It’s hard to get hired fresh out of college – doubly so if you are graduating from an under-the-radar school or don’t have plugged-in parents. Forbes 30 Under 30 alum Garrett Lord built Handshake to help.
At age 22, Garrett Lord accomplished the near-impossible: Without the advantages of attending an elite school like Stanford or MIT, or a built-in network bequeathed by wealthy parents, he managed to cold-call (well, cold-email) his way into a summer internship at Palantir, then one of Silicon Valley’s hottest data-mining startups.
For the computer science major from Michigan Technological University, located in the small Upper Peninsula town of Houghton, a job at the CIA-backed company was a ticket to the big leagues. Sweet gigs at VC-backed software unicorns, complete with high salaries and equity grants, were sure to follow.
Days after arriving at Palantir’s Washington, D.C., office in May 2012, though, the 6-foot-1 Midwesterner had serious self-doubts. The 15 other interns seemed to hail from a different universe. They all attended brand-name schools and spent much of their time chatting about their high-end research projects or bragging about upcoming European vacations. Lord’s only trip out of the U.S. was to nearby Canada for a hockey tournament when he was a young teen.
That’s when the light bulb lit up: What if Lord could create software to connect talent-hungry companies to the thousands of students across the country at lower-profile schools like Michigan Tech? “There are talented students everywhere. And what Zip code you grew up in shouldn’t define the career outcome you have after college,” he says. “At Michigan Tech, we weren’t seen.”
Today nearly 12 million college students (many with little or no job experience) from 1,400 colleges and universities around the U.S. use the platform to search job postings from 750,000 companies, message with recruiters and alumni, attend virtual career fairs and conduct video interviews. The students don’t pay a dime, but their schools pay an average of $8,000 a year. The 1,110 companies that pay for a premium version of the platform dish out even more: anywhere from $15,000 to several million dollars a year, which enables them to send targeted job postings to candidates based on their current location, gender, underrepresented group status, major, GPA, specific skills (such as JavaScript or Python coding) or school—for instance, letting them market to historically Black colleges or universities (HBCUs). (Employers can also use all of these segments, except race and gender, to search for individual candidates.)
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Basic Guide On How To Make Money In The Stock Market
Often people have thought about investing, but do not, due to a perceived difficulty involved with doing so. Investing isn’t as hard as many people realize, but there are some things that must be kept in mind before diving into the stock market. You’ll see what they are when you read the following article.
Like a lot of things in life, there is a risk involved with investing in the stock market. However, if you first invest your time in educating yourself about stock investments, you can minimize that risk. The first step in minimizing risks is to acknowledge that risks are involved. With education and research, it is possible it realize an annual return of 10 to 15 percent on your investment with very minimal risk.
If it seems too good to be true it probably is. If a return is being guaranteed, there’s a good chance that fraud is involved. There is no way to take part in investing without some risk and any broker that tells you otherwise is lying. This is not a person that you want to place your money with.
A stock’s price is not the only indication of how expensive it is. Since stock, values are contingent upon earnings, a stock that costs a hundred dollars might actually be inexpensive if the earnings’ outlook is optimistic. Likewise, a stock that costs only a few dollars might be quite pricey if the associated company’s earning projections are not bright.
When considering a certain company, think about if you’d like to own the entire company. The businesses that have the best reputations and the most availability as far as purchasing their products or services are the most likely to do well in the stock market. Keep this in mind when selecting stocks.
Aim for investing in stocks from companies that are financially sound and have earning growth that are above the market average. There are over 6,000 publicly traded companies in the United States stock markets, available to choose from. However, applying these criteria reduces your target pool of stocks to just around 200 choices to invest in.
Information is vital to having good management and decision-making skills for your stock portfolio. You must be well-versed in current marketing information in order to create a plan that doesn’t make you to lose everything you have. Be sure you have immediate access to all of the prices of the bonds, funds, and shares.
Understand when to sell your stocks. People normally have one of two reasons for selling their stocks: they need the cash or it’s a market reason. Typically, someone will sell their stocks when the market is extremely favorable, and they stand to make a large profit. On the other hand, it may be a case that their risk tolerance level has been reached. At some point, it’s a good idea to go with your gut. Don’t hang on to stocks because you think you have to, only to regret that decision later.
Remember that the stock market has recovered from every crash it has ever had. By investing with regularity, you buy low and can sell high for a simple yet sound strategy. Bear markets might not be fun, but they are buying opportunities. If the market drops more than a fifth, re-balance your portfolio to move more cash into it. If it drops by more than half, put everything in it, you can profit from the inevitable rebound.
Don’t listen to everything you hear. There are so many financial reporters and commentators that it is easy to become confused and worrisome about the stocks you have chosen. Find a few people whose opinion you trust, but trust yourself, too. This will make your investing practices much less stressful.
Learn how to balance risks and rewards. The more successful investors spend a bunch of time studying market trends and current news about the economy. They don’t gamble and they put their money into an ETF, stock, or mutual fund following some careful analysis. This helps keep their balance on an upswing, even when they take a hit.
Pay attention to stock dividends if you own stock in a company. This is especially important for older investors who want to have some stability in a stock that pays solid dividends. Many large companies will reinvest profits back into their business. They may also pay it to their shareholders by dividends. Understanding how dividends work is vital, which is defined as annual dividends divided with the stock’s price.
You may want to look into reliable investment management software if you are thinking of investing in stocks. Rather than taking risks or trusting a brokerage, these software programs can teach you the ins and outs of investing, ensuring you will make the best choices. Some of these programs even allow you to track trends.
Learn investment jargon. You must learn about various types of stocks, bonds and funds, in order to avoid making costly mistakes. You can visit many investment websites, read books or watch videos, in order to learn the proper terminology. This world is very “lingo-based,” so take the time to learn it. If you need further clarification, ask a broker.
Don’t confuse your net worth with your self worth. The markets will turn down on you more than once. Remember that you and your income are fueling your portfolio, so invest in yourself too. Learn something every day. Take continuing education classes at a local university or college. Try something new at work, or study an art form. you are your best investment.
If you don’t know where to begin when it comes to stock market investments, consider joining in on a seminar. They are often relatively cheap and are presented by professionals in the stock market field who can help you in maximizing your investment.
After reading this article, you should see that it isn’t that hard to invest, but it does require a little information to ensure that you don’t make any mistakes that will result in money loss or even worse, an extremely short run as an investor. Just keep this article in mind and you’ll be fine.
