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UpMo Mavens: Greg’s Story

August 6, 2009 | Author: Aswan Morgan | Filed under: UpMo Maven Stories

On the heels of our August release and the highly-anticipated launch of the Intelligent Job Hunt™—a smarter, faster, scientific way of landing your next job—UpMo has launched an exciting Maven program and is working closely with a select group of UpMo users to get them in the right job faster.

UpMo thrives on personalization as everyone’s story is unique. From time-to-time, we’ll share Maven stories and perspectives with the entire UpMo community as they truly put a face on why we’re so passionate about UpMo. Here’s Greg’s story:

In a few words, I’m 25 and ambitious but frustrated.  I want to be a major success, right now, but I’ve learned very quickly since graduating college that the world doesn’t always work how you want it to.  For example, I launched my first business immediately upon graduating from college, and within a year, I was out of business!  Basically, I didn’t know what I was doing, and I refused to reach out for help even when I needed it most.  On top of that, I had blown through my entire life savings (big mistake!), and I felt very defeated.  Plus, being flat broke, I had to swallow my pride and move back in with my parents—not exactly the life I had envisioned for myself post-college.

Since shutting down my first company, I’ve recovered emotionally and mentally.  I’ve also looked back on my experiences, and, with UpMo’s help, I’ve been able to analyze how I went wrong and how I can make it right going forward.  But I’m still very, very early in the process of UpMoving; my network is very weak, my skills are limited, and I feel vulnerable in my current job.  I need to move, and fast, in order to find my next job—not to mention keep the one I’ve already got!

What jobs are you looking for?  What industries interest you?

I think of myself as an entrepreneur, and I definitely want to launch another company as quickly as possible.  However, in order to have another company while I’m still young, I will need outside investors, and outside investors want to see a track record of accomplishments and successes. Thus, I need to gain the right knowledge, get some seasoning, and start stringing together some career victories quickly.

I’m looking for career opportunities where I can have a major impact on a company. Internet startups are my favorite, but any Web-related position where I have some freedom and autonomy would be good. I’m also not married to a single industry; I tend to go after individual companies that have a mission and a vision that I can believe in and a product or service that I can get really excited about. Working for someone/something I can believe in is very important to me.

How has your job-search process been thus far?

With UpMo’s help, I’m learning a lot about what works for me and what doesn’t. For example, I’ve attended several networking events over the past several weeks and come away at least a little disappointed from each of them. It’s not that I have trouble making conversation at such an event; it’s just that everything seems too random to me. I think I would do better by avoiding the luncheons and cocktail hours and instead engaging in more targeted, personalized, meaningful networking.

The biggest challenge for me is my Midwestern location—there aren’t a whole lot of Internet or technology companies in my hometown to begin with, and virtually zero venture-funded ones that could afford to hire someone with my skill set. I don’t want to leave the Midwest to find work, because all of my family is here and I love my hometown; I just have to be creative and open to taking positions with companies that may not be 100% what I want in the short-term.

Another huge challenge is the hours it takes—I’m definitely learning that UpMoving is a discipline! It takes time to develop good networking and job-hunting habits; I have to take things one step at a time and be patient with my development.

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