational information to complement what happens at home. What I’ve tried to instill in my daughter is the importance of being a savvy spender, working hard, and – not surprising – thinking about how you can earn money even when you aren’t working.”

On financial harmony in a household…

Vatana and her husband, Steve, met in the 7th grade and have been together for more than 30 years. Vatana attributes their relationship – and financial – harmony to open communications and respect for each other’s wants and needs. “Long term, you have to share the same values and goals. For us, now that we are in the proverbial ‘middle age,’ we are focused on saving for retirement and our daughter’s college education.” Another secret to their success is personal money. “We each have personal money that we are free to spend on guilty pleasures, however we define it. We talk about those expenditures, but we really do try and give each other freedom with that money. Of course, as a couple, we do revisit our joint goals every so often to be sure we stay aligned and on course.”

On words she lives by, her personal motto…

Vatana says her rules to live by are simple; I say they are simply powerful and all-to-frequently overlooked. First, be nice to others. Second, be humble – be aware of your own limitations, what you don’t know. Third, don’t reward bad behavior. True, true and true, in my book!

On her guilty pleasure…

Not surprising, as someone who works in the fashion industry, shopping is one of Vatana’s guilty pleasures (something I can truly get behind). Another is travel. “I love to travel and wish I had more time for leisure travel. I always come back with a fresh perspective, more tolerant. I love getting to know people from different cultures, learning about their art, beliefs and food. It really does help us keep our minds open.”

https://www.citibank.com/womenandco/article/a-woman-of-style-and-substance-a-conversation-with-vatana-watters-of-watters-design.jsp

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Readers, tell us:  Who inspires you?

For those of you undergraduates grappling with what to major in, you may be surprised to learn that from a recruiter’s perspective, a business major may not carry the same weight it once did.

A recent article published in The Wall Street Journal reveals that many recruiters and school administrators are questioning the value of a business degree at the undergraduate level. As reported, it appears that critical-thinking and problem-solving skills are getting short-changed in the classroom while courses on the fundamentals of accounting and finance are emphasized instead. This practice results in a knowledge and skills gap which surfaces as corporate recruiters seek employees who are well-rounded across multiple disciplines and who demonstrate agile thinking.

In response, schools have begun revising their undergraduate business curricula to address the issue which should satisfy recruiters although some are questioning whether or not more needs to be done. In the meantime, there’s good news for non-business majors:  recruiters are likely to continue pulling from this pool of undergraduates to maintain diversity.

Tell us:  what is your major and what are you hoping to do with it?

To read the full article, click here:  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304072004577323754019227394.html

Piggyback is an expression frequently heard in business school classes and at corporate meetings. In these contexts, the term is used to signal that the speaker intends to add information to a previously stated idea. In actuality, oftentimes the user offers nothing original but instead merely rephrases what has already been said.

Example:  I’d like to piggyback on Anna’s assessment of the new career services center -it really is remarkable both in form and function.

“Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.” 
—Eleanor Roosevelt

Did you know that nothing reveals more about your financial future than your credit history? It’s true. For example, if you’re applying to a job that pays at least $75,000, the prospective employer is entitled to review and assess your credit history.

Unsure of where you and your credit score stand? Our friends at Women & Co. have put together a terrific piece about how you can better manage your credit score. We’ve included highlights from the article below and encourage you to visit Women & Co. for more helpful tips:  https://www.citibank.com/womenandco/article/helpful-tips-for-managing-your-credit-score.jsp

Helpful Tips for Managing Your Credit Score

By Heather Dahill, Chief Operating Officer, Women & Co.

Nothing reveals more about your personal and financial future than your credit history—not your job, not your income, not your status. A good credit history provides the benefit of an easier credit process when you want a new home, new car or a credit card. Best of all, a great credit history sometimes secures a more attractive rate.

Your credit history is publicly available information on how you’ve handled your financial relationships. It generally contains the following kinds of information:

Identification: Your name, address (including past addresses), Social Security number, and birth date. You supply this information every time you apply for credit. Filling out forms consistently (such as entering your name the same way every time) helps reduce errors in your credit report.

Employment: Your current job and employer. It may also include past employers.

Credit: Creditors supply monthly details such as your outstanding balances, credit limits, monthly payments and payment patterns over several years. Information about closed accounts remains on your report for seven years. Prospective creditors often use this section to evaluate patterns in your handling of credit, especially for the last two to three years.

Public record: This includes bankruptcy, tax liens, and judgments against you and, in some cases, overdue child support. Information remains on your report for seven years, except for bankruptcy, which can remain for up to ten years. Unresolved judgments can remain on your report for seven years or until the governing statute of limitations has expired, whichever is longer.

In addition, your marital status, which is part of your public record, may affect your credit report. Should your marital status change, anything that remains in both names will affect each individual’s credit. For example, if you get a divorce, large assets may still rest under both names and will appear on both of your credit reports. Divorce settlements, including terms with regard to which party is responsible for debts or payments on joint assets, will not be indicated on a credit report. Should any issue arise in the payments on the asset, both individuals’ credit may be affected. Other items that might appear on your credit report include:

Inquiries: If you request credit from a lender, their inquiry will appear on your report for two years. Inquiries made in order to solicit your business will appear only in your copy of the report.

Promotional inquiries: Your report may contain a list of companies that have made promotional inquiries about you. Firms and banks that are interested in contacting you with credit offers make these inquiries because you fit a certain set of criteria. They only appear in your copy of the report.

Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, you can tell the credit bureaus to make your name unavailable to unsolicited card issuers. A phone request will be in effect for two years, while a written request will be permanent.

By law, certain personal facts—your race, religion, health status and politics—cannot appear in your credit report. For more information on restrictions visit http://www.usecreditwisely.com .

Credit Reports

If you’ve ever had credit, a credit bureau (also known as a credit reporting agency) probably has your credit history. Credit bureaus collect and sell information to creditors, insurance companies, and others about how people repay their debts. Credit bureaus don’t decide whether you will get credit. They simply report how you’ve handled your credit in the past.

There are three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion.

For free credit report by mail, you can send a request to:

Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281

According to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, if you want to order your free annual credit report online, there is only one authorized website: annualcreditreport.com.

Bureaus can report information that is up to seven years old, except for bankruptcy information, which can remain for up to 10 years. In addition, they can report your lifetime credit history if it’s used to evaluate you for credit or life insurance valued at $150,000 or more, or for a job paying at least $75,000.

Credit bureaus get most of their information from the same sources that ask for it: employers, banks and finance companies, landlords, mortgage lenders, credit card companies, major stores and court records.
Viewing Credit Reports

Lenders and landlords use your credit history to assess your ability to repay, and sometimes employers look at it to make a judgment on your client history. So a good or bad credit history can make all the difference in getting the loan you need, an apartment you like, or the job you’re counting on.

Creditors, insurance companies, some government agencies, landlords, employers and you are allowed to see your report. Fortunately, everyone is now entitled to receive one credit report per year, free of charge. Visit http://www.annualcreditreport.com or call the toll-free number 877-322-8228 to request your report.

If you have been denied credit, the creditor must tell you which credit bureau it used to get information about you. If you act within 60 days, you can get a free copy of your credit report. You may also get a free copy if you are unemployed and looking for work, receiving public assistance or believe you’ve been the victim of financial identity fraud. Otherwise, the credit bureau may charge a reasonable fee for supplying you with your report.

So, now that you know the importance of your credit history, who can see it, and how it could affect you, remember, keep an eye on it. Check your credit report to make sure it accurately reflects your personal information and paying and borrowing habits. Because hey, if your credit history’s going to show, at least make sure it looks good!

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Readers, tell us in the comments section:  What tip helped you the most?

Ever wonder how or why leaving work late became a badge of honor in the corporate world? What happened to work-life balance anyway? Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook’s COO, may have the solution.

We uncovered an interesting article at Mashable.com on how Sheryl leaves the office at 5:30pm every day. For more details, check out the full story here:

http://mashable.com/2012/04/05/sheryl-sandberg-leaves-work-at-530/

Soup to Nuts is an expression used to convey the idea of “from beginning to end.”

Used in its original context, the term relates to the entirety of a traditional, full-course meal whereby soup was often served as a first course and a helping of nuts, or a dessert with nuts, was the final course. In the modern era, however, the expression is used in a wide array of contexts, not merely those pertaining to food.

For instance, in the business world, soup to nuts can describe the concept of creating every aspect of a product or service; an integrated approach.

Example:  Jane’s new entrepreneurial venuture offers soup to nuts marketing services for small businesses, from logo creation to direct mail and online communications.

When was the last time you took on a project, from soup to nuts? Tell us in the comments space!

“You have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars and change the world.”  -Harriet Tubman

Looking for longer-lasting happiness? Paul Graham, a programmer, essayist, and inventor, believes the key is doing something you enjoy and admire:

“To be happy I think you have to be doing something you not only enjoy, but admire. You have to be able to say, at the end, wow, that’s pretty cool. This doesn’t mean you have to make something. If you learn how to hang glide, or to speak a foreign language fluently, that will be enough to make you say, for a while at least, wow, that’s pretty cool.”

To learn more, check out this article, published by LifeHacker.com:  http://lifehacker.com/5897700/to-be-happy-you-need-to-do-something-you-not-only-enjoy-but-admire

Recently Forté‘s Executive Director, Elissa Ellis Sangster, sat down with Linda Abraham of Accepted.com and shared valuable insights about women and MBA Admissions. Over the course of the interview, Elissa and Linda discussed a range of topics including the distinct challenges women face in the B-school application process, the value of networking, and how to achieve work-life balance.

For expert info and advice, check out the podcast here:

http://blog.accepted.com/2012/03/29/admissions-straight-talk-interview-with-fortes-elissa-ellis-sangster/

In its original context, move the needle describes the activity of a seismographic needle, a tool used to measure earthquakes. In business or political contexts, the term translates to making a noticeable difference.

Example:  Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal published an article entitled “GE Finding It Tough to Move the Needle” describing the company’s current challenge of going from being pretty good to great.

Example:  Some speculate that mobile apps do little to move the needle on restaurant sales.

“The thing that is really hard, and really amazing, is giving up on being perfect and beginning the work of becoming yourself.” -Anna Quindlen

In need of some professional and personal inspiration? We’ve got the cure.

First, read the following interview of Stephanie Berenbaum as she shares her career journey -from her start on the trading floor to her transition into a successful entrepreneur. Then, check out Stephanie’s website http://fabandfru.com/ to glean great tips on living well and spending wisely.

Fabulously Frugal: A Conversation with Stephanie Berenbaum, Co-Creator of Fabulous & Frugal

By Linda Descano, CFA®, President and CEO, Women & Co.

Stephanie Berenbaum, as many of you may know, is co-creator and co-editor-in-chief of Fabulous & Frugal, an online lifestyle and financial magazine for women who want to live well and spend wisely. We “met” virtually when Stephanie interviewed me for an article she was writing about Women & Co. A long-time fan of this e-zine, I was excited about doing the interview and Stephanie didn’t disappoint. She is a great interviewer and conversationalist—I could have talked with her for hours. So, as I was putting together my slate of interviews for this series, I asked Stephanie about sitting on the other side of the table—as the “interviewee.” She readily agreed and provided below are the highlights from our conversation.

On her career journey…

In college, Stephanie’s goal was to work in publishing as a journalist/writer—which, coincidentally, was one of my early career goals as well. Guess where she landed? The financial industry. “Come again?” I asked. ”Coming out of school (college), I had a lot of debt from my student loans as well as credit cards. Once I maxed out my credit cards, I realized that working as a fact checker at a magazine wasn’t going to enable me to live, even modestly, let alone pay down this debt. I had to make a change but what was I going to do with an undergrad in political science?” explained Stephanie. That’s when a friend suggested she consider going to work in the financial industry. Stephanie went for a tour of the trading floor where he worked. “I loved the energy on the trading floor and was immediately hooked,” Stephanie said, “I managed to get an entry-level position, which entailed picking up coffee—sometimes for people who were younger than me. Eventually, I worked my way up to Vice President of Institutional Equities.”

In addition to moving up, Stephanie also moved across the country, from New York to Los Angeles. “After a few years of starting work at 3 a.m., I felt ready for a change,” she added, “but I hadn’t yet figured out what the next step would be – until, that is, I had a dinner party. Because I was the designated “finance person” in my circle of friends, people were always asking me for help with their personal money. So, not surprising, at this dinner party, someone pulled me aside with a question. But, this time, the question spilled over to the general conversation and I realized that there really wasn’t a place that women could turn to for down to earth financial insights that didn’t condescend to them. That’s when I decided to start Fab & Fru.”

On her transition from executive to entrepreneur…

Stephanie did not make this transition overnight and doesn’t recommend that any aspiring entrepreneur quit her “day job” until she is prepared operationally and financially. “I decided upfront what I wanted to have set aside as a financial cushion and then left my ‘day job’ when I reached that amount and felt we were at a good place with our business,” said Stephanie, adding, “There’s no glory in not knowing where your rent check is coming from!”

On the three most important traits for success…

“Whether you’re in business for yourself or work for someone else, I think you need perseverance, humor and a savings account to succeed,” said Stephanie. When we were discussing her transition to the financial industry, Stephanie made a great point: you never know where or from whom your inspiration will come from, so it’s important to keep an open mind and a vibrant network. When considering a transition to another industry or a different role, don’t hesitate to take a step down as it may, over the long run, enable you to go further in your new role, said Stephanie. “Don’t let your ego get in the way of your long-term goals. When I first entered the financial industry, I was getting coffee for people my age or even younger. But, they had been working in the industry longer. I watched what they were doing, learned the business and looked for opportunities to add value, to demonstrate my skills and put my knowledge into practice. In the end, it paid off for me.”

On her financial role model(s)…

Stephanie credits her maternal grandparents as a source of financial inspiration. “My maternal grandparents were products of the Great Depression,” Stephanie said, “and became very successful entrepreneurs by working hard. Despite their success, they maintained a certain financial sensibility and always lived within their means. I have always been inspired by the fact that it was actually my grandmother who encouraged my grandfather to take a risk and start his own business—she had great instincts. Although my grandparents were risk takers in business, they were conservative with their investments. That’s definitely a trait that I’ve inherited.”

On promoting financial harmony in her household…

When it comes to a financially harmonious relationship, like Cary Broussard, Stephanie believes transparency is key. “You have to put all your financial facts on the table – how much credit card debt you have, what you have saved, and so forth. You also have to keep those lines of communications open throughout the relationship,” Stephanie emphasized.

She also believes it’s important to have a shared financial vision, including a budget, regardless of whether you have merged all your money or not. “Without a budget, we wouldn’t be able to keep track of where we are relative to where we want to be,” added Stephanie, “Because money can be an emotionally charged topic, we decided to conduct our ‘money talks’ over dinner at a favorite restaurant, figuring it would create a more comfortable, relaxing atmosphere to counter the financial electricity in the air. It really works. We bring all of our files with us and go through the last few months of spending. It helps us re-focus. We do this a few times a year.”

Stephanie also recommends “respecting the splurge,” explaining, “When we moved into our home my husband was obsessed with getting a huge flat-panel TV. All I wanted was a professional stove; I couldn’t care less about the TV. But, in the end, we compromised on other things and decided to get both the TV and the professional stove. You need to give each other some financial room for indulgences, even if you don’t always understand your partner’s motivation.”

On instilling financial values in her children…

Stephanie is the proud mom of two young boys, ages 3 and 5. She an her husband have set up a “charity box” in their home as a means of teaching the boys that there is more to money than just buying for yourself, but also a vehicle for helping someone else in need. When out and about in the mall or shopping centers, Stephanie tries to practice “intentional shopping,” with her boys, setting a spending limit as a way of teaching them about making choices, although she admits to the occasional toy purchase to quell tears.

On her passions…

Not surprising to anyone who knows Stephanie or reads Fab & Fru, her passions are food, entertaining, and giving back to the community.

On words she lives by…

Stephanie credits a bumper sticker as the source for her personal motto: “Warning: dates on the calendar are closer than they appear.” She added, “This reminds me that we are here, on this earth, only temporarily and we need to live life to the fullest, each and every day.”

Demonstrating that you’re an involved citizen, one who’s striving to make her community better, is a terrific way to differentiate yourself from other applicants in this tight job market.

Are you wondering about the best way to integrate volunteer work into your resume? Susan J. Ellis shares invaluable tips on how to describe volunteer experience in a manner that will capture recruiters’ attention -and land you an interview. Read on…!

Put Volunteer Work on Your Resume

by Susan J. Ellis of Energize, Inc.

When you are looking for a job, your resume gets your foot in the door. It represents you to a potential employer and you want it to stand out from the resumes of the other applicants. One way to capture the interest of an employer is to show that you are an involved citizen—someone who works to make the community a better place to live. In other words, make sure your volunteer work appears on your resume.

It is a common misconception that there is only one “right” way to design a resume. Actually, the most important thing is to present the information in such a way as to document and support your career goal. If you tell a prospective employer that you want a particular job, your resume must prove that you are the right candidate to fill it. Sometimes your paid work history may not be as important as what you have done as a volunteer in demonstrating that you have the necessary job skills.

One approach used by many people is to add a section to their resumes called “Community Service” or “Volunteer Work.” They list the highlights of their volunteering here, to show that they have interests outside of their employment history already described. This is certainly better than ignoring volunteer experience on a resume, but it is not the best way to highlight what you have learned as a volunteer.

Consider integrating your volunteer work into the section of your resume called “Work Experience.” Even if you were not paid a salary and did not consider the volunteering to be “employment,” it certainly was productive work and should count as “experience.” The key is to translate what you gained from the volunteer activity into the language of the paid work world.

Don’t use “volunteer” as a job title. It’s an adjective and alone does not convey the work that you accomplished. So, if you did tutoring, use the title “Tutor.” If you coordinated a project, identify your work accurately as “Project Coordinator.” The fact that you filled this position in an unpaid capacity is part of your description of the work. First grab your prospective employer’s interest with an accurate position title.

Next describe the volunteer work in terms of your achievements, highlighting the skills that you learned and demonstrated. What would be important to the work world about what you did? For example, did you raise $100,000? Did you manage a budget or accomplish goals on schedule? Did you supervise a staff of people? Even if they, too, were volunteers, your success required the ability to be a motivating leader. All these sorts of things impress an employer.

Take the time to analyze what you learned as a volunteer. Did you have the chance to practice public speaking? Write reports, news releases, newsletters? Plan projects, coordinate sub-committees, train others to do the work? Such skills are applicable to just about any setting.

Describe your activities and achievements fully. You do not need to say these were done as a volunteer, though you are of course welcome to do so. If you feel uneasy about representing volunteer work as equivalent to a full-time paid job, you can identify the volunteering as being part-time. Be honest. Don’t overstate what you did. But also be sure to give yourself the credit you deserve.

If you are a student seeking your first real job, being able to show volunteer work on a resume demonstrates that you had interests beyond the classroom. If you are returning to the paid work force after some time away, your volunteer activities prove that you kept yourself sharp and involved. If you want to change career fields, it may be your volunteer work in the new field that tells a prospective employer you’re worth the risk, even if all your paid employment history is in some other field.

Be unapologetic about giving space on your resume to volunteering. Since the whole goal of a resume is to get you an interview, think how more interesting your face-to-face conversation will be when you add all those community activities to show you who really are.

Copyright Energize, Inc. http://www.energizeinc.com/ used by permission.

Used as a verb in business contexts, dovetail means to fit together. Synonyms include: correspond, agree, and harmonize.

Example:  Karen and Joanna were able to meet for lunch at the conference last week since their schedules dovetailed nicely.

Example:  Jemma’s experience in fashion retail dovetails well with her new role as a stylist.

If you are keeping your wallet a little fuller by working a part-time or summer job, it’s the perfect time to establish good money habits that will help you transition out of your college years and into the real world of full financial responsibility. 
 
The idea of financial responsibility may seem like something dreadful awaiting you after graduation, but it’s actually something to look forward to! It’s about being able to afford (and decorate) your own apartment, to cash in on that travel fund you’ve built up for your dream vacation to Europe, or maybe to settle up on your loan payments so that you’re completely debt-free. No matter what you envision, being in the real world gives you the opportunity to achieve any goal that you’ve set for yourself. And of all the rewards you’ll be poised to reap after learning the basics of money management, there is nothing more rewarding than feeling empowered about your finances and your future.

The ideal financial plan for you is one that is simple and consistent—one that you can easily sustain through to graduation, and afterward build upon it. The key is to make your money work for you.

Made regularly, even small contributions really add up, so the sooner you start, the better! Let’s pretend you waitress every weekend during school, earning $100 per week. Set aside $20 each week to put toward your future. If the return rate in your bank account is 1% (the return rate is the money the bank pays you for letting them hold your money), by the time your four college years are up, your small, weekly contributions will have grown to over $4,200. Not bad for an easy $20 per week!

You can put your part-time earnings into a savings account, a CD with a fixed interest rate, or a money market account. The return rates and time commitments for these accounts vary, so shop around for which option works best for you. Bankrate.com is a website you can use to compare interest rates.

If you want and are able to go one step further, you could invest part of your earnings into the stock market through a long-term investment account. It may sound intimidating, but the benefit of investing in the stock market is that it historically generates higher returns than what you’ll earn in a savings accounts; that means you’ll get an even better head start on your long-term goals. 
 
The stock market, however, is much more volatile than a savings account, so your money needs to stay put for a longer period of time to fully reap the benefits. According to personal finance expert and author Manisha Thakor, a good rule of thumb is to consider investing in stocks and bonds only if you’re willing to let the money sit untouched for at least five years. Money that you expect to spend before then should go into those lower-risk, lower-interest accounts. 
 
Bonus: To make investing easier, try setting up an automatic weekly transfer from your checking account to your savings and investment accounts; that way, you don’t even have to think about it in between classes!  
 
For more articles on how to save money, shop for less, and make the financial decisions that are right for you, go to gogirlfinance.com

In business, the term bottom line has two primary meanings. 

The first meaning of bottom line relates to its use as an accounting term that refers to net income -the earnings figures that appear on the bottom (last) line of a financial statement.

The second meaning can be translated as the ultimate result, the upshot; also, the main point or crucial factor. For example, The bottom line is that the ambitious new CEO wants to launch five products this year. 

LifeCourse Associates recently released a new study on what engages different generations in the workforce. One significant finding? Millennials crave mentorship.

Learn more about LifeCourse’s key discoveries here:

LifeCourse Associates Releases New Study on Generations in the Workforce

LifeCourse Associates today released Why Generations Matter, a new research report that uncovers what each generation values in an employer and how well the needs of different generations of workers are—or are not—being met. 

“This is the most comprehensive quantitative study performed on generations in the workforce,” says Warren Wright, Vice President of LifeCourse Associates. Wright adds, “We now know what engages different generations.”

The study included Millennials (age 30 and under), Generation X (ages 31-51) and Boomers (ages 52-69) who are employed full-time. The survey was conducted through a nationally representative online panel of 1,250 respondents in July 2011, and was tested again on 4,986 insurance industry employees in September 2011.

The report is one step in LifeCourse’s new Generational Workforce Audit, a customized research tool to diagnose how generational engagement affects an organization’s bottom line.
Key Findings:

  * Generations matter. Nearly three-quarters of respondents agreed, not only that there are important generational differences, but also that they “sometimes” or “often” pose challenges in the workplace.
  * Millennials crave mentorship. Nearly a third of Millennials “strongly” agreed that they want to work for an organization that provides an excellent mentoring program, far more than any other generation.  Millennials also experience the largest gap between what they have and what they want when it comes to mentoring.
  * Millennials want a social workplace.  An overwhelming 68 percent of Millennials agreed that they like to socialize informally and make new friends while at work, about ten points higher than any other generation.
  * Millennials want to contribute. Nearly two-thirds of Millennials agreed that they like their employer “to contribute to social and ethical causes” that they think are important, versus barely half of Boomers and older Gen Xers.
  * Millennials and Xers want cutting-edge technology. High shares of both Millennials and Gen Xers “strongly agree” that they “like to work with state-of-the-art technology,” while Boomers rate this as significantly less important.  Millennials rate their employers’ performance in this area the lowest.
  * Boomers are mission-focused. Fully 56 percent of older Boomers and 50 percent of younger Boomers “strongly agree” that they want to be “100 percent dedicated to my organization’s mission.”  That number declines sharply for older Gen Xers and continues to decline through Millennials, in a remarkable 19-point generational spread.

To revisit or follow up. “Let’s circle back next week and review the revised sales projections.”
 

Today marks the 101st anniversary of International Women’s Day, a worldwide holiday recognizing women’s achievements in politics, economics, and society.

So, let’s celebrate!

We at the Forté Foundation have come up with a few ways to help you get the party going. For starters you could:

1. Tell other women about the Forté Foundation by sharing this post
2. Become a Forté member and receive exclusive access to employers, job postings, and more
3. Donate to Forté’s Annual Fund and help provide resources, education, and opportunities to create more women business leaders

We’d love to hear your ideas. In the comments section, tell us how you plan to celebrate International Women’s Day.

Do you need some advice on how to be professionally chic in the workplace?  The Fold is showing women how to do this.  Founded by Polly McMaster and Cheryl Mainland, two London Business MBAs, are showing women how to dress with style and grace. Making clothes for women to wear in a meeting or the boardroom, Polly and Cheryl are designing clothes to make every women feel confident.  Learn more about The Fold!

To increase production of a project over time. “We at the Forté Foundation need to start ramp-up for our women’s conference this summer!”

What are the top companies for women to work?  This recent post by Fortune sheds light on the best place for women to work with large percentages of women.  Here are the first 20:


1. Bright Horizons Family Solutions - 95% Women
2. Build-A-Bear Workshop - 85% Women
3. Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta - 83% Women
4. Meridian Health - 80% Women
5. Southern Ohio Medical Center - 79% Women
6. The Everett Clinic - 78% Women
7. OhioHealth - 77% Women
8. Scripps Health - 77% Women
9. Atlantic Health - 76% Women
10. Methodist Hospital - 74% Women
11. Baptist Health South Florida - 74% Women
12. Teach For America - 73% Women
13. Nordstrom - 72% Women
14. Umpqua Bank - 71% Women
15. Navy Federal Credit Union - 70% Women
16. Mayo Clinic - 70% Women
17. Aflac - 67% Women
18. American Fidelity Assurance - 66% Women
19. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital - 66% Women
20. The Container Store - 66% Women

Read the full list!

Experts agree that it’s never too early to begin investing in your personal professional development, or building career capital. Think of career capital as an investment in yourself that will ensure that you are professionally secure, productive, and happy throughout your working life. Just like any other investment, it’s not something that you throw money at and then walk away from. You must continually add to your investment by acquiring new knowledge, new skills, and new capabilities. You need to make deposits on a regular basis, keep up with the balance, diversify—it will only work for you if you nurture it and pay attention to it.

Open your account with the following basics, and watch it grow as you accumulate knowledge, insight, and skills.

Know Yourself
“The front end of your personal professional adventure is to be self-aware,” says Janelle Shubert, Associate Director of the Center for Women’s Leadership at Babson University. “Figure out what you love to do, what makes your heart sing. Pay attention, because when you’re doing something you love, it’s not work.”

This self-evaluation really needs to be happening in high school or even earlier, but if you are beyond that, don’t despair! College is also a good place to be introspective, to explore different careers; but many people can’t really wrap their heads around what they want to do until they are out in the workforce, and in their first jobs.

“When you figure out what matters to you, who you are, then you can use that as a basis to make life decisions,” adds Janine Moon, founder of CompassPoint Coaching, a career coaching firm in Columbus, Ohio. Too often, Moon finds herself taking clients—at 40 or 50 years old—through a process of self-discovery that should have happened years earlier, before they spent decades in an unsatisfying career. It is always a good investment to take the time to discover your foundational values before committing to a professional direction.

“It makes me enormously sad when people get up every day and hate what they’re doing. Life is so short,” Shubert says. “Try to make the stuff that you do and get paid for something you can feel really proud of.”

If you do find yourself in a job that’s just not making you happy, have a conversation with your boss, urges Shubert. “Don’t be afraid to tell your supervisor that you may be good at something but you just hate it, it’s not something that makes you happy or challenges you.” Shubert reminds us that bosses are supposed to nurture their employees, give them the tools to do their jobs, to grow and develop professionally: if they don’t know you’re unhappy, they can’t do that. “Your boss can’t read your mind: you need to have that conversation,” she says.

The easiest selection or target because little or no effort is needed to acquire.  The expression comes from fruit-bearing trees that have low branches—low enough to be picked without having to use much effort. 

The first 90 days of any job can mean everything. They can be the difference between a quick, linear path to a seat on the board of directors or years stuck in cubicle world, lunching at your desk, toiling for little reward.

So know this: Your job starts before you even report to work. The first 90 days is prime time to take advantage of fresh opportunities. It may be daunting, but many already know it’s worth the extra effort.

8 Ways to Make it (or Break It!)

1.  Do homework.
Work toward the goals you want to accomplish before your first day. Use the Internet to research your company and your industry. Identify the key players; know names of chief officers and their history with the company. By the time you arrive, you should have a good idea of how you can help your new employer.

2.  Do establish a wide network.
Don’t just talk to people within your business who can help you. Your network should include a mentor with clout in your company and people in other companies you can call on now and for future projects.

3.  Do go above and beyond.
Be ready for long days, taking on multiple projects while still executing your primary roles. “One individual who took over a financial company wanted to show she cared about people and profits,” says Dee Soder, Ph.D., founder of The CEO Perspective Group. “She visited every branch office and gave a speech in the first two weeks. It showed she cared.”

This little gem is probably one of the most overused of all business jargon.  It means to make contact or cover all the possibilities. Literal meaning:  Comes from baseball where the runners need to touch base to make a legal run. 

“I just wanted to “touch base” and see where we stand with those TPS reports.”

Before deciding on your major, did you stop to think on how employable your major might be?  Our guess is that some of you did, and some maybe did not.  Most probably thought about what career path you felt most passionate about.  Or, you might not have been super sure what you wanted to do so you chose a major that was popular amongst your friends or even rated academically high at your school.

In a recent article posted on Her Campus, Kayla Riley breaks down the “The 10 Most Employable Majors”.

The word “Deliverable” is commonly used when referring to a tangible or intangible object that needs to be produced as the result of a project. 

It’s usually promised and can come in the form of an action (intangible) or a report, document, or piece of collateral (tangible).

The idea of going to business school first occurred to Daryl-Lynn in high school, when she attended the Leadership Education and Development program at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

“During the month, I attended lectures by faculty and executives, engaged in team-based assignments, and visited corporations in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and New York City,” she remembers.  “It was an eye-opening experience that exposed me to the benefits of attending business school.”

However, the college she chose, Stanford, did not offer an undergraduate business major. Daryl-Lynn opted to study industrial engineering and soon came to appreciate that discipline as well.

As a college student, you may be deprived of many things—time, sleep, money—but you always have plenty of exams. With dozens of midterms and finals dotting your undergraduate years, to say nothing of projects, papers, and pop quizzes, it’s understandable that you might want to postpone taking the GMAT until after your diploma is hanging on the wall. You may think that unless you’re one of the relatively few students who plans to proceed directly to business school, there’s no rush to take the GMAT.

But while the Graduate Management Admission Test, as it’s formally known, is no one’s idea of fun, there are many good reasons to forge ahead and take the test while you’re still in college, even if you intend to wait for several years before entering business school—or, for that matter, if you’re still deciding whether the MBA is in your future. As a student, your test-taking skills are honed through constant practice.  You’re in an environment that’s relatively conducive to studying. And knowing your GMAT score can help you plan your post-collegiate career in order to compete successfully for admission to top programs.

In this two-part article, we consider several great reasons to take the GMAT before you graduate. In the first section, we discuss whether you might be one of the small but growing number of women who pursue their MBA degree directly after graduating from college—in which case, you have little time to dawdle about the GMAT. In section two, we discuss why you should consider taking the GMAT sooner rather than later, even if you’re undecided about whether you should go to business school. 
Read More>>

Whenever you start to feel overwhelmed by your commitments and obligations, pull out this business jargon favorite!

Next time you’re in a school or work meeting, but are unable to discuss every topic, you can use the term, “Put a pin in it”.  This lets everyone know that the subject matter is still important and needs to be discussed, but needs to be put off for a future meeting.

“Put a pin in it” is a slang term that means to “hold onto that thought/idea and we’ll come back to it later”.  One might assume that it comes from thumb-tacking an idea to a bulletin board, but in fact, it comes from a WWII reference to a hand grenade - “putting a pin in it” so you can save it for later!

The summer internship interview season is just around the corner!

We know it can be really difficult to start building a work-appropriate wardrobe while you’re still on a college student’s budget. That’s why we thought we’d share this special student discount from Ann Taylor.

Just show your student ID at any Ann Taylor store to receive a 20% discount on all full-priced purchases until you graduate! Need a little inspiration? Check out their Style for Students website for lookbooks, videos and some budget-friendly interview options.

Know of some other great student discount offers? .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) so we can spread the word!

Have you ever wondered what it’s really like to work in the business world?  Here are a few little-known truths that may give you a leg up on the competition:

Myth: If you study hard and make excellent grades, you’ll get a great job. Employers today want you to have some practical experience in addition to your university training. And they’re right. Succeeding in our competitive business world means you’ll need both a solid foundation in theoretical knowledge and experience applying that knowledge. Plan on completing at least one or two internships in your field before you graduate. You’ll learn the different behaviors, roles, skills, and expectations of the working world while you gain valuable hands-on experience. And you’ll demonstrate to future employers that you’re serious and dedicated about your career choice.

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With the iconic Mary Tyler Moore honored for lifetime achievement at the Screen Actors Guild awards this past Sunday, it got us thinking about about her TV show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the influence it had on women’s role in the work place.

Mary Richards, the show’s title character played by Moore, quickly became the woman’s role model of the 1970s. Never before had a happily single, 30-something working woman been portrayed on television. Ask your grandmothers — she was quite the revelation. 

Smart, independent, and making it on her own, she fought for what she believed was right — including equal pay for equal work. In one particularly memorable episode, Mary confronts her boss, Mr. Grant, after learning the male producer she replaced was paid a higher salary. Not only did she get her raise, but she shed a light one of the most pervasive issues for women in the business world — one we’re grappling with even today.

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When your boss comes to you and says, “I need you to go on a snipe hunt,” no need to pull out your camo gear and shotgun. While snipes are small birds, what she’s really sending you on is something like a wild goose chase.

Managers will often use this phrase before asking you to locate something they know may very well be impossible to locate — as in, “I saw some article, somewhere, that had something to do with….Can you go find that for me?”

While the task at hand may require hours of digging on your part, the good news is your boss already knows there’s a high likelihood you’ll come up empty handed. The better news — if you do manage to capture that elusive snipe, you’ll be the team hero and receive all the accolades your feat well deserves.

“To be in a couple, do you have to put your single self on a shelf?”
        —Carrie Bradshaw, Sex in the City

It’s a fair question, and one that gets asked again in this article, Marriage: Hazardous to Your Career? by Forbes contributor, Selena Rezvani.

One point Rezvani makes that rings perhaps a little too true — most women in business seem reluctant to talk about how their marital status has contributed to (or detracted from) their success. And yet, when and if to get married is a much sought-after piece of advice for young women just starting out their careers.

As Rezvani points out, recent Census Bureau statistics show adult, unmarried women will soon outnumber their married counterparts. With marriage rates declining most drastically for the 18-29 age set, clearly we don’t feel the same need to rush to the alter as previous generations.

But how does the decision to couple up, delay getting hitched, or remain single all together affect your career? Like everything in life, there are no easy answers and pros and cons to both sides.

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If you haven’t yet registered for the Forté Industry Introduction to Marketing, there’s still time!

Join us today, January 26, at 12:00-1:00 pm EST for this career development webinar that will take an in-depth look at the marketing industry.

You’ll hear from successful MBA alumnae from Forté sponsor schools and companies who are excited to share their personal experiences about a post-MBA career in Marketing.

Remember, pre-registration for the webinars is required, and you must be logged into access registration for the webinars.

Learn more and register >>

Ever wondered how you can leverage your technical experience in the business world? Whether you majored in Engineering, Physics, Chemistry, or Computer Science, an exciting career in business can be a part of your future!

Mark your calendar for this next edition of the Forté College Webinar Series, brought to you by BlackRock, Capital One and The PNC Financial Services Group.

Tuesday, February 7th
5:00 - 6:00 PM EST
Career Lab Close-Up: Research Lab to Wall Street? Engineering to Marketing?
Making the Transition into Business

Attend this free webinar — featuring panelists from Capital One, Intel, BlackRock and Deloitte — to learn about business careers and how you can build the career of your dreams.

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Whenever you start to feel overwhelmed by your commitments and obligations, pull out this business jargon favorite!

“Bandwidth” refers to the the physical and mental limitation of your working ability. Because the inference of “bandwidth” goes beyond just “time,” it’s a great way to say you can’t take on something without doing damage to your image as a can-do-make-it-happen-team-player.

So when your boss comes to you with yet another project with yet another unreasonable deadline, don’t respond with, “I just don’t have time to get that done by Friday,” which subtly implies that you’re not willing to put in the extra hours to make it happen. 

Instead, tell her, “I don’t think I have the bandwidth to take on another project for this week.” This approach lets her know you’re committed, but already pushing yourself to the max.

And while you may be hesitant to tell your boss that you can’t help her with something, she’ll actually respect the fact that you know your own limits and don’t want to put a critical project at risk.

The marketing function in a company explores products and the customers who might be interested in them. Once a connection is established between product and customer, a marketing professional must develop strategic plans that set positioning, pricing, and strategic direction for the product (or service) throughout its life cycle. Marketers develop programs (like advertising) to improve brand recognition and loyalty and increase profitability. In addition, they communicate with partners and customers and manage various internal and external departments, driving all toward common marketing goals and objectives. Thus, a marketing career requires many of the same skills as a general management career and may prepare an individual for general management or an entrepreneurial endeavor.

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You’ll often hear people in business ask, “So what’s our value proposition?”

Value proposition is defined as “a collection of tangible and intangible things your product or service offers.” So what they’re really asking is, “What does this mean for our customer? Why would someone want to buy this? What are the benefits?”

The tangible elements of a value proposition are the product’s features, while the intangible elements are what it enables or how it makes the customer feel.

If you were writing a value proposition for a new hybrid car, for example, the tangible elements would focus around fuel efficiency, reduced emissions, price, etc. The intangibles would be the more emotional benefits, such as how fun it is to drive while helping to protect the environment.

Did you know that people can have value propositions as well?

Consider this question before your next job interview — What’s your value proposition? What are the tangible reasons someone should hire you, such as your knowledge, skills or experience?  What are the intangible benefits you bring to the table, like creative problem solving, a great attitude or your dedication?

The best value propositions always include both the tangible and the intangible benefits.  And the candidate with the best value proposition gets hired. Make sure you’ve thought about both aspects and you’ll really shine during the interview!

The Spring semester is almost here! If you’re looking for a budget-friendly way to liven up your dorm room or apartment, check out this great idea we found on geeksugar.

Canvas Pop lets you print your favorite pics directly from your Instagram account onto 12” x 12” canvases to create a personal gallery of your favorite college experiences.

The lightweight canvases mean the prints are easy to hang without damaging your walls (or losing your deposit!) and at the special introductory price of just $29.95, they won’t do too much damage to your bank account either!

Yesterday we talked a little bit about how more and more, companies today are seeking out candidates with an MBA degree — even for positions that historically have had no such requirement.

A great case in point is the Advertising industry. Traditionally, this creative-driven field has been concerned primarily with results not credentials. But, as clients have begun demanding a stronger business case and quantifiable results for their advertising and marketing programs, so have agencies started demanding business backgrounds for virtually all positions outside of the creative team.

In this short interview, former Advertising Media Planner and Buyer and Forté Fellow, Angel Davis, discusses why she decided to pursue an MBA and what you might want to consider as you start planning your own career path.

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If you’re getting close to finishing up your undergraduate degree, you’ve probably also started thinking about your post-college career. As you’re exploring your options, now is great time to start doing a little research on what you’ll need to succeed beyond that entry-level position.

Times have changed.  Many industries that once shunned applicants with an advanced degree now actively seek candidates with greater education, including an MBA. In fact, MBA Focus, a recruiting firm that connects employers with business-school students, reports a 103% increase in MBA-required and MBA-preferred positions posted on their boards since late 2010.

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While women now constitute 31% of business-school classes, up from about 26% in 2001, there’s still work to be done.

Last week, Forté Foundation’s executive director, Elissa Ellis Sangster, spoke to The Wall Street Journal about how companies and schools can recruit more women and why diversity matters.

Read the excerpts from her interview and find out what she has to say about gender diversity in business schools and why the disparity still persists.

Glassdoor recently announced their 2012 Employees’ Choice Awards for Best Places to Work, and we’re thrilled to see six Forté Foundation sponsors made the list!

We’re especially excited for our Virtual Campus sponsors, Ernst & Young and Lilly, which came in at numbers 38 and 46, respectively.

Want to know more about what makes these VC sponsors such great places to work? Head over to the Career Gal Road Trip to explore their virtual cities. There, you can learn more about the organizations and even find out how to apply for their internship programs!

Other Forté sponsors making the list include Bain & Company, which snagged the number one position, as well as Chevron, Goldman Sachs and Intel.

If you were choosing the best companies to work for, what would be on your criteria list? What do YOU think defines a “great place to work?”  Tell us, so we can share your thoughts with our many wonderful sponsors! We know they’re interested in what you have to say, because they know you’re the future of their organizations—so tell them what you’ll be looking for as you start your career path!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Hopefully you made it through finals relatively unscathed, and are looking forward to a little R&R and some time with the fam.

If you’re doing a little traveling to get home for the holidays, check out some of the Forté Forum podcasts while you’re in the car or waiting for the plane.  These podcasts are all about why you might want to consider an MBA as part of your future, including advice and experiences shared by some of the most successful businesswomen out there.

Get them free on iTunes

“You can’t change your gender. Plus, you are in the good company of 50% of the population. The key is to figure out how you can get what you specifically want with your unique challenges, strengths, and circumstances. The rest is noise.”

-Gina Bianchini
Founder of Mightybell

As quoted in Executive Suite: Gina Bianchini Says Don’t Focus On The Challenges Of Being A Woman
by Meredith Lepore and featured on The Grindstone

Finals are over and the spring semester is right around the corner. If you’ve already locked-in an internship for the upcoming term, you’re in good shape.

But what if you haven’t? Should you even try?

Most companies start looking for their spring interns in early October. But, while it is late in the game, you can still make it happen. Just as “finding an internship” got pushed to the bottom of your to-do list, chances are good that for many organizations so did “find an intern.”

So, how to make the most of the time you have left? Here are some short-cut tips on finding (and landing) an internship quickly:

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Join Forté for this career development webinar series that will take an in-depth look at different industries within the business world. Learn about the different career tracks and opportunities available. Hear from successful MBA alumnae from Forté sponsor schools and companies who are excited to share their personal experiences about a post-MBA career in their industry. And have the opportunity to ask any questions!

Mark Your Calendars:

January 24, 12:00-1:00 pm EST: Corporate Finance
January 26, 12:00-1:00 pm EST: Marketing

Learn more and register>>

“ROI” stands for “Return on Investment.” It is a performance measure used to evaluate the strength of a particular investment, or to compare various investment options against each other.

To calculate ROI, the benefit (return) of the investment is divided by the cost of the investment, and the result is expressed as a percentage or ratio.

As an example:
If a marketing campaign will cost $20,000 and generates $30,000 in sales, the return is $10,000.
Divide the return of $10,000 by the original cost of $20,000, and the ROI is .5, or 50%.

ROI is a very popular metric in business because of its simplicity. It helps answer questions such as, “Should we make this investment? Which of these investment options will give us the greatest benefit?”

The higher the ROI, the better the investment. And of course, you never want to make an investment with a negative ROI!

Kate Shae was born in Bendigo, two hours north of Melbourne. She bypassed the travel abroad that is typical for young Australians to pursue her studies and a career. However, over time, she’s more than compensated for any adventures she may have missed, with an exciting career filled with international travel and opportunities to live abroad. 

Kate studied science at University of Melbourne, majoring in statistics. At one time, she thought she might become an actuary, but instead took a position in investment banking. A few years working in the business world fueled an interest to pursue an MBA. “I was fascinated with business more broadly,” she recalls. “My training in mathematics was not as broad as I wanted it to be. Business school was a way to expand my exposure to a range of different business considerations. I was interested in strategic and business development—not just finance.”

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Finals week is here, as well as the stress and anxiety that come along with it.

Having survived many a finals week ourselves, we wanted to share some of our favorite tips for how to do your best and come out the other side relatively unscathed.

Have favorite study and survival secrets of your own? Be sure to share those too!

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A recent study by More magazine, conducted in partnership with the Polling Company/WomanTrend, surveyed 500 women (all with college or higher degrees), ages 35 to 60 and found that many women are feeling less ambitious these days. According to More, “When asked point-blank, 43% of women described themselves as less ambitious now than they were 10 years ago; only 15% reported feeling more ambitious.”

The study, as later reported on MSNBC’s Nightly News, also found that 38% said they didn’t want to deal with the politics, pressure and responsibility that goes with climbing the corporate ladder. Overall, women were willing to trade flexibility and more personal time for titles and pay.

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“There is no down side to studying abroad, only benefits.”
 So says Leah Miller, international programs coordinator at the University of Texas McCombs School of Business, which is known for being one of the leaders in study abroad.

What exactly is it about studying abroad that is so valuable? According to Miller, “Students develop hard skills and soft skills, both personal and professional. In terms of hard skills, they learn foreign languages, cultural information, geographic information and academic facts and figures. The soft skills—the intangibles—are even more important: character development, an understanding of America’s place in the world, an understanding of oneself. And probably the biggest benefit students bring back is confidence. Students who study abroad feel confident that they can go anywhere and meet anyone and be able to handle it.”

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Your whole life lies in front of you, but how do you decide what to do with it? The opportunities for women in business are more exciting than ever, and here’s your place to start! Every week, we’ll be posting articles and information to guide, encourage and inspire you as you explore your career options and get ready to make your mark on the world. We want to help you find your passion and give you the tools to succeed. We know you can make your dreams come true, and we’re here to help make that happen.

But we also want to hear from you! .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) and we’ll post it to our blog along with the best advice from our panel of experts. .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) for stories and topics. Know a college woman who’s accomplishing great things? .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) — we’d love to feature her on our site. Or maybe you’d like to .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) or help .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) that’s working to help women succeed in business? Whatever it is, .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)!

Everyday, women in business are accomplishing great things. And we’re excited to help the next generation of women business leaders — You — accomplish even more!

No matter what a company does, it needs people to oversee the smooth functioning of all the activities that are necessary to produce a product or service. General managers have this responsibility. They ensure that—from the concept of a product to its production and delivery and how it’s accounted for—a business’s operations blend together as seamlessly as possible. Providing strategic direction, sharing information, enhancing communication, and making decisions are all hallmarks of the general manager role. Most important, general managers are responsible for making money for the business: they take credit for the profits and must explain any losses.

Due to the level of responsibility expected, employers rarely hire a business school graduate immediately into a general management position. General managers are typically executives with many years of experience. Most employers, however, are hoping to hire future general managers, and one can begin a career with that goal in mind.

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