Professional Behavior and Communication Development Course 2-page summary/reflection of class

Finance 250

Professional Behavior and Communication Development

Professor Troy Kane

Week One Agenda

➢ Course Overview and Syllabus

➢ Guest Speaker – Tyler Skarstein, Stout Risius Ross Advisors

➢ Careers in Finance

➢ Target Industry, Field, and Company

➢ Personal Branding

➢ Self Awareness and Professional Intelligence

Careers in Finance

Finance Tracks Careers in Finance can be broken down into seven major tracks:

• Corporate Finance - Financial Planning & Analysis

• Commercial Banking

• Investment Banking & Private Equity

• Investment & Wealth Management

• Financial Planning

• Risk Management & Insurance

• Real Estate

What Can I do with a Major in Finance? I CAN GO INTO… AND POSSIBLY WORK FOR… DOING THIS CAN HELP M E GET THERE…

Target Industry, Field, and Company

Targeted Industry & Field

✓ What industries or fields do you want?

✓ Do you prefer large companies or smaller operations?

✓ Does it matter if the organization is privately or publicly owned? Are not- for-profits in bounds?

✓ What length of commute would you consider?

✓ Would you consider a relocation now or later?

✓ What types of culture or work environment is important to you?

Targeted Employers

✓ Find alumni who work or worked at your targeted employer. Contact those alumni, introduce yourself, ask for help in getting a job there.

✓ Search LinkedIn for people who work/worked at that company. Consider subscribing to the Premium offering. Connect and introduce yourself. Ask for help/suggestions.

✓ Search job titles on LinkedIn. Customize your resume/LinkedIn profile to use keywords that professionals in those jobs use.

✓ Talk to faculty. Seek referrals/references.

✓ Visit the Career Center. Does your target company recruit at DePaul? Ask the Career Center for the company contact if available.

✓ Search “Glassdoor” and “Vault”.

✓ Go to the company website. Research “News” and “Investor Relations”.

✓ See Pollak #77 (Conduct Company Research).

Personal Branding

World’s Most Valuable Brands

Source: Forbes – The World’s Most Valuable Brands

Rank Brand Brand Value Rank Brand Brand Value Rank Brand Brand Value

#1 Apple $170 B #11 GE $37.9 B #21 BMW $28.7 B

#2 Google $101.8 B #12 AT&T $36.7 B #22 Budweiser $24.6 B

#3 Microsoft $87 B #13 IBM $33.3 B #23 American Express$24.5 B

#4 Facebook $73.5 B #14 Intel $31.4 B #24 Walmart $24.1 B

#5 Coca-Cola $56.4 B #15 Cisco $30.7 B #25 Marlboro $24.1 B

#6 Amazon $54.1 B #16 NIKE $29.6 B #26 Honda $24 B

#7 Disney $43.9 B #17 Mercedes-Benz$29.2 B #27 SAP $23.8 B

#8 Toyota $41.1 B #18 Oracle $29.2 B #28 Visa $21.4 B

#9 McDonald's $40.3 B #19 Verizon $28.9 B #29 Gillette $19.2 B

#10 Samsung $38.2 B #20 Louis Vuitton $28.8 B #30 Pepsi $18.2 B

What is Personal Branding?

Personal branding is a popular buzz word, but what does it really mean?

“Your brand is what other people say about you when you’re not in the room.”

~Jeff Bezos, Amazon

Think of Yourself as a Product

We all have views and opinions about brands based on our experiences.

The strongest brands are:

• Powerful

• Authentic

• Consistent

• Visible

• Valuable

The same qualities apply to personal brands.

Why Is Your Personal Brand Important?

• We now have greater control of our own destinies.

– With that comes increased responsibility and competition.

• To get ahead, we must manage the impressions others have of us.

• With a strong brand, you:

– Differentiate yourself from others.

– Maximize your career potential.

Ask Yourself…

• What makes you unique?

– What are your greatest strengths?

– What differentiates you from others?

• How does your uniqueness translate to value?

– What are your most significant accomplishments?

– What do people come to you for?

• What do you want to be known for?

– What do you want others to think when they hear your name?

10Ks of Personal Branding Know thyself. Identifying your strengths and weaknesses will help you assess the attributes you possess that you’re going to use to build your personal brand. It’s going to help you to understand why people choose you; why they refer you to others. Or it’s going to shed some light on why you’re not being chosen; not being referred.

Know what you want to be known for. Many of us don’t take the time to address our knowledge of what we want to be known for, and thus we leave it up to others to assign us our own brand identity. Often this identity is based on a very subjective or a very false premise.

Know how to be consistent. We know why we are loyal to our favorite brands. But why are your clients loyal to you? You want to create a seamless string of perceptions that associates you with the brand you want to build.

Know how to accept failure as a part of building your personal brand. Sometimes we fail because we took a risk. But in taking that risk, we allowed ourselves to extend outside our comfort zone and created a much broader definition of what can be or what is possible. You would have never known what you were capable of had you not taken that risk.

Know how to communicate your personal brand attributes.

Your brand is not just about the products you sell; it’s also about how you talk about what you do.

Each of us needs to have an elevator speech — a statement of who you are, what you do and how

you add value — that defines our value.

Know how to create your own opportunities.

When you can create an experience for your clients that they do not expect, have not requested or

don’t anticipate, you become not just an advisor but an important part of the experience of their

life. That’s how you become valued.

Know and master the art of connection.

Your brand will be defined by the quick connection people make once they hear or see your name.

And your brand will be defined by what others say about you when you’re not in the room. It is up

to you to define what you want others to say about you when you are not present.

Know that silence is not an option.

To be silent is to be undiscovered, and when you’re undiscovered, your brand value diminishes over

time. So, wherever possible, use opportunities to make yourself stand out. When you walk into any

room, you should always ask yourself these three questions: Why am I here? What will I contribute?

What will they say when I leave the room? This is going to help keep you focused on delivering

value so that you are memorable.

Know your expectations, not your limitations. With an awareness of your personal brand comes an awareness of what others expect from you. If your clients only expect you to give one service and don’t expect that you can do the other, both people are now limited from new opportunities that could come their way. Therefore, set the expectation with your clients based on the impact you want to create for their life.

Know why you are doing what you’re doing today and how it shapes where you are headed tomorrow. If you walk the halls of your clients with a sense of purpose in helping them improve their life, people see it. When you have a solid goal, you will work to meet it. And when you know why you are doing what you are doing today and how it shapes where you’re headed tomorrow, you are likely to succeed in it.