Monthly Archives: February 2010
I recently read a blog post on VentureBeat called “The lost generation of entrepreneurs.” The author asserts that today’s start-ups do not allow 20-somethings to develop entrepreneurial leadership skills. I can’t speak in generalities for all of today’s start-ups, but I can say that at Meltwater, this is simply not the case.
I’ve heard colleagues describe the International Management Trainee program at Meltwater as “entrepreneurship on a red carpet.” In other words, sales people who aspire to be managers at Meltwater receive start-up opportunities with the backing of a large organization (Meltwater recently reached $100M in sales).
Let me explain. True story: a highly-driven,…
Meltwater employees are derived from a broad range of academic disciplines, including business administration, economics, cultural studies, journalism, law and even theology. In Germany this is very unusual, as it is common only to look for a job that relates to your education, just like it is standard for companies to only offer jobs to candidates with relevant educational backgrounds.
I studied Art History and after my master’s degree, I completed a PhD financed by a scholarship from the German Research Foundation. This educational focus reduced job opportunities rather than widened them. The only possible jobs I could find were within the…
I’m going to do something incredibly original here, and open with a Winston Churchill quote. The late Nobel Laureate once said: “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing your enthusiasm.” This assertion resonates with the deepest part of my being, especially my business being. I’ve been working in the business world for the past seven years since I finished college, and I’ve had my fair share of successes and failures. Up until last year, I would say there was a little more weight on the side of success. However, over the last year, failure has…
In our recruitment and interview sessions for the Sales Consultant position, candidates often ask us to describe a “typical day” at work and I think that this is an important discussion to set reasonable expectations. Well heck, I’m a pretty typical guy. So here is my typical day as a Sales Manager selling Meltwater Buzz:
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7:35: My primary job is to manage a sales team and to pitch our social media monitoring software to companies and organizations in the U.S. The office typically starts its day at 8:00 am, but like any responsible manager (who also happens to be documenting his…
Performance reviews can be tough. Myself, my friends and my colleagues often experience anxiety prior to going into quarterly or annual reviews. So when I came across a blog post titled “How to Sail Through Your Performance Review,” I just had to share some of the advice here:
- Know what you’ve done well. Before you go into your review, make sure you know your strengths, accomplishments and be ready to articulate them. I have outlined all my goals and objectives for the next six months and keep a running tally of my accomplishments. Additionally, it’s a good idea to make a…
