Getting Started
Step 1: The most important step! Begin by scheduling an appointment with your professional career advisor, Debbie Luk Graves. She will help you define your career goals and coordinate your efforts. She can help you make the connection between your background and interests to potential roles and types of employers.
After meeting with Debbie, read suggested career books and outline your approach. Some suggested titles are listed.
Step 2: Target your search by creating lists of companies in specific regions or industries. Create a list of potential contacts at each company.
Step 3: Research the companies you are interviewing with and the industries they are in. See suggested resources for company and industry research below.
Step 4: Talk to Debbie, second-year students, and alumni about jobs, companies, and interviewing.
Pay attention to advice on how to contact alumni and potential employers. Learn how to craft an engaging message to get your foot in the door. You want to make a good first impression!
Researching Companies
Before going into a Marketing or General Management interviews, it is key to be well-versed about the company and its industry. In addition to researching the companies and industries you are interviewing in, review information in the interview database section of JPAY such as the types of questions asked by the different companies.
Company and Industry Research and Profiles:
- Business Source CompleteGood for SWOT analysis and latest company news.
- IBISWorldIBISWorld provides industry research reports and profiles for over 700 United States industries.
- PassportExcellent resource for international industries, countries, markets, and products. Market research reports, statistics, and analyst reports cover consumer market sizes, country market data, forecasts, consumer lifestyles, companies and brands, and many product & location specific reports.
- StatistaStatista provides access to statistics and studies gathered by market researchers, trade organizations, scientific publications, and government sources on over 600 industries.
- Mintel AcademicProvides industry level trends, particularly category and product trends from the consumer perspective.
Financial Information and Business Overviews:
- 8k, 10Q, and 10K reports are a wealth of information on financials and recent major events.
- Available from the SEC, most financial databases, and the company's investor relations website.
Company's Website:
- Values
- Mission statement
- Culture
- Earnings Releases (in Investor Relations section)
- Letter to shareholders (in Investor Relations section)
Keeping Up-To-Date
Social Media & Journals:
Keeping up-to-date on a daily basis is key to smoothly absorbing the larger trends and subtle nuances of an industry. Read daily and follow publications like Smart Brief, eMarketer, and others listed here on social media.
General Resources:
- Smart BriefIndustry-specific daily news. You can subscribe to newsletters specific to Food and Beverage, Health Care, Retail, Energy, Tech, among other industries. An ideal way to get targeted news from a variety of sources all in one spot.
- Wall Street JournalThe Business section often has useful news related to the latest activity from many companies, particularly within the CPG and Healthcare industries. Register for a free account here: https://partner.wsj.com/partner/cornelluniversity
- FactivaRead the New York Times and Wall Street Journal for free through this database.
Marketing Resources:
- Ad AgeLeading trade journal of the marketing and media community. Available in print in the library as well as online.
- Ad WeekCovering news and trends in media, marketing, advertising and technology. Available in print in the library as well as online.
- AMA: Marketing NewsThe American Marketing Association's publication
Career Books
Executive Presence by ISBN: 9780062246899Publication Date: 2014-06-03Are you "leadership material?" More importantly, do others perceive you to be? Sylvia Ann Hewlett, a noted expert on workplace power and influence, shows you how to identify and embody the Executive Presence (EP) that you need to succeed.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by ISBN: 9781439167342Publication Date: 2009-11-03Dale Carnegie's rock-solid, time-tested advice has carried countless people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. One of the most groundbreaking and timeless bestsellers of all time, How to Win Friends & Influence People will teach you: -Six ways to make people like you -Twelve ways to win people to your way of thinking -Nine ways to change people without arousing resentment .
Never Eat Alone by ISBN: 0385512058Publication Date: 2005-02-22Do you want to get ahead in life? Climb the ladder to personal success? The secret, master networker Keith Ferrazzi claims, is in reaching out to other people.
Rise above the Noise by ISBN: 9780615978420Publication Date: 2014-02-28In Rise Above the Noise, the author gives an industry insider's perspective on how to answer the most common and difficult marketing interview questions. The book will reveal: Answers to marketing interview questions Frameworks on how to tackle marketing case questions Biggest mistakes marketing candidates make at the interview Understand what interviewers are looking for, why they're looking for it, and how to deliver it Questions and answers covered in the book include: What promotional strategies would you use for a Honey Nut Cheerios campaign? Develop a social good campaign for Teavana. Should Hidden Valley increase the price of its ranch dressing? Kit Kat sales declined year-over-year. Why is that, and what would you do to address it? Tell me about a terrible product that's marketed well. And more...
The Marketing Interview by ISBN: 9780998120454Publication Date: 2018-05-10In The Marketing Interview, Lewis C. Lin gives an industry insider's perspective on how to answer the most common and difficult marketing interview questions. The book will reveal: Answers to marketing interview questionsFrameworks on how to tackle marketing case questionsBiggest mistakes marketing candidates make at the interviewUnderstand what interviewers are looking for, why they're looking for it, and how to deliver it
