Keep it simple, but be aggressive. Those were the words Brad Pavloski, BBA ’92, used to account his and his brother Pat’s success. After completing degrees in finance and marketing, Pavloski took his ambitions to Japan, taking advantage of its struggling economy to use what he had learned about international marketing. He and Pat, a ’94 engineering grad and a student at the time, soon found a niche in international phone service with their company, World Link.
Many graduates enter the working world with energy and great plans for their careers. Do those plans become a reality? Sometimes people’s ambitions change due to life circumstances or simply fade into the background as their careers progress. Not for Karlis Nollendorfs, MS ’96 and Senior Manager of Consumer Insights at General Mills, Inc.
A graduate from the Nielsen Center for Marketing Research, Nollendorfs started his career as a senior marketing research analyst at General Mills in Minneapolis. His sights were set on an international career, and he made sure those he worked with knew that from day one. “I was lucky to start off with managers who knew what my goals were and would help me to reach them,” Nollendorfs recalled. “ I was always talking to people about what I needed to do to work overseas.”
Consistently making decisions that would move him in his desired direction got Nollendorfs to where he wanted to be. For four years he worked in the U.K., heading up the marketing research function for Cereal Partners U.K., a joint venture between General Mills and Nestlé. “You have to demonstrate that you not only have a passion for working abroad, but also that you have the patience and intuition to survive,” Nollendorfs found. “Companies want to send their most talented, flexible and intellectually curious employees abroad, so it takes patience to build that tool-kit and initial credibility.”
When he arrived in England, Nollendorfs quickly had to immerse himself in a new culture – discovering new ways to communicate with consumers, manage people and adapt to a different working style. “Consumers in the U.K. are much more cynical of marketing than they are in the U.S. That presented unique challenges for developing persuasive communications, not to mention measuring how persuasive they were.”
Although Nollendorfs has accomplished a good deal in his international experiences, getting there was not always easy or glamorous. “Just like anyone, I had to make some sacrifices to stay on my career path. While I had to make sure I didn’t pigeon-hole myself into one position, I also had to pass up promotions and opportunities that didn’t align with my goals.”
Nollendorfs encourages every professional to be active in managing his or her own career: “If you don’t keep working towards what you want, someone else will, and you’ll find yourself being passed over.”
