Career Advice from Chris Stevens of Keurig

Source: Notre Dame

Last week Chris Stevens, one of the Keurig co-founders, gave a speech at the Bryant University Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization conference.   He offered a tremendous mix of practical advice and emotion-packed inspiration.   Chris has a fascinating background.  He played basketball at Notre Dame, worked at Proctor & Gamble and Anheuser Busch before joining with several others to make Keurig a resounding success.  He currently serves as an adjunct faculty member at Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business.  He also still serves as VP of Corporate Relations at Keurig.  Beyond his business accomplishments, Chris has done tremendous philanthropic work over the years.   He's also faced more than his share of personal adversity, including the death of his wife and two brothers in 2004. 

Chris offered some terrific practical advice for students searching for jobs.  He recommended that each student build a portfolio that they could take on job interviews.  That portfolio should include examples of the type of work that the student has done.  What projects have they completed at school or during an internship?  What presentations have they made?   Beyond simply putting the portfolio together, he recommended customizing it for the particular company at which a student was interviewing.  He told students to put the company name and logo on the front of the portfolio, and even the name of the executive with whom he or she would be interviewing.  Then they should offer to leave the portfolio with the interviewer.   It makes great sense.   Students (and all job applicants) need to be prepared to SHOW people what they have done, not just tell them about it.