Intrapreneurial - are you?

Intrapreneurial (innovating within a corporation) See definition below or the wikipedia definition here. This relatively new term is a play on the older and more accepted term of entrepreneur - defined below or the dictionary.com definition here.


Most people recognize that when you say entrepreneur, the person is an independent thinker, leading the pack instead of following, driving decisions instead of putting on the brakes.  Some famous entrepreneurs include: Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Walt Disney, Simon Cowell, Mark Zuckerberg, or Donald Trump.  These people took a concept and built a business.

With the concept of being an intrapreneur, you incorporate similar idea building that entrepreneurs use, but within the corporate boundaries.  Some of the most famous intrapreneurs include:  Spencer Silver & Art Fry for the Post-it, Ken Kutaragi for the Sony Playstation, or maybe Patrick Naughton, James Gosling, Bill Joy invented Java programming language that many websites use to make things "work".

If you have a W-2 job for which you receive a regular paycheck, are you acting like an employee or like an intrapreneur?  Are you being innovative, carrying out a new idea and shaping it into existence? OR are you just doing what you are told?

Is your corporate culture such that innovation is rewarded and encouraged? Are you invested enough in your company to be innovative.

• Intrapreneur - an employee of a large corporation who is given freedom and financial support to create new products, services, systems, etc., and does not have to follow the corporation's usual routines or protocols.
• Entrepreneur - a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.

Help Keep America Working

Workforce Investment Works! In Illinois, during just one fiscal year alone (2010), Workforce Investment Act (WIA) funded programs served 52,000 customers and an additional 10,000+ dislocated workers impacted by trade. Right now, congress is trying to cut the funds that make WIA programs possible. Show your support and tell everyone you know to support restoration of funding for WIA programs.

Click here to sign the national WIA virtual petition http://www.thepetitionsite.com/5/keep-america-working/.
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For information on WIA in Illinois, visit http://www.illinoisworknet.com/wiaworks
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Closing the sale

When you are in job search mode, you are in effect "selling" your skills and talents.  Your resume and cover letter are your brochure and sales material and your interview is your sales call.

Now, all of the salespeople reading this know that the next step is to find out where the process is going.  Some people will tell you that they have to think about your presentation or discuss it with a partner or supervisor.  If that is happening, you know that the next question is "When would be a good time to follow-up?" and then you put that on your calendar.

If you aren't fortunate enough to have someone who is that forthright with you, then you need to take the bull by the horns and figure out how to close the sale or ask for the sale.

You must be careful in an interview not to appear needy or pushy.  Stating that you would love to work for the company is great but must be conveyed in a sincere unassuming manor or the interviewer could interpret the statement incorrectly.

Closing the sale is typically about overcoming objections, but in an interview you must be careful about how you ask the question - go for the open-ended question that allows the interviewer to share concerns about whether you are a good corporate fit, or how you might be able to handle the job.

Asking for feedback about how you did on the interview could potentially backfire, but by asking how you compare to the other candidates you may find out that you rank well among the competition.  If it isn't among the highest, you may ask how you might improve to become the best fit or to improve your skills (interviewing or actual) for a future interview at this company or another. 

When you leave an interview, knowing if you are in the running for a position allows you to plan for your job search next steps.  If you are confident that you did well and the feedback is positive, you may not have to be looking for long.