Create a Customer Avatar

Meet Jose, this is my customer avatar. He is a hard-working international student who has tried to apply to many different firms but all of the companies don't give him a shot because he is an international student. He left his home in Costa Rica to study here in the United States because he knew that the education here in the States is better according to professionals. His ambition drives him to apply his skills in a business environment. He is ready to work and appreciate any internship opportunity that is presented to him.

I can relate with my avatar because I would love to have that experience, too.

Elevator pitch # 2

You can watch my elevator pitch 2 here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JkYKyp06ou_iV5CZ3jwvjhGEPtjU9ADA/view?usp=sharing

Based on the feedback that I received, I made it shorter and more concise. My peers told me that I caused a good impression and that it was pretty clear. So this time I only focused on doing it more engaging with the audience, I decided to focus my audience on the firms this time, instead of the international students. My program needs to be sold to international students and also to the companies that are looking for an international workforce. I would like to thank my other virtual classmates for all the feedback that they provided me.

What’s Your Secret Sauce?

1) Describe five ways in which you think you have human capital that is truly unique. I think that my top strengths are achiever, focus, woo, positivity, and significance. I set high objectives and I am determined to do as much as I can to achieve those objectives.  

2) Interview the five people who know you the best. 

I asked my mom and she mentioned that I am a hard worker and perseverant on everything that I do. My best friend here at UF mentioned that I am good at building relationships and making sure that everyone is included. My other best friend here at UF mentioned that I am very good at networking. My best friend in Germany mentioned that I am great at taking initiative and even though I do not have prior experience on something, I am not afraid of taking that initiative. My other best friend in Germany told me that I am very passionate, she said that once I have an idea, I embrace it and make it mine! 

3) Reflect on the differences. I think that what I got from my interviews was very motivating. It definitely helps to know how people perceive me and most of the things made sense since they align perfectly with my strengths. I think that my strengths are pretty accurate! 

Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 2

1) Find three people who would fit that segment and arrange to interview them. I interviewed three international students. One from Poland, Thailand, and Nepal.

2) Begin with alternative evaluation. They all mentioned that if there would be an alternative solution then it would be to do an internship in their home country. However, all of their countries work differently when it comes to internships. For example, in Nepal most of these internships are unpaid. In Thailand, most of the internships are longer than 3 months and they are at a different time. In Poland, some of them are unpaid and if they are paid they are not well-paid making the cost of living hard. So their alternatives are pretty limited, they mentioned. 

3) How/where do they buy? They use different websites to search for jobs, but not of them actually helps them out because it is such a waste of time for them to see all the time if they are allowed to apply for the position or not. 

4) Post-purchase evaluation. None of them has managed to land an internship in the United States so they cannot say anything. 

5) Report the findings. Based on these interviews, I see how international students are frustrated when it comes to work experience. They are searching for places to apply their skills, but they cannot find them. 

6) Draw conclusions. I learned that I am not alone in this process and it encourages me to make a change. If I could be able to help these people, I would do so. 

Halfway Reflection

Tenaciousness is a competency. 

I feel that it is important to develop time management skills because you are required to do this every week. It is a matter of commitment. Additionally, creativity to come up with questions and innovative ideas. Moreover, interpersonal and analytical thinking skills are required, as you are interviewing people and analyzing the results.
Tenaciousness is also about attitude. 

I think it definitely is hard when it comes to keep up with other classes. Doing interviews is time-consuming because you have to find a time that works best for everyone and that is very hard, especially at UF because people are always busy. However, I think that it is important to remember that you are working with a goal and that you want to reach the goals that you have set up for yourself at the beginning of the class. 

3) Three tips. 

• Do not miss any assessment because it will affect your grade, even though it looks like it is one point or two points but they are all so important.
• Read the assignment at the beginning of the week so you can plan accordingly. 
• Even if the idea that you chose is not working as you were expecting, you can always re-shape it!

Reading Reflection No. 1

I enjoyed reading about the Wright Brothers. Here are a couple of questions to reflect on:

• What surprised you the most?
• I think that it was very interesting to see how the Wright Brother had to do a lot of research before they created a prototype and based on a lot of readings they realizing that they were doing something wrong. 
• What about the entrepreneur did you most admire?
• I feel that even though they had so many failed attempts, they still managed to succeed. Even though people might have thought they were completely crazy, but they never stopped! 
• What about the entrepreneur did you least admire?
• It is hard to think about of something that I do not admire because they were living in a period of time that technology was not so well advanced and they still managed to succeed and create everything from scratch! 
• Did the entrepreneur encounter adversity and failure? If so, what did they do about it?
• They were risking their lives when they tried to fly their prototypes. I think that no one believed in them and they definitely were confronted because the idea that they were working on was almost impossible. Think about it, who would have thought that flying is possible if only birds could fly at that point. 2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited? 
• 2) What competencies did you notice that the entrepreneur exhibited?   Perseverance, determination, focus
• 3) Identify at least one part of the reading that was confusing to you. I think that the book was well-written and honestly, I was able to understand a lot. 
• 4) If you were able to ask two questions to the entrepreneur, what would you ask? Why? I think it would be: what was your initial thought when you managed to see your first prototype failed? Just because I am curious to see how much faith he had on his first shot.
• If you were to sell this product right now, would you do it? for how much? Because I would like to see how much value he has for that prototype! 
• 5) For fun: what do you think the entrepreneur's opinion was of hard work? Do you share that opinion? 
• I feel that for the Wright Brothers it was about vision and perseverance. I believe that hard work is always important and nothing comes out of it if you are crossing your hands and doing nothing! You have to move to make something happen. 

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Figuring Out Buyer Behavior No. 1

For this assignment, I decided to use the demographic segmentation and so I decided to focus on international students at the University of Florida.

In this exercise, we were supposed to conduct interviews and summarize our discoveries. I had the opportunity to interview four people (Maria from Chile;  Maya from Israel, Juan from Mexico, and Mauricio from Costa Rica). Most of these interviews lasted approximately 30 minutes, except for Juan from Mexico that lasted 20 minutes because I found out that he did not have the unmet need because Mexico is part of the NAFTA and according to him he does not have a restriction to work in the United States in the future which I was not aware of that before.

What I learned in these interviews is that international students have it very rough when it comes to internships. It is very hard because the companies that give the opportunity for international students do not come to recruit here at UF. Thus, it gets more complicated for everyone which reinforces my hypothesis and the need of the program that I am suggesting.

Idea Napkin No. 1

1) You. I am an international student who has been able to adapt to different systems in 5 countries. I really like building relationships with the people around me and I like to take the initiative on projects. I have been able to lead international projects, the soccer team, and I have held different leadership positions around campus. I have been trying so hard to find an internship and I have done everything that I possibly can. I really want this platform to exist, not to benefit me but to help other students who are giving their best. I really aspire to make important connections between prestigious companies and bright candidates. This program ("business", will be a not-for-profit organization) and it will be so meaningful to assist people to pursue their professional dreams. 

2) What are you offering to customers? I am offering my customers the opportunity to be exposed to be recruited by prestigious companies that give them a chance to apply for internships. Additionally, the opportunity to enhance their career development through career coaches. By being recruited, I mean to have a higher chance of getting an internship by proving our partners that they deserve a chance for an interview.

3) Who are you offering it to? This is for international students that are currently pursuing a bachelor's in business administration, accounting, and diverse engineering majors and are enrolled as full-time students in a college or university in the United States of America. Individuals that currently have an F1 student visa.

4) Why do they care? It is important to gain work experience in order to apply for full-time offers and to have the opportunity to apply the skills that students acquired in classes and student organizations.

5) What are your core competencies? I have had the nice opportunity to expand my international experience by studying/volunteering/working in different countries. I like to build relationships with people that have different backgrounds. I enjoy collaborating with people and helping them to achieve their goals.