From Young Professional to PhD Student

Thank you, John, for taking the time to answer our questions.

What field will you be studying? Why did you choose this field? Did you have previous experience in the field you will be studying?

To introduce myself my name is John and I will be starting a PhD program in anthropology this Fall (2009). I graduated with an undergraduate degree in International Affairs.

I have no formal experience in the field of anthropology, but I have some experience that could be classified as anthropological. When I was an undergraduate student, I participated in a study abroad program that sent students from around the US, abroad. Students could choose up to two countries where they would stay with a host family and conduct independent research on a project that they had previously formulated. I went to Spain and South Africa. My project focused on the political and business pressures on newspapers.  When I came back I joined the Peace Corps (PC) and was assigned to The Gambia (in West Africa). I spent two years there. It’s in The Gambia that my interest for anthropology grew. As volunteers for the Peace Corps, we were divided into groups and had to learn a language: mine was “pular”. I learnt it very well and, at the same time, became part of a great community. I really can’t pay them back for everything they gave me, from the great memories, to the relationships, to the language skills and the cultural knowledge. That’s what really pushed me to apply to the program I am in now.

Your application was a total success!! Give us a list of things to do in order to be as successful as you have been.

Ok, if you want to apply to a PhD program, these are the things that helped me the most, and that can help you too:

April: Start GRE course.

Taking a GRE course really helped me get ready for the exam.    

June: Take GRE and score well; start finding out about programs you’re interested in.

July: Continue looking into the types of programs that might interest you.

I had these vague notions about working internationally in the field of international development but I also had interest in the pular language and wanted to incorporate that.

So, I booked appointments at the Fletcher School at Tuft University and the Kennedy School at Harvard University to learn more about their programs. That’s how I was able to find out that a Master program was not going to give me the space and time to pursue my research interests. I thus did more research on the pular language and my results mostly led me to PhD programs and anthropology departments.

August: Decide the type of program you want to apply to and start looking up specific schools. Identify a list of potential schools and start contacting faculty members.

With the program search out of the way, I formulated my research question and started searching for a professor that would be interested. I read a lot of faculty web pages and learnt more about the field and the terminology. In the end, I had a specific topic to which I added few questions. I wanted something that would connect me to the faculty members. I looked at every PhD program I could put my hands on because I knew that a PhD program would give me the funding, the time and space I needed to pursue my interests. I looked at faculty web sites (particularly their research interests) at school I knew had great anthropology and African Studies departments and sent emails to professors I was interested in working with. The email was pretty much as followed: “dear Dr. X, I am applying to X PhD program, here are my research interests, here is my research question, what do you think?”.  I got a lot of positive responses and narrowed down to the schools I wanted to apply to.

September: Book recommendation commitments and continue contacting potentially interested faculty members.

October: Pick those schools that interest you, where you encountered interest in your ideas and open up application accounts with their web sites; Start writing draft of application personal statement/statement of purpose.

In terms of the application, it is very important to have someone who will go over your essays and if it’s someone from the department you’re applying to, that’s even better. In your essays, tell what about your background led you to the program, what makes you a strong candidate for the program, mention the professor you want to work with (“I want to work with professor X because it’s going to be a great opportunity given his/her research in this field and this course and that course will help me in that way with my research topic”) and be specific.  Your conclusion should include your vision of what you’re going to do with your degree later!

November: By the beginning of the month, have all recommendation materials sent to professors and create a timetable based on the schools’ various deadlines (they will usually be in mid december-early january). Give the list of deadlines to recommenders so they can plan. Get draft essays done for all schools by mid month, as well as your CV. Also, look carefully at what each application requires, make adjustments accordingly and prioritize those with earliest deadlines.

In terms of your CV (resume), you want to include everything that can help you. When applying to jobs, you generally need only a one-page resume, but for a PhD program make a section for teaching experience, professional travels, if you wrote a thesis put that in, have a section for your research interests. Put a lot of time into it. Make it good!!

I also had to submit a writing sample. I used my undergrad thesis for that purpose.

December/January: Finish applications and send them in. Start scrambling for funding, just in case the schools don’t offer you a full ride.

I was really lucky to get full tuition and a teaching position! I am really looking forward to that.  

Boston’s Young Entrepreneur Roy Afrique: President – Boston Young Professionals

Thank you Roy, for taking the time to answer our questions. 

• Hi Roy, tell us about yourself? What is your background?
  

Hello, I was born and raised in Rwanda (East Africa) 25yrs ago. I moved to Boston in 1999.

• What is Boston Young Professionals (BYP) and why did you start it?

I started Boston Young Professionals (B.Y.P) 2yrs ago. The group was started to attract young professionals within Boston and beyond.

• What does BYP offer to young professionals in Boston?

B.Y.P creates a network that unites all young professionals. B.Y.P also offers quality, social engagements for Boston professionals. We have a wide range of activities that go from annual boat cruises, to fashion shows, concerts, Club nights and more…

• What does it take to start an enterprise like yours in Boston?

To start an enterprise like mine in Boston you have to have a goal, target group, respect among peers, be creative, and most importantly very social.

• Where can anyone get more information about BYP and get involved?

We are always looking for quality people to join our team. To get more info about BYP you can look us up on facebook under Boston Young Pros and facebook group Boston Young Professionals (B.Y.P). E-mail Bostonyoungpros@live.com.

I almost forgot to add that BYP will be hosting weekly events starting next month (September 2009) every SATURDAY at the luxurious and very upscale Blu Lounge. It is located on Avery Street off Tremont Street in the Theater District. Blu Lounge is on the 4th floor with an amazing view of Boston. You have got to check this out. There is no other hang out spot better than this one. The Ultimate hang out spot for Boston Young Professionals.

{pic: Roy Afrique and Boston’s Mayor: Thomas Menino}

Young Professionals In Boston

I interviewed two young professionals who came to Boston to pursue their professional interests.

 

Filip Simunovic is from Croatia. He came to Boston to do a one-year training program in neurosciences. Filip is a medical student in Germany.

 

Yann LeBeux. is from France. He is an engineer and works as a scientific attaché in Boston.

 

Thank you both for taking the time to do the interview!

 

Tell us, what are the best things about working and living in Boston?

Filip: It’s a fair question but not one you would be asking if you were coming from the medical or scientific field. In short, Harvard is the Mecca for biomedicine. It was totally worth it for me to come here, and so far it’s been nothing but a valuable and useful experience.

Apart from work, Boston is a comfortable city – not a huge metropolis, but still dynamic and rich in events. It is easy enough to commute about, and the city is indeed in many ways, very European – as I was told it was going to be, before I came here. So, for any European reading this – Boston is probably the least (culturally) shocking city for you to begin your exploration of the US.

 

Yann: I came to Boston almost three months ago from France, for my job – I work in the scientific field. For me, the best thing about working in Boston is the incredible access to knowledge. You can easily find people who are experts in your field, you can attend conferences, and take courses at one Boston’s famous universities (Harvard University, MIT, Boston University) etc…

 

What challenges should young professionals be aware of?

Filip: It’s hard to think of any Boston-specific challenges. Living expenses can be high, depending, of course, on where in Boston you want to live. Winters can get cold, but I guess this is not something that should avert you from pursuing your luck in this city.

 

Yann: I have to say that, so far, the winter has been my biggest challenge.

 

Resources that are most useful to you.

Filip: People. There are plenty of magazines and web pages that offer comprehensive lists of events, but I think they are all of little use if one doesn’t have good company to enjoy them with. Therefore my first advice to anyone going somewhere alone for the first time, would be to relax, talk to people, make many acquaintances and, if it so happens, some friends, and let them show you the place as they know it. Later on, it gets easy enough to pursue your own interests and pleasures.  

 

Yann: There is an incredible number of conferences, seminars and networking events. If you know where to look, you will definitely find something that will fit your interests.

 

 

Pictures:

Picture 1: View of dowwntown Boston from East Boston.

Picture 2: View of dowwntown Boston from East Boston.

Picture 3: Boston Common

Picture 4: The State House

 

 Learn more about Boston at:

www.cityofboston.gov – Boston’s official web site.

 

Young Professional Interview – Career Challenge: Finding The Perfect Job

Thank you Sam, for a great interview!

 

Finding the perfect job, well I should say the ideal job, is a challenge. It is even more difficult when you are making the transition from student to young professional.

 

I talked to Samantha V. who did an internship at ONEin3 Boston.

 

Hi Sam! What are you studying and at what stage of your academic life are you?

I just graduated last May from the Gallatin School of Individualized Study at NYU with a BA in Urban Anthropology and Latin American Studies.

 

You came to Boston from New York for a summer internship. Why did you choose Boston?

I knew I didn’t want to stay in New York.  I had been there for four years, and I needed a break.  I’m from Foxboro, so Boston is close to home for me.

 

How do you picture your professional life? What would be the perfect job? Where would you like to work and why?

Having just finished college, I am still trying to figure out how to picture my professional life.  Until my senior year, when I realized I had to start looking for a job, I never thought about how to apply my interests to an employment opportunity.  I have had some great opportunities and advantages, and so I think that the perfect job would be somewhere that would allow me to give back in some sense.  I don’t want my job to be just a paycheck; I want to feel gratified in what I do. 

 

You will be a ‘full time’ young professional (YP) soon! What tools and resources do you think would make the transition (from student to YP) easier?

Talking to established professionals is a great resource; understanding how someone else got to where I would like to be has been a great way to figure out my different options.   I have found that talking to people even just a few years ahead of me to be encouraging and helpful as well.  It can be extremely frustrating trying to find your way, especially job hunting with today’s economy, but realizing that many people go through that same struggle tells you that ‘you are not alone’.

 

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Here is something that might help you find your ideal job:

 

Try this out:  Job Assessor by USNews.com at

http://usnews.salary.com/jobassessor/layoutscripts/joel_start.asp

 

They ask questions about your type of work environment, how important location, salary and other characteristics are to you.

 

Entrepreneur Profile: Morgan First – President/CEO First Publications – MAP Boston

You should know that YOPI is all about women entrepreneurs!! So, we could not contain our excitement when we met young entrepreneur Morgan First. Morgan is the soul and mastermind behind First Publications and MAP Boston – Motion Affair Planner Boston, a guide and weekly agenda for Bostonians.

 

If you haven’t heard of MAP Boston, well, my friend, you are living on another planet and you need to come back to earth presto!

Take the time to read our extensive profile of Morgan and be inspired by her story and experiences.

A TIP just for you: ‘MAP Boston’ makes an amazing gift! You can buy it at: http://motionaffairplanner.com/site/buyonline.php

Barnes and Nobles, Brookline Booksmith, The Globe Corner Bookstore, Harvard Coop, MIT Coop. check out more locations at http://www.motionaffairplanner.com/site/buyyours.php

Also, join Morgan at the following locations during the month of December:

Design Hive Dec 6th and 20th

Prudential Holiday Market Dec 7th and 21st

the SOWA Holiday Show (www.sowaholidaymarket.com) December 13th and 14th.

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“Living the Dream: Morgan First”

“Education: B.A. in Marketing Communications from Emerson College in Boston; minors in entrepreneurship, photography, and publishing

Job Title: Founder and editor in chief of First Publications

What She Does: Morgan’s main publishing project is a combination planner and guide to Boston called the Motion Affair Planner (MAP). The idea came when she was traveling around Europe and got tired of carrying her planner and Let’s Go guidebook. “It’d be perfect if they were the same thing,” she realized. So Morgan created a planner whose weekly pages feature a different location around Boston with a description, subway directions, and other info, encouraging readers to get out and explore their city. It was originally targeted at local college students, but young professionals around Boston and others who are new to the area have also gotten excited about the guide.

How She Got Her Gig: A magazine lover from a young age, Morgan always knew that she wanted to work in publishing. But she had an epiphany during her junior year of college. “I’m probably the worst speller you’ve ever met,” she admits. “I really wanted to go into publishing, but the way most people break in is through the production route or through copy editing. I just don’t think my eye is design- or production-oriented, and no one would want to hire me as a copy editor.” Instead, Morgan graduated a semester early and persuaded her father to let her use the money he would have spent on tuition as seed money for her start-up company. He agreed, and the first edition of MAP Boston came out in the summer of 2006. “Everything came together and I was able to skip that middle step,” she explains. “It’s like grad school.”

Entrepreneurship 101: Morgan credits her entrepreneurship professor, Karl Baehr, with encouraging her to take the idea and run with it. “I e-mailed him saying, ‘I’m terribly sorry, but I won’t be returning.’ He e-mailed me saying, ‘We will miss you, but that is fantastic. That’s the best news I could get.’ After I graduated, Karl let me come …”

 

You can read the article at http://www.nicolewilliams.com/leap/living-the-dream-morgan-first/

  

Morgan’s work doesn’t stop with MAP Boston. She is also part of “the ONEin3 Mayor’s Advisory Council…. She first became involved with the city through her work with Onein3’s Boston Young Entrepreneurs (BYE) and helping to organize Neighborhood nights throughout the city. Morgan also works with female leadership/entrepreneurship groups such as Ladies Who Launch and Massachusetts Conference for Women and she is the Career Development Chair of the Emerson College GOLD Alumni association. In her free time Morgan loves traveling and has an affinity for outdoor markets.”  https://www.cityofboston.gov/bra/betterboston/flash/advisory.htm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Entrepreneur Interview: Michael Librizzi – www.briz.com

We interviewed  a young, talented and hard working young entrepreneur! His name: Michael Librizzi. His business: Briz.com.

What is your background?

I’m 24, I graduated from Syracuse University (I studied finance, information technology, entrepreneurship and emerging enterprises), and started out of college working at Morgan Stanley as an analyst.

 

What is your product/service?

I started Briz.com in 2007 and it is now my full time job.

 

Briz is simple: “It’s where businesses can share their local buzz.”  Briz combines business networking, business blogging, and local search, to create an online community that allows small business owners to reach their area and manage their contacts.

 

‘Entrepreneurship?’ Why did you choose this path?

The passion, the challenge, the reward… Because I wanted to do something that really tested me.

 

How did you get the idea for your business? Tell us about it.

There is a huge gap online in the SMB (small-medium size business market.)  Only 48% of small businesses even have a website, and Internet users are conducting hundreds of millions of local searches each month.  In fact, 50% of people conducting a search to find a local business in their neighbor make a decision of where/what to purchase offline based what they found online.

 

Did you start your business alone or with a partner? Why?

I started it alone, for me it was the best option. I had the vision and the plan to get it going and bringing anyone in early would not have been a good fit.  Though I did have tons of advisors, help, and expert support.  There is no right or wrong way to do it. The most important thing is to recognize the people-resources around you and utilize them.

 

As a young entrepreneur, what challenges do you face?

Everything to date I’ve pretty much have had to teach myself.  So be prepared to be self-sufficient, no one is going to stand there and hand feed you answers on a plate. Be prepared to be self-disciplined, be prepared to work 80 hrs a week.

 

What is the best thing about being an entrepreneur?

Simple – The positive feedback you receive from your customers.  It makes you feel like you’re making a difference.

 

What motivates you?

Challenges motivate me.  Technology and geek stuff motivate me.  But most of all the reward when people see your passion, and when what you do truly helps someone else.

 

“I would like to start a business similar to yours. Where do I start? ”

If you want to start a .com specifically, the most important advice I can give is define your scope.  In the .com world you can do almost anything, and doing it all won’t work.  Draw a circle on a piece of paper.  Then brainstorm what you want to do and write all of the different website functionalities that can be built to support it within the circle. Then start crossing out functionalities until all that is left is the solution to the specific problem you’re trying to solve.

 

What advice would you give to people who want to be entrepreneurs and what resources help you the most?

Your network of people will be the most helpful.  My advice is not to be shy in talking about your idea… If it’s worth doing, it will be too hard for people to just steal.  You’ll need all the feedback you can get, and talking about your idea will open up doors to opportunities you can’t anticipate.

 

Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?

Either with briz.com or within venture capital.

Featured Artist: Jake Hill

Jake Hill is an unconventional young professional: music is his profession and his passion! He released his first CD “Black Coffee Sessions” last year (2007) and was touring the country at the time of the interview.

Using his guitar and harmonica, he makes it his mission to fill our hearts with pure and beautiful melodies.

YoPI: I read your biography, and wow! I am impressed! You need to tell us all about you and how you got there. How old are you Jake and where are you from?
Jake Hill: Well, I am 24 years old, and I have lived all my life—aside from the 4 years I attended University of Arizona—in Plymouth, MA (USA).

YoPI: How would you describe yourself?
Jake Hill: I would have to say that I am rather easy going, optimistic, and a definite risk taker—for my ability to overanalyze situations is pretty much non-existent.

YoPI: You’re a songwriter and musician. How did you know that this was a path you wanted to take?
Jake Hill: Music has always been the thing that reaches me on a primal emotional level. I began playing the saxophone in third grade, and even then I picked up the basics quickly, and became addicted to everything about music. Songwriting is something I discovered when I started really listening to music. And when I say really listening I mean sitting in a chair in a silent, calm place, and listening to every particle that is coming at you. And in this process I discovered that songwriting is one of the most important forms of art, for everyone in the world who likes music in some way, shape or form. It is true expression of the soul!YoPI: Tell us about your music.
Jake Hill: The type of music I play is what I would consider American Folk Music, meaning: acoustic guitar, harmonica, and a song to sing that you really feel strongly about. But in the last couple of months I have been rehearsing and gigging with incredibly talented players, and my live show has taken on more of a folk-rock feel. I never want to limit myself musically, because I feel that is when artists become stagnant, and apathetic.

YoPI: What advice would you give to aspiring musicians?
Jake Hill: The only advice I can give is that if you truly feel that music is the only thing you will be able to do for the rest of your life, you need to make it the rest of your life… It is not easy to convince people that doing something unconventional is safe or secure—because it isn’t. And if the thought of sitting in a cubicle for 9 hours a day or more, for the rest of your life, makes you queasy, you need not listen to anyone else; for they are just jealous that you are actually following a dream, and not being passive drones of Middle America.     

 

YoPI: Where can we listen to your music?
Jake Hill: You can check it out at www.myspace.com/jakehillsings  …. And it can also be purchased on ITunes for those of you who love that service.

YoPI: What are the biggest obstacles that you face and how do you overcome them?
Jake Hill: The biggest obstacles when you are starting out are mostly mental; because everyone is telling you that you’re making a wrong decision. Hearing that over and gets tiring, but it also makes the strong willed stronger.  If you want to make it in music, you have to be selfish in many situations. But this is something you learn to deal with, because if you’re not doing things for yourself, no one else will do anything for you either. You may ruin relationships with people that don’t truly support you, but once their gone, you will find those that want to see you succeed and will help in ways that will make your heart heavy.

YoPI: When you are not working, what do you do for fun?
Jake Hill: Fun is actually a big part of my life. When I am not playing shows or recording or writing, I love to be near the ocean. Sailing is a huge passion of mine, and just reading on the beach is another favorite pastime. I am a amateur book collector and try to read for at least 2 hours everyday. I also love playing golf at any chance I have.

YoPI: Last question:  where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
Jake Hill: If I were to answer this question, everything I said before this would be null and void. Because when you take big risks, you either fly or fall. So I hope in ten years I am not on my face in a gutter, but who knows??