Monthly Archives: June 2009

In January 2007, when I first started at Meltwater News Philadelphia, we were in a cozy office in the Curtis Center off Washington Square Park (just a block from the Liberty Bell). It had huge windows, a nice lobby, and good restaurants nearby…but always felt temporary. Even the memories of office Bandana Ball and Ping Pong with Scott were not enough: we knew we needed a new space.

View from the old office

We set the move-in day for the first Monday in May. It was hectic. We had to move into our new office space and then finish up recruitment phone interviews…

If someone had told me two years ago that I was going to have a career in sales, I would have thought they were crazy.

However, here I am today, thoroughly committed to a sales-driven organization.
Mistake? Not at all.

What caught my attention when looking into Meltwater News was the consultative aspect of the sales process. I had never wanted to work in sales, but the idea of being a consultant had always sounded intriguing.

Interestingly enough, Meltwater News software does not sell itself. It relies heavily on the sales consultant driving the sales process, and is completely dependent on his or her ability…

Having been involved in many recruitment sessions over the past three and a half years, I have seen some pretty colorful backgrounds from prospective applicants into the International Management Trainee program. The more I see, the more I reflect on my own background “Pre-Meltwater”.

I did not have a typical university life. In fact, it is probably safe to say that my university life was fairly unique.

I played on a professional sports team, competing in tournaments in Las Vegas, Miami, Los Angeles, Stockholm, Marseille and many other warm and sunny locations around the world.

There are plenty of people at university who lead…

Looking back on the last two years , I can say I have achieved the two major things I was looking for after graduation: I have received many responsibilities quickly and started working with real clients within the first week on the job. I was never singled out as the “new one,” but a member of the office and the team immediately. After 8 months as a Sales Consultant, I was promoted into a management position, leading my own team.

With regards to International experience: I started writing this blog post from an apartment in “The Rocks,” a part of Sydney…

“Mouthwater?” my Dad asked, sounding skeptical…
“No, Dad. … Meltwater… I’ll be an International Management Trainee,” I explained while packing for my immediate departure to California in April 2008.

This was the deal; throw together a motley crew of dynamic, top tier individuals to train for one month in Meltwater’s established Silicon Valley office. From there, we would venture back to the Lone Star State of Texas to start the Austin edition of Meltwater News from scratch.

The Austin Cowgirls and Cowboys

“Sounds too good to be true,” was my Dad’s response. Something inside me was echoing the same, although the optimistic and overly adventurous…