I had the pleasure of attending the University of Northern Colorado career fair yesterday and spending time with some choice students at our Brocade info session. I am not a recruiter, actually I find myself quite awkward with one-on-one ice-breaker conversations, but I love volunteering to find talent for Brocade to hire. I am also a resume nit. I make changes to mine on a monthly basis and I am not looking for another position currently.

Why? Because I sucked at it before. When I was in their shoes looking for my first industry job, I'm pretty sure I went about it the hard, monotonous way. And I hope that my words can help others not go through what I did. So, UNC students, I know you didn't have any realization yesterday, but hopefully you got at least one good nugget of information that helps you land your first job - whether at Brocade or not. Below are my top tips:
  1. Be personable
    • We know you want a job, that's why you walked up to my Career Fair booth, but have something to talk about other than "I want a job. What job do you have for me." You need to stand out from the candidates that look the same or better on paper. If you can make a personal connection with the recruiter, then they will remember you and call you for the next step. So ASK QUESTIONS and get the recruiter to talk about themselves. Find a common hobby, their passion behind their work, or why they love their company culture. Be the friendliest person that the hiring manager has met and wants to join their team.
  2. Practice
    • Seriously, don't be like me and practice your scenario answers at interviews you care about. You won't get the job and you'll know it before you walk out. You know if you are good at telling jokes and the same is true for whether you know if you tell good example stories or not. Find the ones that work well at answering the "What are your weaknesses/strengths?" "Tell me about a time you had to deal with a difficult team member?"
      You need to be confident about yourself and your skills, and ensure that the right things are strongly communicated to the recruiter. If you are unsure if the language you are using matches the recruiter's needs, then try this: trade resumes with a friend for 10 seconds. Your friend is your eye tracking software and will tell you what top 5 or so words catch their eye. Then if that's not what you want your first impression to be, change it before you hand it to the real recruiting reader.
  1. Utilize Social Media
    • 91% of recruiters look for a social media presence. If you aren't actively posting positive stuff about yourself, then some jailed convict with the same name as you is doing it for you. There are so many tools on the internet to advertise yourself so use them! Comment on company blogs, join a Linkedin group, follow a company on Facebook. You don't have to do a lot, just enough to be in control. I got flown across the country for an interview within a week of one Linkedin posting once. It works, really.
I did not talk about the basics here because I assume your college career center covers those well. But just remember that first impressions matter A LOT. So just in case, here are the highlights:
Do you have a top tip to give graduating students? Share them!


What a fantastic event last Friday at the Women’s Vision Foundation 2012 Women’s Success Forum! This year, we had 14 Brocadians attend this annual event and it was fun to share the rewarding experience with these other attendees. The theme this year of “Waves of Change” definitely felt appropriate. Since the last Success Forum I have seen a lot of change in my own career: a promotional move with new responsibility, a new team and a new manager, going back to school for my MBA, and an announcement of a new CEO. I guess what they say about “change being the only constant” is true. Therefore, I think that everything that you learn at the Women’s Success Forum each year is valuable in preparing for and dealing with change. Speakers share their stories and advice on communication, leadership, self-discovery, motivation, diversity, management, and much more!

The keynote speaker, Dr. Brené Brown was a crowd favorite for sure. She spoke about vulnerability and how societal interpretations of courage and weakness are misunderstood. For example: a CEO brought in to turn around a company shows vulnerability when she admits mistakes and asks for help from her direct reports will appear courageous although she may feel weak. Through personal experiences and her in-depth research, Brené taught the audience that being honest and trusting is double sided and you often need to be the initiator. One tip she gave was when giving feedback to sit next to them rather than across from them. I learned that I need to identify what my defensive reaction to fear is so that I can avoid shutting myself down to other’s vulnerability and learn from them instead.

For the first breakout sessions, I attended “Personality Poker” with Stephen Shapiro. From a full deck of 52 cards, we had to find 5 cards that defined us and then relate that back to what type of innovator we are. My cards that I choose were: Analytical (9S), Sociable (QH), Direct (JC), Considerate (5H), and Creative (9D). These cards are a great icebreaker for team building and identifying strengths and weaknesses of you and your peers. For example, I was given the Intellectual (AS) card which helps me understand how others perceive me. “Who people see us as is ultimately who we become.” I am weighted in the Define Challenges (S) part of innovation process yet with a healthy balance of Execution through Engaging with Others (H). I am weak in the Create (D) category. What are your weaknesses and who has those characteristic strengths to balance you and make your team successful? Find yours here: Personality Poker online.

The next event that I attended was on followership by Ira Chaleff. He was so easy to listen to and I loved his videos that fully demonstrated what a good and bad follow/leader combination looked like. What really spoke to me is what Ira said about “the first follower is most important. Without him, there is no leader. The first follower shows others how to follow and turns the leader’s action into a movement with many followers.” By using the courage recommendations from Brené, a leader needs to remove barriers to allow followers to be courageous and followers in turn will speak up about your company’s blind spots.

The event closed with appetizers, prize drawing, and another guest speaker. One Brocadian won Nuggets tickets! Thank you Women’s Vision Foundation for the inspirational Friday and the many empowering ideas to take back and apply.
At a mentorship session today, I found myself passing on the same advice that was given to me (repeatedly) when I was a new hire.
"Just be patient."
It reminds me of a more popular quote: 
"If you're in a bad situation, don't worry it'll change. 
If you're in a good situation, don't worry it'll change."
- John A. Simone, Sr.
We get antsy for any number of reasons: bad management, lack of challenging assignments, desire for promotion, slow sales return, etc. How do you stay grounded and keep pushing ahead in the positive direction?
  1. The bottom of the stock market has no where to go but up
    • The only advice for playing the stock market is "buy low, sell high" and not surprisingly this is very hard to do. Too many people get their emotions wrapped up fear and numbers. Take a deep breath and take that short term gain and stretch it out. When you consider long term goals or even mid-term goals, the daily "should I, shouldn't I" becomes less of a scary flash decision and more part of a bigger solid plan.
  2. The greener grass gets watered
    • Even if you are tempted to take matters into your own hands and move away to the greener grass on the other side, remember that you may be trading one evil for another. Is it really that bad? Is there anything you can personally do to affect your own crappy situation? Sometimes all it takes is a positive attitude and a smile, but others might take some late night hours, difficult conversations, or worse, the unknown. But how bad is that... really?
  3. Trust falls require more than one person
    • If you've ever done this exercise at summer camp, you know what I'm talking about. The reason trust falls work is because trust is 2 sided and a group activity. If you are unsure about team member's commitment, ASK! Just because your back is turned doesn't mean there aren't people behind you that are saying nice things about you. Silence does not have to mean a "calm before a storm" but if surprises aren't you're thing, be the initiator of communication.
I think that's enough cliches and bad similes for one blog post. :-) Share what your method is for maintaining composure! Fill in the blank: "To calm myself down and keep things going slowly but surely, I remind myself _______."
Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide
by: Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn


What is the greatest untapped resource? Women. Did you know that the US is 68th in the world for the number of women that hold political seats? Want to know which country is #1? Rwanda – at 56%. This book is filled with personal gut-wrenching stories of the oppression of women and the terrible health and education conditions that these cultures face: gender discrimination, sex trafficking, forced prostitution, honor killings, child marriages, etc. I honestly almost stopped reading after the first chapter, and then again hearing about fistulas, but I found myself mesmerized by the passion these women have. Each story is about how one woman fights for her basic human rights and goes to school, learns to read and write, meets with other village women, starts a business, and begins changing village culture.

The reason I like this book is because it argues that the number one way to solve poverty in these struggling nations is education, specifically girls’ education. By educating women, they gain the confidence to become acting member of society and they start handling family finances, practicing family planning, putting children’s health first, and increasing the GOP by contributing to the economy. Success comes more from these internal grassroots movements and by getting involved in small ways like funding micro-finance programs, writing your congressman, or get inspired and read (or listen to the audiobook) Half the Sky, or to watch the PBS special including testimonials of Hilary Clinton, Eva Mendes, Meg Ryan, and more.

What can you do in the next 10 minutes to help? Click here to see about how you can travel, donate, volunteer, or simply spread the word!

 Oh, and make sure to take advantage of your own rights and VOTE!

Not everyone is a bubbling crock-pot of optimism and positive energy. And even so there will be times when the going gets tough enough that looking on the bright side is really hard to do. Here are few tricks that I use to stay positive, feel pretty, and wake up the next day with a smile.
  1. Make a list
    • If you make a "to-do" list, then you can check things off said "to-do" list. Accomplishing something has got to make you feel good no matter what it is. You can even write down and cross it off at the same time.
  2. Compliment others
    • Whenever I struggle with seeing myself as smart, pretty, or clever, I take a break from scrutinizing myself. Stop looking in the mirror, reviewing the bad test score, or replaying management bashing your idea at last week's meeting. Turn your attention to those around you instead and find something great about them - and then tell them! You can bet that you aren't the only one that has crappy days sometimes so brighten up their day and that happiness will become contagious and find its way back to you.
  3. Reflect within
    • Take some solitary time to look inside yourself and define what you are good at. What are your PODs or points-of-difference? Are you really good at convincing people to spend money? Are you really good at pointing out every error in data sheets and articles? Are you good at easing a stuffy room with your personality flair? Once you narrow down your strengths to the top 3 or so, find new ways that you can use these skills, or ask someone else to help you find new opportunities to apply your strengths. Spending your time and energy on your strengths rather than your shortcomings will help you get noticed and make you feel successful.

This blog post is inspired by Project Eve and in part by the Sponsored Dove campaign. Check out what others are saying about beauty, confidence, and self-esteem at:

"Dove® research shows that it is still important for us to address girls' anxiety about looks, as there is a universal increase in beauty pressure and a decrease in girls' confidence as they grow older. Key findings from our latest research include:

• Only 4% of women around the world consider themselves beautiful (up from 2% in 2004) 
• Only 11% of girls globally are comfortable using the word beautiful to describe themselves
• 72% of girls feel tremendous pressure to be beautiful 
• 80% of women agree that every woman has something about her that is beautiful but do not see their own beauty 
• More than half (54%) of women globally agree that when it comes to how they look, they are their own worst beauty critic

SOURCE: Dove Research: The Real Truth About Beauty: Revisited"

About Me



So if you want to be happy at work like I am, then thanks for being a reader! I am a consultant that travels constantly and is always working with new people. I love what I do! I'm formally trained with an MBA and BS Engineering. At home and in my free time, I like to drink beer, travel, garden, read, hike with my dog, and play board games.

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