Colleges’ “Dirty Little Secret”
September 29, 2011
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In this podcast, Mike Rivera, co-founder, college counselor and tutor with Top-Tier Tutoring, shares a dirty little secret of colleges: they are businesses too!
During the podcast, Mike explores the many good things that the model of college as a business means. Shareholders, whether private investors or taxpayers, as well as alumni donors, want to know how the college budget (which includes tuition) is being spent. With an eye on the bottom line, colleges create line items for expenses such as hiring and attracting top-notch professors, offering cutting edge curriculum, developing new courses, funding research and the like. These are necessary in order for the business of a college to continue and thrive.
Listen as Mike also casts an eye on the other side of what running colleges as a business requires. He exposes the growing popularity of marketing by colleges, and the dirty little secrets of which high schoolers and their parents may be unaware. The podcast sheds light on marketing at every level – from unsolicited brochures to “qualified” students who feel as if they are “guaranteed” admission, to increasing reliance on the ubiquitous wait list, and on-campus hosted elaborate events. The curious result of high school valedictorians not being accepted at fine institutions is also discussed.
Mike discusses how the knowledge of these practices can help the college applicant and family. Knowledge is power, and this podcast arms to-be college students and their families with facts and figures that usually are kept hidden under the rug.
As always, we welcome your feedback and ideas. Please submit a comment below, send us an email or give us a call at 973-243-1212.
Ear on Careers – Marketing and PR Professional, Abe Kasbo
June 9, 2010
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Abe Kasbo, Marketing & PR Professional
In this episode of “Ear on Careers,” we are pleased to welcome Abe Kasbo, founder and CEO of the integrated marketing and public relations firm Verasoni Worldwide located in Fairfield, New Jersey. Verasoni delivers meaningful strategies and campaigns across traditional and new media for its clients located in the United States, Canada and the Middle East.
Abe was born in Syria and emigrated to the United States at the age of 10. He holds both a B.A. in Political Science with a minor in English, as well as a Masters in Public Administration (health care track), from Seton Hall University in New Jersey. Abe decided upon his undergraduate major because he was always interested in political discourse to understand why things work as they do in a society. An undergraduate professor guided him to his post-graduate area of study. Notably, Abe worked full-time on Wall Street while attending graduate school full-time.
In the podcast, Abe explains his circuitous path to the founding of Verasoni, which included stops at Wall Street, teaching, a technology firm and the marketing departments at a couple of hospitals. Essentially self-taught in marketing and PR, he approaches each project both as a professional and a student in order to become the best client advocate. His experience has given him a perspective on how a business ought to communicate with its customers, and Abe builds campaigns based on business objectives.
Listen as Abe describes a “typical day” for him as a marketing and PR professional. He shares a hair-raising war story about how he turned “get the Hell out!” into a positive experience. In addition, Abe expresses his surprises in the field and offers tips for those contemplating following in his footsteps, including how his formal education has been brought to bear on his current vocation. We hope this very informative podcast gives you insight into the dynamic field of marketing and public relations, and perhaps sets you upon a new course for your career.
Top-Tier Tutoring is very excited to bring you the web’s premiere “career day” podcast series – what we call “Ear on Careers.” This series of podcasts is designed to introduce our listeners to successful leaders in a variety of different fields, including business, industry, medicine, the arts, and so much more.
We welcome your feedback and ideas. Please submit a comment below, send us an email or give us a call at 973-243-1212.
Ear on Careers – Ryan Dorchak, Restaurateur
February 12, 2010
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In this episode of “Ear on Careers,” we are pleased to welcome Ryan Dorchak, third generation restaurateur at the Cloverleaf Tavern in Caldwell, New Jersey, www.cloverleaftavern.com.
Ryan Dorchak, Restaurateur
Ryan grew up at the Cloverleaf Tavern, originally founded as a “man’s bar” by his grandfather in 1933. Knowing that he would enter the family business, Ryan graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson University in Madison, New Jersey, with a degree in marketing and a minor in finance. Both his major and minor contribute to the continuing success of the Cloverleaf Tavern, as Ryan employs “4-walls marketing” and keeps an eye on the finances to increase the restaurant’s profits even in these uncertain times.
Listen as Ryan explains the delicate balancing act he oversees as a restaurateur. Believe it or not, restaurants have the number 1 failure rate in the United States. While the restaurant opens for lunch at 11 am, Ryan’s day begins at 7 am attending to staff operations, finances and marketing, allowing him to be on the floor during the lunch and dinner rush. Read more
Ear on Careers – Marlene Waldock, Communications Specialist
September 11, 2009
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Marlene Waldock, Communications Specialist
In this episode of “Ear on Careers”, we are pleased to welcome Marlene Waldock, a communications specialist based out of Verona, New Jersey, www.becausewearewomen.com. Among other things, Marlene is the founder of 1st Impression Communications and of Because We Are Women, a teen counselor at the Rothman Institute and the immediate past president of the North Essex Chamber of Commerce.
Marlene received her undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh in Adolescent Psychology, with the goal of helping teens transition to young adults. However, early in her working life, she went into sales and eventually became a Regional Training Consultant. In the mid-1990’s, Marlene turned to communications and public speaking Throughout her career, Marlene has constantly doing public speaking in front of groups, either while training or as a television host on NJ Channel 12. In-between, she obtained a management degree from Georgia State.
Ear on Careers – J.P. Hamel, Publisher
July 29, 2009
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J.P. Hamel
In this episode of “Ear on Careers”, we are pleased to welcome J.P. Hamel, the publisher of The Essex Fells Magazine. J.P. grew up in Rahway, New Jersey, and attended Albright College in Pennsylvania. In college, J.P. majored in biology and math, intending to enter the biotech/research field. However, his first job took him into the marketing and recruiting field and in January 2009 – the same time that Top-Tier Tutoring was launched! – J.P. started his franchise business with N2 Publishing, www.n2pub.com.
Publishing, according to J.P., requires him to coordinate material for the monthly publication. He is always seeking relevant and creative content of interest to the readership. In addition, a publisher functions in a business development capacity, as advertising provides necessary funding. Accordingly, J.P. has to both find advertisers and maintain good relationships with them.
J.P. says that no one type of major is required to enter the publishing field. His degree in math and biology provided him with a solid foundation, as the scientific/analytic approach he learned in college enables him offer his publication to advertisers as a logical business decision. J.P. notes that his career in sales also has benefitted him tremendously in his role as publisher, especially when dealing with business development. We hope that J.P.’s story will inspire you to consider a career in the publishing industry, an exciting field that brings much needed information to the people!
We are very excited to bring to you another episode in the series we call “Ear on Careers.” This series of podcasts is designed to introduce our listeners to successful leaders in a variety of different fields, including business, industry, medicine, the arts, and so much more. Consider this your podcast “career day”!
We welcome your feedback. Send us an email or give us a call at 973-243-1212.
