Think how much energy a company invests into the development of a product, then into the placing it in the market, establishing it, and remaining better than other competitors’ products. We see this process every day in papers, magazines and television. If you can associate this process with your personality, you would probably understand how much efforts it costs to beat other applicants and get the wished position. In order to succeed, study the description of the position accurately and think, what can you offer, that differentiates you from the other applicants. This is the first step of the development of your marketing strategy. Main principle: be truthful. It doesn’t make any sence to tell about the qualifications or experiences you do not possess in reality. During the application you are dealing with profies. Still, if you did not study abroad, it doesn’t mean, that you do not suit the position. It would be even adviseable to talk about this point at the interview and explain that you pointed your attention to other things equally important for your career and which kept you from studies abroad. With this artful trick you are able to turn the deficit into an advantage.

So guys… Shortly before our next examination session I have decided to drop a couple of lines concerning this topic. I personally, tend to remind a zombie during this days. Somehow, my organism refuse to get the stuff into the brain during the day (like normal people do that), but I get the inspiration usually after 10 p.m. I can recollect, that some years ago I read an article, where it was claimed, that we comprehend and memorize the information just before we go to sleep. Surprisingly, it turns right in my case. But, I am missing much during this period: as long as I go to bed so late every night, I naturally have to sleep longer in the morning, which results that I cannot fulfil my natural social duties on a regular basis.  This is really frustrating, I have to admit. I feel like I am thrown out of the normal regular life during the exams. The only consolation is that this happens only twice a year.

- I can…

- I want…

- I would…

Plans and self-confidence are the first steps on the way to successful commitments.

At the beginning of every kind of plan stands self-analysis. At this step you are supposed to distinguish your strong and week points. Bringing self-analysis and your own opinions into a harmonic combinaton is an extremely important part of the application process. Someone, who doesn’t know herself well is unfortunately not able to present herself either.

The basis of the self-analysis process is made up with simple questions:

- What am I able to do?

- What do I want?

- How do my friends and family see me?

- How do my professors see me?

- What am I able to reach?

The answers to these simple question you will also find in the conversation with friends, family, professors and representatives of your future employers.

Here is a tipp:

Imagine that you have met an old buddy, whom you have not seen for ages. He or she asks: What have you been doing since we graduated from the high school? In order to make a diverse and interesting report, try to point out the most important and exciting periods of your biography, so that you can make an impression of a person who lives an active and diverse life. Do not stick exclusively to your university. Jobs, by means of which you finance the studies, internships and hobbies make up significant stones for the catching report about the knowledge you possess and your own personality features. Exactly this strategy opens the doors of the companies for you.

During the discussions with your family, friends and professors you will learn what the others think of your talents and abilities as well as to evaluate the opinions.

Reading professional press and literature opens for you  a wide range of professional possibilities. This way you will be able to experience what is giong on on the labor market and what career prospectives you can count for. During the numerous job fair you will be presented vast information regarding you prospective employers and what talents they expect from you. That is why try to collect as much as possible information during your studies so that you could be able to direct your future properly.

Here I will try to deliver some tipps how to apply correctly.

When does the application actually start?

The question “How will I aplly?” must not be asked, when you have a Diploma in one hand and an ad part of the newspaper in the other. For someone, who is not just looking for some engagement for some money after graduation, but wishes to pursue a carrier, should plan his or her first steps already during the studies.

Despite of the very best preparation for your presentation, it can still happen that you loose the thread and desperately realize that you do not know what to say next. What are you supposed to do in this situation? The most important here: stay calm! Take a deep breath, check in your manuscript, where you stopped and was is supposed to be next. If your manuscript is of no help any more, take this into considerationa and invent another form at the next time. Besides, it is useful to repeat your last sentence one more time in order to find a point of support. Think a bit, what topic you have developed in the last few seconds and what important points you can mention regarding this topic.  If nothing helps, go on with our text and jump to the next part of your presentation. You are the only person to know, what you actually wanted to say. As a rule,  your audience ony listens to what is being presented. People rarely notice, when small passages of your speech are falling out or said another way, different from initial planning.

Finance professionals tend to be well paid. Let us look at the table below. Still, we have to realize, it gives an idea at the compensation that you can look forward to when you become a senior financial manager. Do not assume that department heads of large investment banking firms typically earn $ 70 million. However, figures are challenging!

CAREERS                                                   ANNUAL SALARY

Commercial Banking

Loan Officer                                                          $ 60 000

Department Manager                                       $ 100 000

Corporate Finance

Financial Analyst $ 38 – 47 000

Credit Manager $ 30 – 63 000

Chief Financial Officer                                     $ 232 – 295 000

Investment Banking

First-year analyst                                              $ 60 – 110 000

First-year associate                                          $ 125 – 235 000

Assistant Vice President                                 $ 200 – 600 000

Director/Principal                                             $ 300K – 1.2 million

Managing Director/Partner                           $ 400K – 20 million

Department Head                                               $ 750K – 70 million

Money Department

Portfolio Manager $ 500 000 +

Bank Trust Department                                   $ 100 000

I am sure, that everyone of us was pondering already over the decision waht specialisation we should chose in the 4th semester, either marketing or accounting or finance. And I am persuaded, this is not that simple decision, because it will influence our potential career greatly.

I have come across an interesting fact recently: According to a recent article in Business Week, 90% of the CEO’s of the Fortune 500 companies come up through accounting. Another point worth mentioning: we also have to distinguish sharply between  finance and accounting.  With finance, you’re dealing with future cash flows of a company (i.e. finding ways to make money, investing, etc.) while with accounting, you’re only dealing with past cash flows (i.e. audits, etc.). Finding ways to spend money is much more riskier/stressful than making sure your receipt is in order.But if we believe that knowledge of accounting leads to greater job opportunities compared to finance, we should not neglect the fact that accounting designation in North america means nothing in Asia. On the other hand,  there is a much bigger job market for accounting majors than there are Finance Majors.

Now let’t take a look at the Marketing Major. According to the opinions of many students and graduates, marketing is fun in university and then very sad when you graduate. You have to work EXTREMELY hard to get decent paying positions and many companies still regard their Marketing staff as glorified secretaries. One of our professors mentioned also, that most of the marketing personnel are working constantly under performance pressure from the side of CEO and under fight for extra resources with CFO of a company. Another professor mentioned, that it is not complicated to change to marketing having gained an experience in acconting, but it is impossible to succed the other way around.

Still, we have to know ourselves and our inclinations the perfectly in order to make a right decision and not suffer afterwards during the employment. It is rarely people reach success in career, if they are not passionate about the stuff they are doing. Either you are creative and have a talent to persuade people (pink shirt guys) or you are good at dealing with figures and are keen in analytical stuff (blue suit guys). What kind of person are you?

Studying at a university involves a great number of costs. In addition to tuition fees, costs are incurred for materials (computer, books, etc.), living (rent, food, clothing) and travel. And this does not take into account the opportunity costs dur to a loss od earning whilst studying at a university. But because the average starting salary for graduates of business oriented programmes is generally higher than their current salary, these high costs are quickly put back into perspective. Indeed, students will often calculate the expected return on investment resulting from further study.

Business schools and universities aim to enable anyone with a genuine interest access to education, regardless of their financial situation. This is why universities and business schools offer financing options for tuition.

Self-financing

For most students the major sources of financing are their own resources. Since many degrees can only be obtained after a few years of professional experience, a saving programme can be set up for this purpose whilst an employment. Interest free loans or gifts from parents or relatives and acquaintances are also used. Only very few students will suceed in covering all costs from their own financial means. For this reason it is vital for most prospective students to look into the options for third-party financing or overall costs.

Loans

Banks are sometimes prepared to grant an unsecured loan to finance university study.

The requirement for this is admission to a recognized institute of higher learning which ensures that the borrower will subsequently get a well-paid position, guaranteeing repayment of the loan. Loan terms are usually very reasonable. Business schools and universities often provide active support in secirung bank loans. In addition, business schools often already have contacts at banks that have specialised in financing particular business school programmes.

Business School Fellowship

 Some business schools have their own foundations which offer financial aid. As part of their activities, these foundations offer students full or partial scholarships or interest free loans. These grants often only cover tuition fees in order to provide support to as many students as possible. In addition to personal background and professional experience, the students’ level of achievement plays a central role in being awarded a scholarship. Scholarship award decisions are made by the scholarship and loan commitee. In addition, many business schools can offer financial support due to donations from alumni and sponsors. It is also sometimes possible to receive financing from privately donated awards.

Scholarships

Besides assistance from the business school or university, or from associations or foundations, there are scholarships available for particular gifted students from sources outside the business school or university. Be aware that some scholarships only cover living expenses in the host country and not tuition fees.

Companies

In some cases companies continue regular salary payments during the period in which an employee is studying at a business school or university and pay tuition fees as well. It can therefore be assumed that only employees who are valuable to the companywill be able to enjoy these privileges. Frequently the employee must also commit to remain with the company for a specified period period after graduation.

Internships, placements and part-time work

A required component of many study programmes are company internships or placements which generally last several months. These can be completed, for example during the summer break between two school years. Some of these internships pay up to 2 00o Euros (depending on the country, company, etc.) and more per month. But there is no guarantee of an internship with a top employer. Thus, an internship is not a secure source of financing.

Another option for financing is to have a part-time job. However, in may countries outside the European Union, employment outside the university requires a work permit that is normally issued with many restrictions. In such countries it is therefore advisable to take up research or teaching work at the university or to find work in the university library or cafeteria.

Tax Relevance

In some cases, tax savings can greatly lower the financial burden of a university education. it is sometime possible to deduct the costs of an education from taxes. A tax advisor or a lawyer specialising in tax law will be able to determine to what extent in each individual case.

Today my story will be about one of the universities located in New Orleans, Lousiana.  I guess, not so many cities in the US can be so proud of their history and legacy as this city.  Founded in 1718 between the Mississippi River and Lake Pontchartrain, it became the capital of a French colony in 1722 and passed to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. An international seaport with direct water connections to half the United States, New Orleans would not exist without the Mississippi River. Its roots are deep in the saturated soils of the delta; its history is a pageant of canoes, rafts, paddle-wheels, and barges from mid-America converging with sails and steamships from around the world. Under four flags New Orleans has grown from a tiny swamp outpost populated by French convicts to a major economic center, a sports-minded city of rare elegance, culture, and high spirits. The city consistently appears on “Top Ten” lists as a vacation destination, cited particularly for its many attractions and for its fine cuisine as well as known as the homeland of jazz music. In 2005, New Orleans was devastated by Hurricane Katrina, which caused breaches in the protective levee system that resulted in widespread flooding and the evacuation of much of the city. Nevertheless, the city is on the track of stable recovery.

A good proof of that fact, that the number of students in the University of New Orleans counts 12000, and the university itself is considered to be a large public research university in the city. The university`s five colleges offer both graduate and undergraduate programs among which programs  in Business Administration could be particularly interesting for us. The uni is placed on top of Louisiana Universities, and the acceptance rate in fall semester 2008 was on the level of 55,3%. Tuition fees are equal to a little bit than $11 000, but do not remember extra costs for living, insurance and books, which can go up to $10 ooo for year. At the web-page of the university there is much information available concerning the scholarships and bursaries, which is definitely worth attention if you seriously pondering over studies in the US.

Besides, if you feel like to experience more of the American cities, keep visiting Franziska´s blog, where she writes of the most beautiful American cities.  Maybe it is hard to recognize the former beauty of New Orleans after Katrina, still I guess, the city has big potential and spending a year there might be a wonderful experience.