This is the third and final blog from Marc McGrann, our Marketing Intern at APLS Group for the past 20 months.  Marc graduated in May and immediately found a full time position with a start-up company in the Raleigh, NC area.

Recently I started my first job after college.  On my first day, I began training at the new company for a position I feel is a little beneath my skill set. Being that I am just out of college and am new to the company I understand and accept that I have to start at the bottom, but what I decided was that I would not accept staying in the position.

Many people in the workforce feel the same way that I do now, that their position in a company does not reflect that of their potential, yet they continue to stay in their position and do not move up. What I have realized is this is primarily because most individuals feel that they should be noticed simply for doing their job well and should be promoted on that merit alone. This is untrue. The mark of a highly qualified upper management type individual is not that they are very good at their job, but that they are able to see beyond their position and the tasks at hand.

In order for any person to better themselves, they must extend themselves beyond that which is expected. For example, in order to get stronger you can’t lift the same weight every day. You have to extend yourself by lifting more weight. When in the office, you cannot expect more responsibility for just doing what you are asked to do, but should be proactive in that you realize problems and find solutions. The key is finding solutions. Not simply noting problems and letting a superior know (or if you are running your own company merely noticing a problem), but discovering problems and creating concrete steps to solving issues.

By realizing a problem, studying the problem, working out possible solutions, and creating real processes which can be implemented in order to solve the issue you can prove that you are able to gain ownership of the responsibility that comes with an upper management position. We all have to realize that being a manager or a vice president or even a CEO does not depend on just being the best at performing a particular task, but more important than that, it depends on understanding the business and being able to adjust and solve issues that will come up which hinder those beneath you from performing the task most efficiently.

We are delighted to have Marc McGrann, our Marketing Intern provide
the second in a series of three Guest Blogs. Hope you enjoy this!

A retired executive of a major company came to my class the other day to talk with us about starting companies and getting ahead in the business world. He asked us what the antelope does when it wakes up. “It runs” he told us. It runs because if it doesn’t it will be eaten. He then asked what the lion does when it wakes up. Again he said, “It runs.” It runs because if it doesn’t it will starve. The point he was making to us was that in order to succeed we must keep this same mentality. From the moment we enter the office in the morning to the time we leave we must begin to seek out opportunities and get to work.

What I have realized in my entrepreneurship concentration is that the business environment can be just as dangerous as the jungle. Every product on the market will eventually be replaced and that is what creates both opportunity and threats. In order to be successful it is imperative that you must be willing to either adjust to the trends of the market or lead the way.  Anyone can be successful if they simply work to continue to improve their company, their department, or their concept. The trends of the jungle present us with opportunities and threats and it is our own responsibility to determine which it is.

APLS Group is excited to have a guest blogger, our intern Marc McGrann, writing a column for the next few months. Marc’s focus will be his experiences while in school at North Carolina State University and working for APLS Group. We hope you enjoy!

Regards,

Nanci Appleman-Vassil

As I approach graduation and my future, I am trying to learn as much as I can from my short past.  Looking over my past four years, there are two large lessons that I have taken from my college experience that I believe will always stick with me in my professional life.

The first lesson I learned in a business strategy course;  it is important to stick to your core competences when determining the direction of your company. What this means is that when making strategic decisions you must keep in mind what your core capabilities are and the purpose or mission of your business. The “why” that a company exists is one of the most important components when deciding the “what” that a company does.

The second thing I learned was to understand what is being sold by looking beyond the box when considering what you are selling.  I say, “looking beyond,” rather than “outside of” because you must  keep your focus on what exists in front of you. This is not a time to think of new ideas, but rather realize what is already there. In order to sell we must realize that we do not simply sell the product; we sell the purpose for those products. For example, the internet was not created to see web pages. It was created to offer the capability of connecting the world.

When approaching my own job search and deciding on a career path, I have applied these ideas to myself.  The biggest mistake I try to avoid is changing myself to fit a position rather than fitting the position to my competences. In each of the five or so interviews I have had over the past three weeks, I have been asked one common question, “Why do you think you would be a good fit for this job?” What I have strived to do to answer this question is research each company and make honest reasons why my skills would work well in each position. I do not simply look at what the company wants and read these traits back to them but figure out how my personal strengths can be used to fill the gaps which they require. This is done by looking beyond the product. By looking at myself as a product, I have to realize what my capabilities are and avoid simply selling myself as a potential employee. I am more than that.  I am an investment opportunity for each company, whose core competences can be used in order to give the highest return to the company which realizes my potential. By doing this, I am using my core ompetences to find the best direction for my career while selling companies my ability and potential rather than an employee to fill a position.

To learn more about developing your core competences, please visit the APLS online store.