Archive by Author

A few tips on hiring for small- to medium-sized businesses (guest post)

Categories: Business, operations, organization, Small business

Despite the down economy of the past few years, the war for talent is real and, for companies that may not have the name recognition or reputation of a large company, it can be very difficult to identify and bring in the best of the best.

In the guest article below, a serial entrepreneur named Sharon Willis offers her thoughts on hiring and promotion practices.

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The best hire for your empire
By Sharon Willis

More than 30 percent of hiring managers second guess their new hires. Up to 25 percent of new hires second guess their choice of employer. … Read the rest

Question from a college student about acknowledging his accomplishments and abilities

Categories: Education, real life stuff, Self-confidence

The email below came to me from a college student with whom I’ve been exchanging emails for a while after meeting him at a past speaking event. Here, he explains how he’s been recognized for being active on his campus, but he’s not sure of how he can acknowledge it fully and communicate it at the right times…Definitely a great thing for a future business professional to get right early on. He asks for my advice on how he can increase his awareness skills to truly recognize whether something that he’s done is distinctive or not.

By the way, in … Read the rest

Recovering during and after a bad interview (guest post)

Categories: career, guest bloggers, interview advice, job search resources, recruiting

Lately, I’ve received a few emails from people who are navigating the tough job market and are looking for advice on how to score in the interview process. One particular question that has arisen is what a person can do when he/she knows that an interview was an absolutely dud. Should I apologize or try to fix it immediately? Should I email the interviewer afterward? Should I just give up on having a chance at that job? Really big concern, right?

After getting this question multiple times, I thought about posting something to give some overarching advice, but, due to … Read the rest

Question from a Black college student about race, upbringing, and finding success

Categories: Business, career, Education, professional advice, real life stuff, Self-confidence

In the 9+ years that I’ve maintained this blog, I have made an effort not to mention race too often because it’s a somewhat obvious topic for a Black dude to write about. Instead, I’ve focused on things like business school, MBA admissions, management consulting, careers, and business in general, all of which are colorblind for the most part.

The way I see it, I’m a Stanford MBA graduate, former Consultant, and current businessperson who just happens to be African-American and, further, my insights/advice are applicable regardless of the racial background of a given reader. That said, every now and … Read the rest

Engineering grad student interested in management consulting internship

Categories: APD recruiting, career, consulting, recruiting

The email below came to be a while back from an engineering grad student from France who reached out to me for my read on his chances of getting a summer internship in management consulting.

In his eyes, the fact that he’s studying engineering is a big minus on his profile, but I saw things a little differently. Check out my response below for more info.

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TG wrote:

Hello Sir,

First let me introduce briefly myself. I am [TG], and I am currently studying a Master in Engineering in France. (please excuse my poor english!). I have been reading

… Read the rest

Tips on using QR codes (guest post)

Categories: Business, guest bloggers, Marketing, other sites, social media

As small businesses try to fight the good fight against larger players, they often invest significant funds in trying to mimic practices that those bigger companies employ, particularly when it comes to marketing. QR codes are one of those marketing techniques that are being hyped up as the panacea for sharing information about a company and its offerings via smartphone applications. Great idea, but QR codes aren’t necessarily a fit for all kinds of businesses.

This article was contributed by John Gumas, who is a San Francisco-based advertising executive with a focus on helping small businesses and brands compete against … Read the rest

Spreading the word: 2013 Annual Beat The GMAT Scholarship (@BeatTheGMAT)

Categories: Bschool admissions, Business School, Education, GMAT, other sites

My long-time readers know that I like to pass along information about resources that I think might be helpful to my audience and, since many of you aspire to get into top MBA programs, this one might be a winner for you.

Eric Bahn, the founder of Beat The GMAT, recently reached out to ask me to spread the word about the 2013 Beat The GMAT scholarship, which launched yesterday. The scholarship will award free GMAT prep and MBA consulting packages to 8 winners from around the world. I’ve helped Eric and his team publicize their scholarship for … Read the rest

MBA applicant wondering whether she’s being too ambitious (with her target schools)

Categories: Bschool admissions, Business School, Education, international applicants, mba

Over the years, I’ve had a lot of people email me with questions about whether their profiles seem competitive for admissions to a top business school. Although I’ve never worked for an MBA admissions office, I always give them my honest read on things and then try to provide recommendations where I can.

The message below is a little different because the reader is asking about the topic in a different way. Instead of asking whether she can get into school X, Y, or Z, she’s asking whether she’s being too optimistic by even looking at school X, Y, and … Read the rest

Is graduate school the right thing for your career? (guest post)

Categories: career, Education, guest bloggers, mba, pre-MBA grad degrees

Many of my past blog entries have been targeted at people who are either applying to business school or intend to do so in the near future. But, what about if you don’t know whether business school (or any grad program, for that matter) is right for you? In that case, one has a lot of factors to weigh when deciding whether to invest significant time and money into pursuing a grad degree. This definitely isn’t a choice that should be taken lightly.

In this piece, contributing writer Lisa Fox from DegreesThatPay.com gives a useful perspective for people who are … Read the rest

Question about my experiences as an African-American in the workplace

Categories: About Marquis, Business, career

The email below came to me from a college Freshman who attended a talk that I gave a few months ago. This young lady is an African-American student and her question is about my experiences being a Black professional in the workplace. During my talk, I noticed that she was one of the few underrepresented minorities in the audience, so I wasn’t surprised that this question was going through her head.

This question is one that I’ve been asked about many times in person, but I can’t recall anyone ever emailing me about it over the past few years of … Read the rest

Grow your business by building online trust (guest post)

Categories: Business, Business concepts, Marketing, social media, strategy

Here’s another article for the small-to-medium sized business owners out there who are looking for ways to grow their businesses in the still-recovering economy.

In this piece, contributing writer Brandy Thomson offers some advice on how business owners should be mindful of the impact that online trust with customers can have, both positive and negative. With so many consumers relying on information on the Internet to make buying decisions before even trying out a company’s products and/or services, this is something that business leaders can’t afford to get wrong.

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Grow Your Business by Building Online Trust
By Brandy Thomson… Read the rest

Advice for an MBA applicant from me…and a friend of mine

Categories: Business, Business School, career, Education, leadership, mba, my peoples, Personal branding

People who have read this blog over the years should know that I enjoy sharing advice with folks who are applying to business school. One thing that may not have been as apparent is that I have lots of friends with a similar passion for mentorship and a willingness to share their insights with the next generation of aspiring MBAs.

One of those folks is my friend Dawn, who is an absolute rockstar in the business game. She’s an undergrad alum of Cal-Berkeley, an MBA alum of Cornell, and is a fast-rising leader in the healthcare industry. Like me, she … Read the rest

New interview prep resource for management consulting candidates — PrepLounge

Categories: career, case interview resources, consulting, other sites

Over the years, I’ve made a habit of sharing information about new resources that I think might be interesting to the audience for this blog, whether they are focused on grad school admissions, career search, or career preparation. This entry is a quickie to share one more goodie that could be useful to some of you.

Recently, I was contacted by the Co-Founder of a new company called PrepLounge that allows candidates to practice management consulting interviews via an online platform to incorporate face-to-face interactions, sharing of diagrams/exhibits, and real-time feedback on performance. I wish something like this had existed … Read the rest

How MBAs can adjust to career setbacks in the current job market (guest post)

Categories: Business, Business School, career, career path, Education, guest bloggers, mba

The article below was contributed by Richard McMunn, who is a UK-based expert on career development and transition. When he reached out to me with an offer to write an article for me, I asked him to focus on how one might best handle the stress that comes along with being laid off, fired, or some other similarly traumatizing career situation. I think that the advice he came up with is absolutely golden.

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Title: How MBAs Can Adjust to Career Setbacks in the Current Job Market Author: Richard McMunn

Today’s economic and business climate is a tough one, and … Read the rest

Question about the use of a VERY blunt cover letter for internship recruiting

Categories: Business, career, interview advice, recruiting

The message below came to me from a college Freshman who I met recently and is about a very “distinctive” cover letter that went viral a couple of weeks ago. This student is wondering how someone would view such a letter from the corporate perspective and asked for my opinion.

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JF wrote:

Hey Marquis!

I saw this news article floating around Yahoo the other day, I’d love to have your thoughts on it. The article is about a cover letter that cuts the crap and goes straight to the punch. It made me think of you so I thought

… Read the rest

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