Career Success Mentoring Program

ABOUT THE PROGRAM

From Queens University to the top business schools around the world as well as in the halls of the United Nations and Fortune 500 companies everywhere, you can find SMARTSTART members successfully putting our career advice to work for their own benefit.

Our Career Success Mentoring Program teaches what you need to know to get paid what you’re worth, earn rapid promotions, and protect your job security as best you can in today’s changing corporate world.

It’s especially helpful to new and soon-to-be grads just starting out in their careers, people who have recently come to North America from other countries who are new to the workforce, and for those who are already working in careers and want to be seen as having high potential for promotion or who want to make changes in career direction to support professional advancement.

The program was created in 2005 and tested by business school students and Fortune 500 employees for 2 years before being released to the public in June 2007. That’s how we know following our advice can advance your career success up to 3 times faster than average!

Applications for charter memberships closed June 30, 2008; however, monthly program memberships are still available on a first-come, first-served basis.

WHAT OUR MEMBERS KNOW THAT YOU MAY NOT

Here are a few things our members learned that you might benefit from knowing too:

Getting Hired and Starting a New Job

1. What is the single, most important question you have to get the answer to at the start of any job interview, before you begin talking about yourself? If you really want the job, it’s a must to know this.  
    
   (Miss this and odds are you’ll just be wasting your time and theirs.)
2. Name the #1 thing a new employee must do starting on Day 1 of any new job.

Working (in general)

1. Name the one thing to ALWAYS have on your desk and two things to NEVER have on your desk if you want to be seen as someone worthy of moving up the ranks.
2. What is the biggest mistake people make when meeting with the boss? (You pay the price in more ways than one if you make it and most people make this mistake at least once in their career!)

Communication

1. There are two little words that, when used to begin a certain type of email, help you create personal credibility, establish your professional reputation, and protect you from any potential disasters that may occur in future.  
    
   (I’ll give you a hint, the first word has two letters, and the second has eight.)
2. One statement, commonly used to close email and end your telephone conversations when a “next action” is involved, has the opposite effect of what you intend because this innocent 3-letter word is mindlessly included. 
    
   (Chances are good you are guilty of this; your boss likely is too.)

Getting Promoted/Getting a Raise

1. List the 3 times you have the most power and likelihood of getting what you want and deserve in your pay cheque.
2. Name the one thing you need to do within 24 hours of being promoted or given a raise. (Hardly anyone knows this or does it (except for our students of course!) but we’ll tell you what it is).

Giving Presentations

1. Describe the foods you should never eat before entering any situation where you need to be mentally sharp and must be able to think fast on your feet.
2. Name two things you must never wear on the day you are giving your presentation and one thing that will get you through even the worst trial-by-fire.

Career Management (in general)

1. How to tell if you are being well paid. And what to do and how to fix it if you find out you are not even close. (This one is bound to shock you! But once you know the formula, you'll know what to do to get and stay well paid.)
2. Identify what you never put in writing in your personal performance plan (and what you always put in its place instead).

Networking

1. Volunteering for this event too often is the kiss-of-death for career advancement. On the other hand, certain events are critical for you to participate in—not doing so will also hold you back. Give one example of an event in each of the above categories.
   
2. The number 1 mistake people make when attending networking events! (It can even be a career killer…)

If you’ve already decided you’d like to become a member of the SMARTSTART Career Success Mentoring Program too, click here.

WHAT OUR MEMBERS GET

The Career Success Mentoring Program includes:

• Success Secrets Audio Postcards – a weekly audio series with insider “how to” tips surrounding the unspoken truth about getting ahead at work
  
• Success Now Newsletter – our “members only” newsletter published twice a month providing strategies for working in the real world successfully, answers to members’ questions, and recommendations for additional resources and new tools that can give you a competitive edge in the workplace
  
• Instant Impact Bulletin – a monthly bulletin covering a specific topic and offering 5 tips and tactics for powerful personal marketing relating to it
  
• Instant Action Bulletin – a monthly bulletin providing self-directed exercises that support developing the right mindset and explain proven tools and techniques for superior self-motivation (the members who do this work experience the fastest results from the program)
  
• An All-Access Pass to MBA Masterclasses – our career success program members are permitted to listen in to Professor Lopeke’s monthly MBA Masterclasses (when in session) at no additional charge

WHAT YOU MISSED IN YEAR 1

If you want to know more and would like to see all the topics we covered in year 1 (not including the content covered in the bonus MBA Masterclasses), please download the PDF document here.

If you’re ready to join the members already benefiting from our program by taking us up on our 14-day FREE trial offer click here to get the sign up details.

Not a problem if you’re not quite ready. You can check and see what others think about our award-winning program and read their rave reviews here.

SAMPLE PROGRAM MATERIALS

And, you can download free sample program materials to see what they look like before trying our program here:

[CLICK on the images below to view or download sample materials.] SAMPLE NEWSLETTER Click on the image to download the newsletter. SAMPLE AUDIO COACHING Click on the image to download the transcript. Click on the 'play' icon to listen. SAMPLE INSTANT ACTION Click on the image to download the bulletin. SAMPLE INSTANT IMPACT Click on the image to download the bulletin.

READY TO TRY OUR PROGRAM?

We offer monthly “pay-as-you-go” program memberships only (see pricing below). This is an “open” membership plan which means you can start at any time and cancel whenever you want without any pre-set minimum monthly purchase obligation.

Free Trial Policy, Monthly Billing & Cancellation Details

Try the SMARTSTART Career Success Mentoring Program FREE for 14 days. At the end of the 14-day trial, you will be billed the monthly subscription fee in effect at the time you enrolled and billing will continue every 30 days from then on unless you cancel.

For example, if you joined the program on August 5, 2008 and the monthly fee at that time was $39 per month that is the price you’ll be charged as long as you’re continuously enrolled in the program even if the price has since increased.

Your first monthly subscription fee is charged 14 days after you purchase (i.e., August 19). Every 30 days thereafter (e.g., September 19, October 19, etc.), you’ll be billed the same monthly fee (unless you cancel your subscription).

You can cancel your monthly subscription at any time with no further payment obligation and no questions asked. However, if you cancel your program membership, rejoin at a later date and the monthly membership subscription fee has gone up, you’ll be charged the new monthly rate.

FAST-ACTION BONUS: When you join the SMARTSTART Career Success Mentoring Program, you’ll be granted access to the private “members only” archive where you can download and print previous program materials at no additional charge after your first payment has been successfully processed. It’s just our way of thanking you for your interest in our program!

We look forward to welcoming you into the SMARTSTART Career Success Mentoring Program!

Professor Linda M. Lopeke
Creator, SMARTSTART Virtual Mentoring Programs