Today I am talking to Kris Holmes.

Kris Holmes a Best-Selling Author of Ignite Your Career! Strategies and Tactics to Unleash Your Potential. She is also an executive recruiter and partner at O’Connell Group, a leading executive search firm in consumer marketing and market research. With more than twenty-five years of experience, she is also a member of the Pinnacle Society, the premier consortium of industry-leading recruiters in North America.

Kris has counseled tens of thousands of candidates in setting goals and leveraging their strengths. Before shifting to recruiting, Kris worked for a decade in consumer marketing with major corporations like Johnson & Johnson, Kraft Foods, and Ralston Purina. She’s a graduate of Tufts University and has an MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern.

Having helped thousands of candidates find jobs, Kris has some extremely valuable insights to share with you and I am excited to share this conversation soon.

A reminder to share this show far and wide if you are enjoying it and benefiting from it.

Kris LinkedIn profile:

www.linkedin.com/in/kris-holmes-966548/

Ignite your career:

www.igniteyourcareerbook.com/

The Graduate at Work website:

www.thegraduateatwork.com

Many people, including Oprah Winfrey and the late Steve Jobs, tell graduates to find their passion, find what they love doing.

While this is great advice, I think it can give a recent college graduate anxiety.

"But what if I do not know what my passion is?"

In this episode, I put this advice in perspective by looking at how Oprah and Steve Jobs found the career that they loved.

Website: www.thegraduateatwork.com

Michael is a Software Development Manager currently working on Alexa's Machine Learning Data Platform for Amazon. Previously, he worked as a manager and engineer for ten years in the entertainment industry, leading development of mobile games and writing artificial intelligence, animation, and gameplay code for console games such as Grand Theft Auto 5.

He's written articles in the Game AI Pro and Game Programming Gems series and has been a top-50 rated conference speaker at the Game Developer's Conference.

A colleague working with Michael had the following to say: Michael, has never ceased to impress me. His communication skills are top notch, his enthusiasm is seemingly limitless, and his understanding of AI is both broad and deep.

Michael works directly with recent graduates and says that he loves working with them. We talk about his experience in the gaming industry and with artificial intelligence, the difference between being an individual contributor and being a manager, how to overcome boredom at work and what to do to impress your manager. Michael has a lot of great advice for recent graduates and I am super excited to share this conversation with you.

Notable quote:

“I can’t overstate enough as a manager how wonderful it makes me feel when I have people on the team who I can give work to and I can feel confident that it will get done to quality and on time”

Find Michael on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-dawe/

Learn more about The Graduate at work: www.thegraduateatwork.com

Do you have a career strategy?

The career landscape has changed. This requires a new career strategy.

The previous model of moving up the corporate ladder, required little thought and planning. Work for a company, do the best you can, work your way up the ladder with promotions. That’s it. Modern career moves might be lateral or international and from company to company. The modern career is thus flexible, dynamic and too some degree, uncertain. Choatic.

A new landscape requires a new approach and a new strategy. What is this strategy?

This new strategy is called building career capital. Find out more.

In this episode, Jai and Brian continue their conversation.

They talk about the importance of getting the basics right, but how that is nothing to pat yourself on the back for. You need to go over and beyond the basics to add value.

Brian also talks about what keeps a manager up at night and how empathizing with a manager is an important step towards building a great relationship.

Follow Brian on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianbaptista/

Have a look at our website:

www.thegraduateatwork.com

Today I am talking to Brian Baptista from Denmark. Since the interview was quite long, I have decided to break it up into two Parts.

Brian is CEO of Human Capacity Group, an education insights and management consultancy company. Currently, actively working with more than 50 countries worldwide, Brian leads many education projects and management consultancies.

Brian holds an MBA from Copenhagen Business School and has 20 years of leadership experience within education (LEGO), consultancy (DANISH MANAGEMENT GROUP), IT (METROCOMIA), and healthcare RADIOMETER/DANAHER). He has worked at Lego, MetroComia and Radiometer a well-known Danish company.

Brian was born in Nairobi, Kenya, by Indian parents, and lives in Denmark with his wife and two children. His heart beats for emerging markets, and he successfully uses his diverse background and cultural understanding to optimize his work.

Brian Baptista is an experienced speaker at conferences on education and management worldwide and, amongst several awards, was voted in the top 20 of the world’s Most innovative people by EdX.

Brian not only has a very interesting career story but he also shares some fantastic insight into what it takes to have a successful career.

Brain's LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianbaptista/

Website:

https://www.thegraduateatwork.com/

Jai explains what chaos theory can teach us about our careers.

Key Takeaways:

1. Our careers are no longer linear paths or like climbing the corporate ladder.

The book I am referring to, You majored in What? by Katharine Brooks, can be found here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0023ZLLD0/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0

Tweetable Quotes:

• "It’s against your own self-interest to fear or try to avoid change."

Want more information from The Graduate at Work?

thegraduateatwork.com

Frankie Pinto is a part of the Asset Management team at Kendall Sustainable Infrastructure. She joined the firm in 2019. Her responsibilities range from maintaining the firm’s operating portfolio to reporting and accounting. Prior to KSI Francesca has experience working in finance and accounting in the healthcare sector. Ms. Pinto holds a B.A. and M.A. in International Finance and Economics from Brandeis University.

On This Episode:

• Frankie shares how she became familiar with the energy space.

Key Takeaways:

1. Do everything you do with a purpose.

Ingredients of a Great Job:

1. Challenges you.

Top 3 Ways to Impress Your Boss as a New Hire:

1. Show up on time.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “Get the small things right.”

Recommended Resource:

https://amzn.to/2CE8eeE

Want more information from The Graduate at Work?

thegraduateatwork.com

Jai reflects on a past interview with Nico Gevers and talks about the importance of preserving optionality.

Too few graduates make the decisions and investments necessary to be able to pivot properly and take advantage of incredible opportunities when they arise.

Key Takeaways:

1. Stay on top of your skills and at the cutting edge of your industry so that you can easily pivot in your career.

Tweetable Quotes:

• "Nothing is ever set in stone in our careers."

Want more information from The Graduate at Work?

thegraduateatwork.com

Graham Lewis works with Pan Eu Finance for Amazon. Previously, he had worked in multiple finance positions around the world.

On This Episode:

• Graham shares the trajectory of his career from South Africa to Asia to Europe.

Key Takeaways:

1. You’re building toward something bigger than just tomorrow.

Tweetable Quotes:

• “You’ll regret the things you don’t do more than the things you do.”

Graham Lewis:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/grahamlewis7

Want more information from The Graduate at Work?

thegraduateatwork.com