#2 I am graduating in April with an MBA from Pepperdine University

I still remember the first day of orientation when one of the professors at Pepperdine said in two years, you won't recognize  he person that is sitting in that chair. I guess, maybe that's most important lesson I've learned from all of this. It changes you in ways that you don't really expect or are not prepared for.

In the time I've been here I"ve made friends and lost friends. I've burned bridges and I've built them.  I've learned some of life's hardest lessons, and that sometimes you don't get a second chance no matter how much you try to make up for your mistakes.

But, perhaps the greatest lesson in all of this was self-acceptance. I had to accept that I wasn't perfect, face my own demons, learn from them and move on.

For the second time I'm in my life, I'm graduating into a recession. The first go round I had the dot com bubble burst in front of my face after graduating from Berkelely. This time around, as I sat deep in South America at Brazilian Oktoberfest during my semester abroad, the bubble burst everywhere around me and I heard the wors "global economic meltdown" as  I continued to guzzle beer with my newfound Danish friend.

And of course there's that whole academic part of this whole experience they call b-school.  Quite appropriately named given that most people end up with that grade.  Somehow Academics have always played a minimal role in educational expereinces for me, despite being raised by a college professor.  Most of my lessons have always come outside the classroom, and business school hasn't really been that diferent.  Although I can put the letters MBA, and give you a list of courses in marketing, strategy, and a bunch other things I could have learned for $1.50 in late fees at the public library, what I've learned is to look at the world differently.

Tags: mba, mba career, 100 reasons to hire me, online advertising, social media, brazen careerist, online marketing

# 1 My most recent job: MBA Marketing Intern@Turbotax.com

After giving some thought as to how to keep the buzz about my campaign to find a job going, I finally came up with an approach that seemed like it might work. Although my list of 100 reasons was my first post and will be available for viewing, I thought the best way to tackle this was to write a blog post on each and every reason that I listed there. So, I decided to start with my most recent job.

Last summer I worked at Intuit's Consumer Tax group and worked on competitive analysis for online display advertsiting, where I leveraged Nielsen NetRatings data to build a framework for competitive analysis for online display advertising. I also worked on helping to develop social media strategy, which is where I acquired knowledge to come up with like ideas like this blog. Additionally, I assisted with evaluating various social media measurement vendors and third party research providers.

Tags: mba career, mba job search, social media jobs, online advertising, mba internet marketing

The original 100 Reasons

After getting some pretty harsh, but valid feedback after the first day of my campaign, I decided to incorporate a few of the suggestions. What originally started as kind of a joke, seemed to generate a good amount of buzz, and I learned quite a bit. So I took it upon myself to incorporate some of the changes that people thought I should add. I put a version of my resume from Scribd and a sample of one of the projects I worked on at Nielsen NetRatings. Thanks for all the feedback, and here’s to a second attempt:





PROFESSIONAL REASONS:

1. My most recent job: MBA Intern Social Media Strategy/Online Advertising@Turbotax.com
2. I am graduating with an MBA from Pepperdine University in April
3. I have a bachelors degree in economics from UC-Berkeley
4. I have in-depth knowledge of syndicated market research tools (@Plan, Comscore, etc)
5. I can make PowerPoint slides, Excel spreadsheets, and am generally quite skilled with most software applications
6. I have great presentation and communication skills
7. I thrive in fast paced environments
8. I have six years of work experience
9. I came up with the idea for the site this morning, I bought the domain this afternoon, and I’m almost done with this list and it’s nine o’clock in the evening.
10. The focus of my MBA has been marketing


PERSONAL REASONS:

11. I’m smart. But, I know that I don’t know everything
12. I manage to find opportunities even in the worst of situations. For example, I started this website because normal job search methods haven't been that effective
13. I’m willing to take risk
14. I’m always coming up with new ideas
15. I have a great entrepreneurial spirit
16. I see the glass as half full
17. I have a strong eye for underutilized opportunities
18. I am willing to challenge traditional thinking
19. I have a tremendous level of energy



RANDOM FACTS THAT ENABLED ME TO NAME THIS BLOG 100 REASONS YOU SHOULD HIRE ME

20. When I was in the eighth grade, I started my own business. I bought candy at Costco and sold it to kids at school at a significant profit. After the choir teacher caught me, I was forced to give my business to another fellow student. However, the business made upwards of $120 a week. This was a good amount of money in the eighth grade.
21. I know that good leaders surround themselves with people smarter than they are
22. I have a great sense of humor
23. I look good in a suit
24. I was once held at gunpoint on a high-speed car chase in Mexico and I lived to tell about it
25. I always give up my seat on the airplane when somebody wants to sit with a family member or anybody else.
26. I’m fun to be around
27. I’m a great storyteller
28. I’ve lived in five different countries
29. I am extremely outgoing and extroverted
30. I am an excellent public speaker
31. I can play Christmas carols on the tuba
32. I can talk to you about pop culture, world travel, books, and a generally wide array of topics
33. I’m open-minded
34. I am optimistic
35. I learn from my mistakes
36. In my world, there are no strangers, just friends I haven’t met yet.
37. I don’t believe in limits to what people can accomplish
38. I am not afraid to show who I really am
39. I was an officer for a 1000 member student organization while I was at Berkeley
40. I have been a part of a massively failed startup
41. I am insightful
42. recognize the power of social media
43. I lived in Brazil for six months.
44. I’m a great writer with a witty style
45. I once took a plane, a boat, and the bus in one day, just to get to a party. In other words, I am extremely determined and resourceful
46. I have an uncanny ability to remember people’s names
47. I believe that everything happens for a reason
48. I was principal tuba in the all-state band
49. I have read hundreds of personal development books (and still continue to read them)
50. I know how to stretch a budget
51. I’ve been exposed to many cultures
52. I was smart enough to ask my roommate for reasons why he would hire me
53. I came up with a new idea in the process of doing this. I’m thinking of starting a website called 100 reasons why you should date me
54. If this website fails, I’ll think of another way to find a job
55. I would lie down in traffic for my best friends
56. You are sick of reading boring cover letters
57. You see tremendous potential in me
58. You need a new perspective
59. I can execute decisions quickly and efficiently
60. I know how to lead a team
61. I have a great passion for life
62. I worked at McDonald’s in high school. It was one of the most valuable learning experiences.
63. I see the glass as half full
64. I worked as a social media intern
65. I’m a team player
66. I believe that a good manager mentors his employees, in such a way, that they are eventually in his role.
67. I write on several blogs
68. I have active profiles, with several hundred friends, on many social networks
69. I think the rules should be broken (in the right context)
70. I believe in going beyond my comfort zone. I think this is one of the fastest ways you learn
71. I think you can learn something from everybody you interact with in your life
72. I’m honest
73. I like surfing
74. I am very physically active
75. I have good hair
76. I have eclectic taste in music
77. I know a lot about 80’s pop culture
78. I am daring enough to put together a list that reveals some very interesting parts of my personality
79. If I were determined enough, I could probably find a way to eat at no cost for seven days a week
80. I read many blogs
81. I set goals on a regular basis
82. I dare to dream
83. When you change the way you look at things, the way things look starts to change
84. I like to make people laugh
85. Life is way too short to take seriously
86. I try to look for humor in every situation
87. I usually smile
88. I believe in helping people
89. I’m inquisitive
90. I’m always testing new ideas
91. I get inspired by other people’s creative ideas
92. I once took a standup comedy class and performed at a local theater
93. I once played a tuba concerto with the UC Berkeley wind ensemble
94. My sister is in med school. So, if we are hanging out in a social setting, and you have some sort of near death experience, and she happens to be there, she can save your life. Hopefully, that will never be necessary
95. I came up with 90 reasons in less than an hour and a half
96. I’m already thinking of an extensive marketing plan for this website
97. I am a horrible karaoke singer but will sing anyways
98. I try to get the most out of every experience
99. I worked 20 hours a week while I was in college. One of my jobs was doing door-to-door sales of gas station coupon books.
100. If somebody asks you what you were thinking when you hired me, you have 99 reasons