Careers Explained Heidi Meyer

Learn what a Senior Operations Research Scientist at Wayfair does, how Ryo Kimura got into this role, and what career advice he has learned. He received his bachelor's degree from Oberlin College in Mathematics and his master's and Ph.D. in operations research from Carnegie Mellon University. His previous work experience includes being a research Fellow at GE Global Research and a Data Analysis Intern at Compassionate Care Hospice.

Timestamps:
0:28: An overview of what a research operations scientist does
1:09: His typical roles and responsibilities
4:59: What the software engineering aspect of his roles entails
6:10: An example of the projects he works on
9:17: The typical timeline of his projects
10:57: What he likes about the role
12:04: Challenges of the role
13:05: The education requirements for his role
22:09: Advice on applying to operations research roles
23:23: General career advice

In this interview, Grant Sheely will share what he does in his current role, how he got this role, and some career advice he has learned. He received his bachelor's degree from Oberlin College in Math and Physics, with a minor in Environmental studies. His work experience includes being a Green House Gas Inventory Intern at Oberlin College, a Sustainability Coordinator at Vornado Realty Trust, and a Project Manager at MaGrann Associates. He is now a Codes and Policy Project Analyst at the New Buildings Institute. We discuss:


1:13: What he does in his current role
2:23: What a typical day is like
4:09: What his general schedule is like
5:02: How many projects he works on at a time
5:51: The type of work his projects entail
7:13: How social his role is
8:01: An example of his projects 
9:41: The typical timelines of his projects
11:01: What the job training is like
12:10: Prerequisites needed for the role
13:39: An overview of the required certifications for the role
16:32: Challenges of the role
17:50: What the on the job training is like
19:46: How he got into this field and role 
24:27: Advice on career exploration
25:54: How to explore this industry without a formal job
27:20: Advice on networking
28:29: General career advice

Jack Armstrong shares about his career path and current role as a Financial Services Representative at Barnum Financial Group. He received his bachelor's degree from Providence College in Business and Managerial Economics and his previous work experience includes being an Account Manager with Coastline Risk and working at the front desk of the Cape Cod Country Club. We discuss:

0:39 - What he does in his current role as a Financial Services Representative

2:17 - The educational courses required to move up from his role within the company

3:53 - How to take certification courses

5:14 - What a typical day or week is like for him

6:35 - Barnum’s company culture

7:10 - Overview of what customer outreach entails

9:01 - How long outreach phone calls last

11:21 - What the on-the-job training is like

12:22 - The long-term trajectory of the role

12:57 - The typical timeline for moving up

1437 - What he likes about the role

15:16 - What the industry is like

15:36 - Challenges of the role

16:27 - Industry drop-out rates

17:24 - How success is measured

17:53 - His company’s culture around competition

19:06 - What made him interested in this field, position, and company

20:58 - Prerequisites to apply

22:41 - Most important qualities for the job

24:19 - Advice on how to explore whether this role is a good fit

26:14 - Types of roles that can help you gain experience

27:22 - General career advice

In this episode, Nolan Piatkowski describes his career path and current role as a Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) Analyst at IMAX. He received his bachelor's degree from Northeastern University in Finance and Business Analytics. His work experience includes working as an FP&A Coop at Salsify and as a Corporate Finance Coop at Boston Consulting Group. We discuss:

His current role:

0:44 - Overview of his current role

1:36 - His roles and responsibilities 

2:33 - The timeline of his tasks 

6:27 - How many projects he works on simultaneously

7:03 - What a typical day looks like

7:39 - How social his role is

8:34 - How collaborative his assignments are

9:47 - What he likes about the role 

10:40 - Challenges of the role

12:00 - What the training was like

13:12 - Examples of specialties within IMAX

Career path:

14:17 - What made him interested in finance

14:54 - Why he wanted to be an FP&A analyst

15:41 - Factors he did and didn't want in a role

Advice:

17:12 - Advice on how to explore career options

18:25 - Advice when applying to jobs

19:27 - Networking advice

20:43 - Advice on how to set yourself up for success

22:25 - General career advice

Evan Carter describes his career path and current role as a cinematographer. He received his bachelor's degree from Davidson College in Political Science and after college has held many different filmmaking roles including being the Director of Photography on an Emmy award-winning PBS show and working on a wide variety of projects such as a documentary about feminists in Chile, and commercials for brands like Huggies and Bed, Bath, and Beyond. He is currently a Freelance Filmmaker, working as both a production company and as an individual part of a team in multiple roles. We discuss:

0:56 - An overview of his role 

1:51 - The difference between cinematography and other filmmaking roles

5:44 - How he gets his projects

6:07 - The challenges of freelancing

7:15 - Aspects he likes about his role

8:06 - What a typical day and week is like as a cinematographer 

9:24 - How much travel the role entails 

12:02 - An overview of the film making process

14:23 - How many projects he works on simultaneously

17:07 - Things he loves about the role

18:44 - How he got into his current role

22:14 - How to get into the filmmaking world

23:42 - Advice on how to be proactive in getting into the film industry

25:15 - Advice on how to get film experience 

27:14 - The culture of film sets

28:31 - Advice on how to network

31:39 - General career advice

In this episode, Jani-Mikael Kuusisto describes his career path in the corporate world and how he switched over to founding and running his own startup. We discuss:

His current role:


0:27: Overview of his current role as CEO 
1:26: His schedule balancing being CEO and a Director of another company
2:14: What a typical day or week in his role as CEO entails
3:49: His process of acquiring funding for a startup 
5:18: What he does around proof of concept for his product
6:28: How social his role is
7:05: What he likes and finds challenging about his role 
8:01: The signs of success for a startup
9:00: His role in recruiting talent 

His career path:


10:26: The major steps of his career path
14:08: How he became CEO
15:53: What he learned he did and didn't want in a job
18:15: Opportunities to grow as a CEO

Career advice:


19:52: Advice on how to be resilient 
21:10: Advice on when to attempt entrepreneurship
23:19: Advice on how to balance practicality with passion in one's career
24:46: Advice on how to develop interpersonal skills
26:06: How to find job opportunities 
27:17: Why everyone should think of themselves as an entrepreneur regardless of their career