PSU is Top School for Job Recruitment

I must admit, I was shocked when I read the story in the Wall Street Journal. Penn State is the top school for job recruitment?? I figured it would have to be the Ivy schools, but apparently I am wrong in thinking that.

After reading through the article, I suppose it makes sense. With the economy still not in the best shape, companies must begin to focus on forming deeper connections with key schools rather than simply having a presence in many schools. As a recruiter, would you rather have a strong presence at a large or a small school? It's a no brainer.

This is definitely good news for the state funded schools as many of the best students will now consider attending these schools rather than focusing solely on the Ivy league. What does this mean for the Ivy league? Honestly, probably not much. Their reputation and branding is so strong, and supported by so much history, that it should not take a hit in the upcoming years. It will definitely be interesting to follow the enrollment statistics for the next few years though to see if there is any change based upon these ratings.

The top five schools...
1. Penn State
2. Texas A&M
3. Illinois
4. Purdue
5. Arizona State

Starting Something

"A company's ultimate product is its culture."

I just finished reading an incredible book detailing entrepreneurship and the roller coaster ride that comes with the struggles and successes. "Starting Something" by Wayne McVicker is "an entrepreneur's tale of control, confrontation & corporate culture," but it is so much more...

It is a tale of how Wayne, along with his friend and co-founder Jeff Kleck, started a company named Neoforma. The two were able to create an internet healthcare company which eventually became a $3 billion publicly traded business. What started out as a side project for Wayne and Jeff eventually led to something bigger than either could possibly imagine, or manage.

The book reads almost like a "Dear Diary" journal and Wayne allows the reader to enter his mind, offering up his personal stories and insecurities along the way. Although the story may seem a little outdated, Neoforma was founded in 1996 and much of the story centers around the dot com era, the lessons are timeless.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is considering starting a business or who has any interest in entrepreneurship. It is a quick read, and Wayne certainly changed how I view many things, including the importance of corporate culture.

TED and TEDxPSU

One of my favorite professors at Penn State, Dr. Warren, spent a long time recently discussing TED. Although I had previously spent time on the site and looked at a few videos, I had never bothered to really search and find all the treasures that were available. For those of us nerds who like watching speeches about a variety of topics, this is certainly a dream come true.

What is even better, at least for those of us at Penn State, is that TEDx is hosting an event locally! TEDxPSU will occur on 10/10/10 and host some amazing speakers. Bruce Schneier is a genius in all things "security" and is a great writer. I'm really excited to see the man behind the words that I've read! The other speaker I can't wait to see is Sam Richards, a professor here at PSU. Although I've seen him speak a few other times, I always come away with a few new nuggets of information that change how I view things.

The two links below are probably my two favorite speeches on the site. Although they are both quite popular, there are reasons for this.

I truthfully never thought I would enjoy statistics as much as this...
Hans Rosling shows the best stats you've ever seen

For those of you who are miserable at your jobs, I beg you, please watch this video.
Do what you love (no excuses!)

I hope you enjoy the website as much as I do!