Alumni Spotlight

Janet (McMullin) Tinker
Marketing Coordinator
Thos. Moser

What year did you graduate? 2003

What did you study at Clark? Majored in Management

What is your hometown? Currently living in Topsham, Maine but originally from Belgrade, Maine

What is your current position? Marketing Coordinator for Thos. Moser (a maker of fine hand-crafted furniture - www.thosmoser.com)

How long have you been at this job? About 5 months. I worked previously for a marketing and PR firm and wanted to get back on the brand side.

How did you find your current job? Online at www.jobsinme.com. It is a great resource in Maine and they have sister sites in MA and NH. 

Describe in a few sentences the work that you do: I make sure that all marketing efforts run smoothly, coordinating ad schedules and creative, tracking our budget and expenses, present our work to the rest of the company and act as the point person for our showrooms nationwide when they need materials for an event. This week I am compiling some of our top furniture and graphic design pieces for a couple of juried competitions.

What do you feel are necessary skills to do your job?
Ability to think on the spot and offer an opinion that you can support, computer skills and ability to multi-task and see the big picture (sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the project you are working on, but it is important to look beyond that and see the whole picture/purpose).

How did your time at Clark prepare you for this position/work?
Clark courses laid the groundwork for what I am doing along with the combination of real-world experience through internships. I think MIS is a great tool for management majors (I have had to call upon my website building experience a few times and work in Excel, Access and Powerpoint daily). I played field hockey for two years at Clark and I think doing things outside of the classroom help with time management and multi-tasking.

What was your first job out of college?
My first job out of college was Territory Account Manager for OVO Ski Helmets in Hopkinton, MA. I did an internship there my senior year and was offered a position from that, so I was with the company for a little over 2 years. I then moved back to Maine and worked for almost 3 years at Fendler Communications, a marketing and PR firm for outdoor clients (such as Thule ski racks, PrimaLoft, Confluence Watersports, etc.).

Where do you hope to see yourself in 5 years?
I would like to be in a Marketing managerial role with the company I am at. The turnover is very low and many workers both on the shop floor and in the offices have been with the company for at least 5 years. Something can be said for a company that can keep its employees and create a great work culture.
Personally, I hope that the camp my husband and I are planning to build will be done and we will have our own little piece of the Maine coast by then.

What recommendations would you provide to current students interested in pursuing a similar job?  Having an advisor/mentor while in college is such a great asset. Mine would challenge me saying ‘what will make you stand apart from all of the other management majors vying for the same job?’ and he pushed me to find targeted internships and schedule my courses accordingly. I did one internship during my senior year for course credit and I think that was a great test, since it is similar to an independent study and you are the one who is solely responsible for meeting with your advisor and your boss to get the most out of the opportunity.

Get to Know...
GSOM Dean Ed Ottensmeyer

Hometown: Vincennes, Indiana...now live in Wellesley, Massachusetts

Alma Mater: Marian College (BA in Accounting); Indiana University (MBA and PhD)

Professional affiliations/organizations: Academy of Management

Current Research: I've had a long-standing fascination with the artistic elements of a business leader's job...things like product design, workplace design, visual identity, architecture...and the fundamental artistry of leadership, since we know that it's an art as well as a science. My most recent publication (in the Journal of Business Strategy) focused on the ways that a top manager at Unilever drew upon the arts -- painting, sculpture, poetry -- to help his managers grapple with real strategic business problems. I wish I had a lot more time to spend on that topic.

Favorite thing about Clark: The fascinating people -- faculty, staff and students -- I've met here since I arrived in 1986. As a faculty member...now as dean...I really enjoy staying in touch with GSOM graduates around the world. Celebrating GSOM's 25th anniversary this year with a series of special alumni events will let me catch up with so many of my former students -- in Frankfurt, London and Paris in September, with a trip to India in December -- and it's so much fun hearing about all the great things they're doing in their business careers, seeing what kind of lives they've shaped for themselves, seeing pictures of their families, and learning about how much they appreciate their Clark experience -- the faculty, other students, living abroad --and how much it's affected their lives.

In my free time… Kayak on Buzzard's Bay and read poetry

Favorite Movie/Book: Books --"The second tree from the corner" by E.B. White; any book of poetry by Mary Oliver
Movies --"This is Spinal Tap" --- my favorite type of humor; "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid" -- it's that travel thing again!

Place I would most like to visit: This a tough one since I truly love to travel and am always drooling over the Travel section of the New York Times...recently, I've been thinking a lot about the Mediterranean region, and especially Egypt and the Turkish coast.

If I wasn't a professor, I would be... most likely, a watermelon farmer in Indiana, since that was what my father did. But, he gave me some great career advice -- Seek indoor work! -- so I went off to study accounting in college since all the accountants in my little hometown seemed to spend a lot of time indoors. Had I been exposed to a wider array of "indoor work", I might've been an architect.

Finance Club Opportunities

Do you think you might be interested in a career in finance? Do you want to learn more about the options that might be available to you? The GSOM Finance Club is opening its doors to Management undergraduates who would like to participate in their events. Getting an A in Corporate Finance is NOT a requirement. All you need to have is an interest in the field and learning more about career opportunities.

There are many ways you can get involved. Consider attending a speakers series event that will feature experienced finance professionals from a variety of occupational backgrounds. The first speakers series will be Thursday, October 4 and will feature Clark alum Geoffrey Dancey, Securities Analyst for Cutler Capital Management in Worcester. There is a limit on attendance, so interested students should RSVP to Nikeisha Russell at NRussell@clarku.edu

Also, on October 16, students have the chance to head to Wall Street for a seminar at the New York Stock Exchange. The seminar will cover current events at the Stock Exchange, the Stock Exchange merger with Euronext, the hybrid market, the Stock Exchange automated platform and Sarbanes Oxley rule 404. The seminar has a limit of 30 students, so if you are interested, contact Nikeisha Russell at NRussell@clarku.edu by October 5. Priority will be given to December 2007 graduates. Bus transportation to and from NYC will be provided.

Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business Conference

Harvard Undergraduate Women in Business is holding its third annual Intercollegiate Business Convention on Saturday, October 13 at the Hyatt Regency Boston, with a registration cost of just $10. All undergraduate women with an interest in business are welcome to attend. The conference will feature a variety of interactive panel discussions and presentations designed to educate women about careers in such fields of business as financial services, marketing, consulting, nonprofit, and entrepreneurship. A few of the confirmed speakers include Vanessa Castagna, former CEO of JCPenney, Nancy Newman, VP of Marketing Solutions for Yahoo, and panelist Beth Feldman, VP of CBS Communications.

For more information and to register, please go to http://www.wibconvention.com

The World Is Yours
A Showcase of Entrepreneurs in the Arts

The Innovation & Entrepreneurship program is hosting The World Is Yours-A Showcase of Entrepreneurs in the Arts on October 18. If you're interested in learning about how the worlds of art and business intersect and how these successful entrepreneurs have found their way, you don't want to miss this.

The program will feature a keynote delivered by Matt Goldman, co-founder of the Blue Man Group and Clark alumnus. Following, there will be a speed networking session allowing students to ask questions and interact with our participants. Check out some of the entrepreneurs that will be taking part:

          David Yoselevsky, Blank Wall Solutions
          Andrea Ajemian, Artigo/Ajemian Films
          Matt & Michelle Doughty, Onell Design
          Mike Friedman, Skope Magazine
          Jennifer Agbay, Ballet Arts Worcester
          Kurt Eidsvig, Painter/Poet
          Shawn La Count & Mark VanDerzee, Company One Theatre

The World Is Yours will take place from 5-7:30 pm on Thursday, October 18 in Dana Commons. Students who attend and participate will be entered to win a grand prize raffle for a night out in Boston, including tickets to see the Boston Blue Man Group show, transportation to and from the city, and a $300 gift certificate to Teatro Restaurant.

Sport for a Better World

There are two things the faculty and staff in GSOM have noticed about our students. Many Management and I&E majors and minors are athletes and most, if not all, are interested in making a difference in their community and world, whether it is through volunteer work or learning more about social entrepreneurship and corporate social responsibility and bringing the ideas and values they learn into the workplace when they begin their careers. Which is why many of you might be interested in learning more about the newest collaboration between Nike and Ashoka - Changemakers Competition: Sport for a Better World. The competition is a worldwide search for projects that use the transformative power of sport to achieve real social change. Check out some of the submissions so far. It might help get the wheels turning for feasibility studies in the Social Entrepreneurship class or ideas for capstone projects for the I&E program.

Management Students Needed for Clark Open Houses

Many of you first visited Clark as a prospective student during one of their Open House days. The Management program always participates in these open houses by holding a presentation on the academic options within our department for undergraduates. We try to include one or two students with us at each presentation since parents and high school students really want to hear about Clark and the major from you.

This fall, there will be two open houses that we are looking for students to help with during the Management presentations by answering some parent and student questions and talking briefly about your experiences in the program. The first is Saturday, October 13 from 12:30-1:30 and the second is Monday, November 12 from 12:30-1:30. If you are interested in helping out, please contact Laura Burgess at LBurgess@clarku.edu

Management Tip of the Month

When thinking of your post college plans, be sure to consider corporate training programs in your list of possibilities. These programs help you get your foot in the door with some of the top companies in the world and provide you with the skills, experience and knowledge necessary to begin building your career.

Seniors, now is the time to start researching these programs if you are interested. Many begin their recruiting in the fall. The best place to find a list of possible programs are college Career Services websites. Check out Clark's website first for a good list of options, as well as the websites at  Middlebury College, Harvard and Hobart and William Smith Colleges. Many of the companies that offer programs are included in Businessweek's annual ranking of Best Businesses to Launch your Career, which is another great resource to research companies with training programs.