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!

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.

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!

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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!

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!

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

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“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!

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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