So get a leg up on your job competition by really learning about selling before you graduate.  The concept of selling is such a critical skill for every type of business service and product, yet it’s rarely taught by itself in the classroom.  Successful selling relies on a strong understanding of what you’re pitching, the industry you’re selling in, serious relationship building and understanding client needs.  The latter are critical ’soft skills’ that need to be more than discussed, but PRACTICED in a relevant environment. 

So you’re probably thinking, ‘Where can I get me some of this experience stuff?!’  If you’re a South Jersey or Philly area college student truly aspiring to build a successful career in sales, FolioFLY has EXACTLY what you need!

We’re looking for 3 students who want to be selected as top sales internship candidates for interview consideration at South Jersey Magazine!  The lucky Interns-to-be will need the following attributes:

- Creative and High Energy
- On time and Professional
- Flexible Demenour and Attitude
- Seriously Interested in A SALES Job versus Marketing/Public Relations
- Ready to Learn!

The top 3 candidates are selected by FolioFLY and the final decision of who gets this coveted spot is decided by the magazine. 

As part of this terrific opportunity, you’ll be able to not only directly report to and job shadow the Director of Sales, BUT you’ll also get to ride along with the seasoned sales reps to see first hand how they work their magic with new and prospective clients. 

The spot is eligible for school credit only and requires an estimated 10 hours a week throughout the summer.  (If your school’s internship program requires a minimum amount of hours to qualify, please note this information in your submission for consideration so appropriate arrangements can be made upon your selection for this great behind the scenes experience.)  

IMPORTANT NOTE:  The selected candidates need to be ready to roll right away as interviews with the magazine staff will most likely start next week- May 31, 2010.   So send your resumes to sperilli@foliofly.com by this Wednesday, May 31, 2010!  Be sure to include in your email what aspect of sales most interests you.  Do NOT directly submit your resumes to South Jersey Magazine or you will be excluded from participating.   All questions relating to this Sales Internship can be posted below. 

Best of luck and I’m looking forward to seeing your submissions… 

Recommended Links for Sales Jobs: 
-  Learn the difference between Sales n’ Marketing
-  Check out How to prepare for a Sales Job Interview
-  On average, what does a job in sales earn?  (Source: US Department of Labor – Bureau of Labor Statistics)

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As part of FolioFLY’s new ‘Class to Community Connect Program’, we’re excited to introduce one of those rare portfolio-building opportunities for up-and-coming art, advertising and other college and graduate level artists local to South Jersey and Philly!

PROJECT DETAILS
Use your top-notch visual communications skills to create a window art advertisement for The Makeup Bar Salon in Cherry Hill, NJ.  Your design should convey how ”The Makeup Bar is more than just makeup!”

Simply submit your design concept via email attachment and send to designs@foliofly.com using the email subject header:  My Makeup Bar Design.

This opportunity is open to ONLY college level students.  The Makeup Bar Owner and Staff will select the top 3 designs.  The South Jersey Magazine Art Department will also have input into the final winner from the TOP 3 submissions. 

AND THAT’S NOT ALL!
In addition to having this incredible portfolio-building experience, the winner will:

- Receive a $100 Gift Card for Makeup Bar services 

- PLUS enjoy a GRAND PRIZE of spending the day with the great folks at the South Jersey Magazine Art Department!  (The date of the visit will be determined based on availability and convenience for both the winner and South Jersey Magazine. )

- Once your design is selected, you’ll paint your artwork on the HUGE salon windows for all to see.  (The Makeup Bar is located at the high traffic Short Hills Plaza in Cherry Hill right on East Evesham Rd.)

All paint supplies will be provided by The Makeup Bar.  Only 1 submission per person will be considered.

Don’t miss this great opportunity to build your portfolio and meet with local business professionals. You never know what doors may open!

Deadline to submit entries is June 30, 2010.  All out-of-state students who enter will be responsible for their own travel related expenses if their artwork is selected for the salon.  Please post your questions in the comment section at the bottom of this page.  Directly contacting South Jersey Magazine or The Makeup Bar directly may result in disqualification from the activity. 

Best of luck and we look forward to ALL your submissions!

NOTE:  FolioFLY is a first place, statewide award winning woman-owned company recognized by The New Jersey Association of Women Business Owners, and partially funded by the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs.

That’s right!  The National Association of Recording Merchandisers in Marlton, NJ is on the look-out for their next intern rock star.  One lucky student will get to work with the NARM Communications Department as they prepare for the big annual 2010 NARM music industry event!  

In years past, NARM’s convention has honored big names such as Michael Jackson, BB King, Queen, Hall & Oates and many, many more… the line-up for 2010’s convention is still in the works, and you can participate.  

You must be able to commute to NARM’s Marlton, NJ location right outside of Philly, 3 days a week – for 3 hours each of the days.  This will be a PAID position with a stipend of $400 per month.   This position offers great experience, new business connections and pay, to work alongside of NARM staff who are selecting artists to perform, outstanding music industry members to award and arranging for media to attend this fun and exciting event!  

- Intern responsibilities will include assisting their Communications Department with various office and phone tasks

-  Working knowledge of Photoshop and Excel is required

-  Understanding of WordPress functionality is preferred to perform basic web work, but is not required

-  Internship will officially start the beginning of March 2010 and go thru May 2010.

-  There is a potential the intern may even be needed to attend the Annual Music Industry Convention in Chicago
(May 14-17), but that’s to be decided given company budget and needs.  (Note – Event draws some interesting celebrities!)

Since this internship is coming down the pipe FAST, if you or someone you know is interested in learning more about this fantastic opportunity, email me a resume and/or a link to your LinkedIN profile at sperilli@foliofly.com  VERY SOON!

Look forward to hearing from you and best of luck!
Sandy Perilli
FolioFLY Founder
201-410-4320

About NARM:  (www.narm.com) According to Wikipedia, ”NARM is a United States not-for-profit trade association that serves music retailing businesses in lobbying and trade promotion. Established in 1958, the Association’s membership includes music and other entertainment retailers, wholesalers, distributors, record labels, multimedia suppliers, and suppliers of related products and services, as well as individual professionals and educators in the music business field.

NARM retail members operate 7,000 storefronts that account for almost 85% of the music sold in the $12 billion U.S. music market.”

You will be responsible for distributing and collecting brief market surveys from fellow graduate and undergraduate students.   Surveys will be used to gain feedback on a new way to make learning SAT and GRE vocab words a breeze.  If you’re one of the lucky students selected, you just need to hand out and collect 300 completed student surveys to EARN $2.00 FOR EACH ONE! 

Intended Grade Level: High School and College
Very appropriate resume-builder project for all majors, but especially for Marketing and Communications;  Special Education Teachers of HS and college age students are also encouraged to apply.

Project Deadline:  March 02, 2010 

Email sperilli AT foliofly DOT com ASAP to be considered for this project and learn more details before the spots are filled!

FolioFLY is an an award winning woman owned business recognized by The NJ Association of Women Business Owners and partially funded by The NJ Department of Community Affairs.

- Strong vocabulary
- Superior SAT verbal score
- Literary background

- Comfortable working on tasks based around a list of advanced English vocabulary words
- Working knowledge of Excel and/or Microsoft Access

PROJECT ACTIVITIES WILL INCLUDE:
- Creating unique sentences that use each word in context
- Identifying common roots used in a particular word
- Developing a list of advanced synonyms for each vocabulary word

The entire project is overseen by a highly experienced Project Manager who has successfully worked and trained with FolioFLY student members before.

Award or Incentive: In addition to learning about training program development and getting a TERRIFIC item for your resume, the student selected for this project will earn $10.00 per hour based on an estimated 30 – 60 project hours AND earn a formal Letter of Recommendation for a job well done.  All work is flexible around school schedules.

Intended Grade Level:  College

Email sperilli AT foliofly DOT com ASAP expressing your interest to participate in this rare project before the opportunity is gone!  Note your verbal SAT score and your literary classes, or your interest in and connection to literarature.  Remember – this is a very short term project, not a job,  designed to give you some related career/industry experience.  No previous experience required so let us know if you’d like to give it a try!

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The MIT Clean Energy Prize (MIT CEP) organizing team today announced a $200,000 grand prize to be awarded in May 2010 for the most innovative clean energy solution. This third annual venture creation competition is open to graduate and undergraduate students across the United States.

Deadline for applications is February 25, 2010. Teams that make it into the semifinals will receive one-on-one mentoring from experienced industry leaders and entrepreneurs.

The competition has proven to be a launching pad for clean energy companies. The 2008 Grand Prize Winner FloDesign Wind Turbine and 2009 Energy Efficiency and Infrastructure semifinalist FastCAP Systems recently were awarded more than $13 million by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E). Read more at http://bit.ly/4CFDtm

The book expertly catalogues the most interesting and relevant industry information including decades of cool hotel innovations, industry leaders and pioneers, landmark hotels and even juicy details on Presidential assassination attempts, cagey underground dealings of legendary mob bosses and major world events that took place in famous hotels across the country from 1910 through 2010.  

Selected FolioFLY student writers were assigned the different topics, people and events to research and write about, while gaining first hand experience working with Marla Cimini (www.marlacimini.com).  Marla is a master Project Manager, published writer, expert media trainer and esteemed business professional with years of experience in the hospitality industry, among many others.  ”A Century of Hospitality” was published right on schedule this fall 2009 , and offically launched to the industry November 2009.  In addition to writing for the book and becoming an officially published writer,  each student has their picture coupled with their bio in the book’s well laid-out credits.  And if that wasn’t enough, this terrific industry piece is being presented to the members of Congress, and will take a seat among the books in the Library of Congress.  Not a bad gig for a first time writer, huh?

The hardcover books are now on sale for $35.00 through Amazon.com at http://bit.ly/66lexM  Only 3 left as of today, but more are on the way so order soon!  Thank you again to the book’s incredible Project Manager/Co-Editor who gave FolioFLY students this unbelievable opportunity to learn and help them pursue thier dream of being professional writers.

Please contact  sperilli AT foliofly DOT com if you or the business/organization you work with is looking for talented student writers.  We have a number of talented and published student writers who come highly recommended from their project work with us, and they’re just waiting for the next great opportunity.

So I’ve scanned the web to compile the best ideas out there to create the ultimate “1st Year Dorm Life Survival Kit.”

First off – thanks to Scott from Ohio State University for his ideas:

• Flip flops: These are must-haves to battle the unknown on shared dorm shower floors. Anyone who’s experienced dorm life can confidently say, don’t take your chances.

And thanks to About.com for these ideas:

• Quarters – One word: LAUNDRY. ‘Nuff said.

• First aid kit – Just the basics like band-aids and Neosporin will do.

 

• Sewing kit – If this isn’t your style, see our earlier suggestion about Duct Tape ; ) 
  
• Extension cords – Even though dorm rooms can be on the small side, there are usually a only a limited number of outlets fixed to the wall. To ensure you can make your “room vision” come to life, have an extension cord handy to give you a few extra feet of reach. You can use the duct tape to secure the wire to a wall or floor.
• Small fan – You’ll be thankful to have one of these if your dorm building doesn’t have central air. Open the door, crack the window, kick on the fan and breathe.
• Umbrella – Don’t have a car parked right outside your dorm? Live on a huge campus and your next class is a half-mile away? Grab an umbrella and you’ll make friends fast.As great last minute add-ons, Alex from Rider University submitted the following suggestions:
• A Rug – Alex notes his dorm room rug really gave his place feel more like home.
• Mini Fridge – To keep food and drinks cold and fresh for late night snacking, hanging in for the night or when you just can’t make the time to run to the caf between classes.And even though College for me was almost 16 years ago, I wanted to finish with my own timeless suggestion:
• Paper towels - You don’t know what went on in your new room before you got there, so give it a good once over and get rid of the dust and gunk before you move your stuff in. They’re also good to keep around in case of the unintended drink and food spills. Nothing like running down the hall to get a paper towel as your orange Crush seeps deeper into your keyboard.

 

Got some other suggestions to make this even more of the “ultimate” 1st year Dorm Life Survival Kit? If you think of something we missed, leave a comment and let us know! Your dorm room should be a comfortable refuge to study and play as you prepare for a great post-college career.

It wasn’t until I took a post-college math course at William Paterson that my math mystery unravelled.

I learned about teaching “whole math” to elementary students. This meant teachers no longer would just teach math, but actually tie math concepts to interesting stories where a math concept was relevant, and to use “manipulatives” -(items such as skittles or small blocks) to further demonstrate the correlation between math concepts and actual “things”.

Whole math was also about tying a math concept to an entire lesson including writing, science and anything else you could relate. So as I learned to teach math to students, I was learning to teach it to myself as well. And I finally realized math was never relevant to me. I didn’t understand how formulas and theories were used in real life. I saw most every math lesson as something I either was or wasn’t going to be tested on. I was grade focused…not learning focused.

And yes, math is incredibly necessary and the foundation for engineering, architecture, science and a host of other incredibly important and prestigious careers. But if you’re not learning about these careers in school, it may be much more difficult for some students to fully understand and appreciate math’s importance.

Bottom-line: When any school subject seems irrelevant, don’t just give up, drop the class, fail or do enough to get by. Ask the teacher WHY…pay attention to the goal of the teacher’s lesson. Maybe the teacher didn’t clearly convey the lesson’s objective, and others could also benefit by you asking for clarification. The worst thing that can happen is you confirm you’re not interested in that topic, and want nothing to do with it ever again. The best thing that can happen is you find something that DOES interest you, that you can be passionate about and futher pursue in the future.

Taking the time to make the most of what you learn in school, regardless of the subject matter, can mean the difference between getting a diploma and earning a diploma. Which one would you rather do?

And even though it’s sometimes difficult to learn from someone else’s experiences, I thought I’d share a few of the lessons this particular group of students found eye-opening – something that you just can’t learn in a school environment.

Lesson 1: Project Deadlines Are Imperative!
Unlike due dates for class reports and school projects, missing a business deadline can cost a company money, or even a client – depending on how overdue the project is. This is a big lesson to learn before you begin your career since an oversight in this area can cost you your job, or at minimum your reputation at your company. So before you agree to work on any project, make sure you consider the following things:

- Is the project deadline reasonable?
- Do I have enough time to do a quality job on this project?
- What committments do I have in my personal life, that may impact my success in this project?

If you’re going to have a problem with a deadline for ANY reason, it’s critical to immediately let the Project Manager, or whoever is in charge know about your conflicts and concerns. Which brings us to Lesson 2: Communicate with your Project Manager.

Lesson 2: Communicate With Your Project Manager
Once you’re assigned to work on any project, through FolioFLY or otherwise, it’s SO IMPORTANT to communicate your project status to the PM. Several FolioFLY student members learned this critical lesson first hand…Something you can’t learn in school no matter how terrific the lesson.

- Are you on schedule to meet your deadline? – It’s considered a BIG business faux-pas not to contact the PM and tell him or her of any deadline impacting issues.

- Do you have access to all the resources you need to effectively do your part of the project? If not, DO NOT wait till the day of the project to let the PM know. Giving them a heads up early on will allow them to assist you in obtaining the information you need.

- Did the PM contact you to find out your project status because he or she hasn’t heard from you? If this happens, EMAIL or CALL THEM BACK in a timely manner. They’re asking you your status to ensure you’re not being held up by any unexpected obstacles. Not contacting them right away may show you have a lack of interest in the project’s priority.

Lesson 3: Use Your Project Manager As The Sole Project Point Person?
Unless your PM is doing a TERRIBLE job and impacting the success of a project, OR if they can’t be contacted after a reasonable amount of time, it’s business etiquette to route all questions and concerns to that PM, unless otherwise discussed.

If you’re a student working on a project for The Widget Company, and they’ve assigned a PM to oversee creating a commercial ad for the widgets, if you need information to help you do your part of the commercial CALL THE PM. If you contact someone else at The Widget Company before asking the PM, it can make it seem as though the PM isn’t doing their job properly.

One of the main reasons for having a PM is to have a single source who coordinates and addresses all project elements. A good PM should provide you with multiple ways to contact them including phone, email and possibly the numbers of an assistant, if applicable. Better to learn this lesson on a student project while still in school, rather than P-Off a new business colleague you have to see everyday at work.

Lesson 4: Keep In Contact With Your Business Contacts
Once you make a new business contact on a FolioFLY project and you’ve done your best to follow the above lessons and make a positive impression – keep your business contact on your short list.

- Be sure to drop them a quick note every couple of months or so, to keep your name fresh in their minds. This is particularly important for students looking for work. Share an interesting video or article related to their field of work or your shared common interest. Avoid sending politically driven or “gray” area material that you think is funny, but may not be very funny to the recipient.

Lesson 5: Clean Up Your Online Act
Google yourself now and then and see if you’re surprised at what comes up. If private party pictures are all over the web, obviously they can be seen by future employers. See which websites are coming up in your results, and modify the settings to only be seen by your friends, or even turn off search ability so your personal information isn’t picked up by web crawlers.

Nowadays though, it IS important to create a positive online presence. Suggestions to do this are start your own blog, submit articles in your area(s) of interest to online publications, leave postive posts on other’s blogs to show your interest in a cause, career or other, or join free professional sites like LinkedIn or XING.

So Bottom-line – these are some of the real world lessons FolioFLY students learned during their hotel industry publishing project. The book the students were selected to write for will be published in fall 2009, and rumor has it, finished copies will be given to every member of Congress to illustrate how the industry has grown in importance and advanced over the last 100 years.

Have some real world business lessons to add to our list? We’d love to hear them…