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Jesse Moryn

Your College Major Doesn’t Dictate Your Career Path

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This guest post is by Ellie Gerst, Crew212 member. Thank you Ellie!

When we are small, we are static observers to the life happening around us. Our brains are kaleidoscopes of curiosity, leaping from one idea to another, in a constant state of expansion. It’s during this time, and in the primary years of education after, that our inner mold begins to take shape. The mold that determines how we will digest the world, how we will react to it and how the world will, in turn, see us.

This mold becomes the foundation for how we interact with life and the framework for our ability to learn, express, act, understand others, speak with meaning, and more. It sets a precedence for the path we will choose and how we will perform as we move along that path. But the latter is more important.

Your major doesn’t matter, because it can’t define you the way your performance can. Anyone can choose between English and Mathematics. But not everyone takes initiative after that choice is made. Did you demonstrate leadership? Did you join clubs that mattered to you? Were you active in campus politics? Captain of your intramural team? Maybe you were a teacher’s assistant or a tutor.

These things matter, because they tell us about your mental makeup. They exemplify your mold, which defines how you will perform in whatever path you choose.  Your choices are one thing. What you do with those choices after they’ve been made, is another.

 

To simplify:

You can be an English major and be an excellent strategic thinker.

You could be a mathematics major and have excellent people skills.

You could have majored in one thing and be totally passionate about and skilled in a completely different field.

I studied journalism, English, and international studies, yet I was hired to be a Process Engineer in the banking industry for my first consulting role with Keyot. At first, this was as surprising to me as it may be to you. However, I took the position, because after contemplating what went into hiring me — many conversations, personality assessments, and a simulated group interview — I realized that Keyot had taken the time to understand my mold. They figured out what made me tick, how I would interact with various people and environments, and they found a position that I could excel in, which coincidentally had nothing to do with my major.

People often say “you never end up doing what you got your degree in.” That’s not always true, but the idea is applicable here. You may or may not build a career off your specific degree. What’s more important is finding a company or field that allows you to explore your unique skill set and discover roles that provide a platform for you to grow beyond your mold.

2020 Vision: Setting Your Sights on a New Decade

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This post was written by Jesse Moryn, Marketing Coordinator at Keyot.

A new month, a new year, a new decade. Another opportunity for change, full of infinite possibility.

All things considered, each year isn’t necessarily different from any other one. The earth will turn and track along its orbit and in ~365 days, we’ll be back where we started. But focusing on the science of it misses the human context; it’s the events of our own lives that define the differences.

In the midst of these events, we have a habit of divvying up time into more palatable chunks. Always planning ahead, looking forward – what am I doing next week? What am I doing next month? The next five years? The next ten?

This desire to categorize and plan in discrete lengths of time is a natural human behavior; life is chaotic, and we need a semblance of control over our lives. And frankly, without this desire to plan, we’d probably accomplish a lot less anyway.

 

New Year’s Irresolution

On the other hand, there’s an insidious side effect to planning our goals around arbitrary dates. The clearest example of this can be seen in the New Year’s Resolution.

Every year at the end of December, without fail, people begin plotting out the ways they’d like to change their lives in the coming year. Maybe it’s quitting smoking. Maybe it’s finding a new job or new career path or developing a new skill. A common one is fitness-related goals e.g. “this is the year I’m going to get in shape!”

Let’s take a deeper dive on that last one. According to a 2018 survey by NPR, 44% of American Adults said they were likely to make a New Year’s Resolution, 13% of whom said it would be fitness related, making it by far the most common type of resolution. In fact, 12% (~1/8) of all new gym memberships occur in January. Of these new fitness memberships, more than 70% will stop going within 6 months.

At face value, that’s a pretty disheartening fact! Nobody likes to admit when we fail to achieve our goals. The truth is, it’s entirely human to fail, perhaps the most human thing of all. But it’s also human to learn from our failures.

 

Setting Good Goals

When you set a New Year’s Resolution, you’re admitting that there’s something in your life that needs to change. But change doesn’t happen by setting goals, it happens through action.

There’s an old saying that I think is pretty relevant here: “Watch your thoughts, they become words; watch your words, they become actions; watch your actions, they become habits; watch your habits, they become character; watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.”

The reason I use this quote is it paints a good picture of the issue with setting broad goals, as is usually the case with New Year’s Resolutions.

First of all, these goals aren’t usually accompanied by any sort of plan. Most of you are probably familiar with “SMART goals” – an acronym for setting goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

This SMART framework is a great starting place when it comes to setting good goals. Even if you don’t plot out all the specifics, the mere act of planning and writing it out will make you much more likely to progress.

But let’s move beyond SMART goals, since there’s already a million articles about it.

 

Watching Your Thoughts

To use a cliché, the mind is a very powerful thing. If you want to change your life, you need to start with changing the way you think. I’ve met so many people that dismiss this concept as some sort of self-help guru mumbo-jumbo, but I’m not Tony Robbins and I assure you I have nothing to sell you.

Let’s go back to that quote for a second. It begins with “watch your thoughts.” What proceeds is a domino effect that cascades through your entire life, and it all begins with a single thought.

Unfortunately, these thoughts manifest negatively for far, far too many people:

  • “I’m not smart enough to get that job”
  • “I just don’t have the time to get in shape”
  • “I’ll never be able to afford that”
  • “I just can’t be in a relationship right now”

And most importantly: “I’ll be happy someday, but not today.”

 

Start Small

Just to be clear, being unhappy is not a fault. It’s just as human as failure. But constantly doubting yourself is an incredibly limiting way to go through life. Those 70% of January gym-goers who stop going within 6 months have a consistent failure point: they never change their mindset. They all go to the gym, they buy a membership, and they go for a few months, but at some point they say “I don’t need to go to the gym today” which eventually turns into “maybe I’ll get in shape next year.”

Your life will not be defined by what you do next year, it will be defined by what you think and what you do today.

This isn’t meant to discourage you. As they say, Rome wasn’t built in a day – in fact, it took 120 years just to build St. Peter’s Basilica. But you know what? They started with an idea, they built it brick by brick, and 400 years later it remains just as beautiful as ever.

So if you’re planning on setting a goal for 2020, or maybe even setting a goal for the next ten years, start by believing you can change your life, try to make consistent progress (but forgive yourself when you inevitably stumble), and I guarantee you’ll be well on your way to becoming the person you want to be.

Giving Back During the 2019 Holiday Season

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It’s that time of year again! The time when we get together with family and friends to exchange gifts, reflect on the previous year, and give back in our own small ways. To focus on our core value of Giving Time, Wisdom, and Resources, we wanted to thank our consultants for such an amazing year of giving and highlight a few of the ways the Keyot team has given back to our communities in 2019.

In May, Keyot consultants in Charlotte created cards with words of encouragement for the children of Levine Children’s Hospital and also collected items to donate such as toys, games, and books:

Charlotte Give Back Event May 2019

 

In August, Keyot sponsored the 2019 Wells Fargo TMPS Charity Golf Classic, raising money for The American Cancer Society, The Bennett Clayton Foundation, and Vail Place:

Keyotville 2019

 

At the end of August, we packed 684 meals for Meals from the Heartland:

Meals for the heartland 2019

 

And in October, we packed 5944 meals for The Sheridan Story:

Keyot at the Sheridan Story 2019

 

In mid-November, our Iowa Keyot Holiday Party wrapped gifts for Hawthorn Hill:

Iowa Keyot Holiday Party 2019 Group Photo

 

And at the end of November, our Minnesota Keyot Holiday Party wrapped gifts for Lifetrack:

Minnesota Keyot Holiday Party 2019 Group Pic

To close out the year, in Mid-December we will also be wrapping gifts for a non-profit in Charlotte, NC called Gracious Hands. Can’t wait!

 

Other Give Back Ideas

We asked our back office team about some of the ways they like to give back! Check them out for more give back ideas this holiday season:

I love to volunteer at different places around the Twin Cities like Feed My Starving Children.

-Laura Jensen

 

I volunteer through the MN Society of CPA’s.  Last year I worked with BestPrep and went to a local school to talk about taxes to Juniors and Seniors in high school.  I am on their list if they ever get a request for someone to come speak about the CPA profession or a related topic.

My nephew also does gifts for the homeless in Mpls and St. Paul every year.  We purchase necessity items and gifts cards, wrap them and then disperse to pass them out.  The challenge is finding them in their actual environment and then having them accept the gift.

-Diane Brass

 

I give back through Big Brothers Big Sisters – spend a couple hours every month with my little sister of 7+ years

-Erin Byriel

 

We volunteer a lot for our church youth groups, foster care and a local food pantry stacking/organizing food.

-Aaron Stratman

 

I was recently a dog adoption coordinator at the Animal Humane Society. As a dog adoption coordinator, I helped customers connect with and learn about animals in our care to make good adoption matches. Volunteers would set up visitations with potential customers and share the behavioral and health histories of our animals. We also helped socialize the dogs and give them exercise.

AHS is a fabulous organization, and being an avid dog lover who can’t own a dog in my current circumstances, it was a great way to connect with and help dogs in need find their forever homes.

-Haley Madsen

 

These all sound like normal Delivery Manager things, but I’m referring to conversations with friends, family, connections, etc:

-Resume help / tailoring for specific job opportunities/industries
-Talking about what to prepare for in an interview
-Provide industry insights and updates to those looking to build their career
-Donate to local organizations and/or Make-A-Wish! There’s several organizations in our own city that support issues we often don’t even know exist!

-Andrew Reiter

 

One thing I like to do sometimes is pay for the person behind me in line, like at the McDonalds drive-thru, Starbucks, or for ice cream.

-Haley Meissen

 

As you can see, there are plenty of ways we can all get involved to give back. We want to thank our team once again for their generous spirits and a wonderful year of serving our communities. We can’t wait to see what 2020 holds and are looking forward to another great year!

Dispelling the Scary Myths of Consulting

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For those outside of the industry, there tend to be several myths and misconceptions about what it’s like to be a consultant. These myths can be attributed to several sources, but mostly come from outdated views on what the industry is like today. In this post, we’ll be dispelling a few of these myths and looking at testimony from Keyot consultants on what it’s like to work as a consultant with us.

 

Myth #1: Being a Number vs. Being a Person

The idea that recruiters are just trying to place consultants to make a quick buck couldn’t be further from the truth. At Keyot, our recruiting team works very hard to get to know our candidates and place them in roles we think they’ll love. Here’s a note from one of our consultants, Rachel D.:

“I always had the misconception that when approached by a recruiter, they’d only be in it for themselves and once they found me a new job I wouldn’t hear from them again. Something was very different about Keyot’s approach. Perhaps it was my circumstances that pushed me to continue conversations with them but the beauty of it is, the moment I chose to become a consultant, I have been supported since day one.”

 

Myth #2: Consultants are ‘Lone Wolves’

This myth is based on the idea that consultants don’t receive any support from the consulting firm once they start and won’t be contacted until it’s time to renew their contract. Keyot is not one of those firms!

Our Delivery Managers check in regularly with consultants to see how they’re doing and help resolve any issues that come up during the engagement. We also use what we call a “whole-person” approach to consultant support, as it provides support in three ways: individually, professionally, and developmentally. You can read more about it on our website here. Here are some thoughts from consultants about the support they receive:

“I love consulting for the amazing support provided by Keyot! It can be intimidating going into an organization as a new consultant, but my delivery manager has supported me every step of the way!” -Angela S.

“I enjoy being a consultant because I am still learning new things, acclimating myself within a large corporation and opening myself up to help people where I can. There have been some challenges getting off the ground running, but Keyot has been in my corner and working alongside me to find the right position that will allow my previous work experience to flourish and benefit the organization I am a part of.” -Rachel D.

 

Myth #3: If / When my Engagement Ends, I’m On My Own

Keyot works with our consultants before their engagements end to either get an extension with the client or find a new engagement. We want to support our consultants however we can, and this includes helping them find their next engagement. From Keyot Consultant Molly M:

“Well in advance of the contract end date, my delivery manager works with me and my onsite manager to determine next steps so that there isn’t any gap in work for the client or for me and to ensure that everyone is happy. If this means reassignment, the delivery manager assists in the search.”

 

A Few Other Pros of Working in Consulting

Rather than just dispelling myths, we also have testimony from our consultants on some of the ways they’ve benefited by entering the consulting world. Here are a few of them:

“Consulting has given me the opportunity to collaborate with new and different groups of people.”

“Consulting has contributed to my career advancement due to my exposure to new and different technologies, applications and methodologies.”

“I chose consulting because it is the perfect way to find out if a company truly lives by their values before committing yourself to that company.”

“Being an hourly employee (versus salaried) gave me pause, and it initially felt like a burden to track/submit. However, it quickly became routine, and I even prefer it now, knowing that I will be paid for all hours worked.”

“I think what intrigued me the most was knowing that I could have the potential of being assigned positions that I may not have otherwise applied for on my own.”

 

Final Thoughts

There are certainly more misconceptions that we could tackle, but those listed above are a few of the main ones we encounter. Also, there are still firms where you may experience what we’ve debunked as myths, but that’s not how we do things at Keyot.

If you have any questions or want to know more about the Keyot process, don’t be afraid to reach out to one of our recruiters or email us at info@keyot.com! Consulting really isn’t as scary as it may seem. Keyot wants all our candidates and consultants to be as excited as we are about everything this industry has to offer!

Empowering New Scrum Teams

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This article was originally posted by Jason Lindmeyer, who is currently a Consultant with Keyot.

 

As an Agile Management Consultant with Keyot over the past eight years and a member of the Agile community for ten, I know that effective Scrum teams can achieve outstanding results.

However, leading a mission-critical compliance program for a financial services client—using nearly 100 individuals unfamiliar with Scrum—demanded an innovative approach. I developed a process to help an organization new to Scrum understand how their brand new teams are performing and if they are able to deliver the program under the compliance deadline. It’s working for us, and it may prove useful for your organization and teams as well.

 

Ramping up

To meet the program’s rigorous twelve-month timeframe, we brought together ten new teams for Scrum training in January. By the end of the month, all ten teams were sprinting and actively completing scope for the program.

 

Building confidence

Being “brand new” to Scrum, many team members initially lacked confidence in their abilities. In addition, without a track record of performance, individual contributors and teams were unaware of what they could accomplish within each sprint. My goal was to help teams gain assurance in their capabilities, understand their per sprint capacity, and create transparency for the entire organization on what our teams were accomplishing.

 

Tracking progress

We started tracking teams from the first sprint onward, documenting how much work each team was completing in every sprint. Then, using a trend-over-trend line, we were able to measure each team’s ability to complete scope within sprints. This data-driven process gave teams a better understanding of their performance and capabilities.

 

Estimating full backlog

After each team had completed four to six sprints, we had them estimate their backlog for the entire program for the rest of the year. Using data from their established track records, teams understood their average team velocity, relative pointing, and were able to estimate backlog more effectively. Reviewing the past sprints and scope already achieved also helped bolster confidence moving forward.

Normally in Scrum, estimating that amount of work can be perceived as excess or unnecessary work due to unforeseen scope changes, and the fact that in Agile and Scrum, no deadlines exist outside of sprints. But in the real world, things are different. Due to our rigorous deadline and specific compliance requirements, there was no lost effort in estimating. In fact, this step proved essential to our teams and our client.

 

Identifying Risk

Following the entire pointing exercise we quickly identified where we had risk based on point totals and average team velocity. The specific progress measurements and empirical data removed finger-pointing and emotional judgments. Using this information, we implemented triage processes to meet the objective within the remaining nine months.

Two major risk areas were identified and addressed:

  1. Capacity—Some teams didn’t have enough people on them to complete the estimated backlog. We needed to off-load work to different teams with less scope.
  2. Technology—We identified major unknowns that prompted specific conversations regarding the technology. We talked with our client and asked technical architects to develop different solutions to support the client’s work process and meet the program requirements within the mandated timeframe. The recommended solution dramatically simplified our client’s program by optimizing the process and eliminating waste.

Without estimating the entire backlog, these risks may have gone undetected or revealed themselves only after it was was too late to react and adjust to meet the end of year deadline.

 

Accelerating toward completion

Now, teams are using release meetings and planning processes to re-point backlog every month. The teams are accelerating as they continue to build confidence and capabilities. Some teams even expect to reach program completion in November, a month ahead of the compliance deadline.

By keeping track of sprints and estimating our entire backlog early in the program, our process allows us to adjust and accommodate as needed to achieve scope. A key tenet of Scrum is responding to change over following a plan and this process has significantly improved decision making across our teams and the client. It has also been incorporated as a key input in how the client prioritizes scope across its portfolios.

 

Paying it forward

Throughout my career, I have benefitted from the generous wisdom and advice of the Agile community. If this tool can assist other teams, especially those new to Scrum, I’m happy to “pay it forward!”

Career Fair Tips from Crew212

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career fair tips from Crew212

It’s that time of year again. The leaves are changing, students are back on campus, and upperclassmen are busy forming their post-graduation plans. For Crew212, that means it’s recruiting season! If you want to make the most of this year’s career fair at your school, here are some tips on putting your best foot forward.

  1. Bring Extra Copies of Your Resume

You should plan to leave your resume with every company you interact with – this means you need to bring plenty of copies!

  1. Dress for Success

Look the part when you go to the career fair! Most career fairs will have a business professional dress code, or business casual at the very least. A few days before the career fair, take some time to make sure you have an outfit ready. This means your outfit is ironed, clean, and ready to wear into a professional setting.

  1. Do Your Research

Look up the companies who will be at your career fair. Not only will you be able to form a game plan about which companies you really want to meet, but you’ll also be able to do some preliminary research about the organizations. Knowing about the company ahead of time is a surefire way to get a recruiter’s attention! Having said that, keep an open mind if you see a company at the career fair that may be of interest, even if you didn’t get a chance to research them ahead of time.

  1. Master Your Elevator Pitch

Your elevator pitch is the quick synopsis of who you are and what you do, a Cliff Notes intro that you can say within the span of a short elevator ride. Your elevator pitch should be no longer than 30-40 seconds! If you practice your elevator pitch and have it ready to go, you’ll be more confident and time efficient when you introduce yourself to recruiters.

  1. Ask Thoughtful Questions

This one ties back into doing your research. The worst thing you can do at a career fair is ask obvious questions about a company – information that is readily available on their website or with a quick google search. Ask more open-ended questions that open the possibility of a conversation with the recruiter. If you ask something as simple as “what does your company do?”, you’re not making a great first impression.

  1. Maintain Engaging Eye Contact and Body Language

This is an area of improvement for many people, but fortunately body language and eye contact are both things that can be improved with practice. Make sure you’re showing the recruiter that you’re engaged in the conversation and genuinely want to talk to them. Nothing is worse than coming across as disinterested or distracted!

  1. Gather Business Cards

Get business cards from the recruiters you talk to. You can use their contact information to follow up after the career fair, whether it be with more questions or simply to thank them for their time. Expressing your gratitude and showing further interest in an organization can go a long way towards landing an interview!

  1. Follow Up with Recruiters

Tied in with the last point, it’s important that you follow up with the companies you’re interested in. Keep in mind that while you were meeting with a few different companies, each of those companies were meeting literally hundreds of candidates. Following up can be crucial in standing out from your peers.

  1. Enjoy Yourself

Career fairs often have the unfortunate perception of being stuffy, formal and competitive, with the end goal being landing an interview with the best companies over your peers. If you go in with that mindset, you miss the opportunity to meet the people around you and really enjoy the process of figuring out where you want to be after graduation. On the other hand, if you go in with an open mind and set out to enjoy yourself and meet some great people, you’ll be happier and will come across as an even more likable candidate.