Issue 1: April 2022
The Next Thing News
Career Journey Spotlight: Zach Levin
Tell us about your career journey so far
I'm 3rd generation retail / CPG, and have known that I wanted to work in the industry since my first set of Black Friday store shops with my Dad. Going into senior year at Michigan, I interned at Strategy& (PwC) and returned to work on pricing and operations projects for Fortune 100 retailers, food & beverage companies and more.
I was burnt out with the lifestyle (120 flights and 150 nights in a hotel in 2019) and I wasn't sure if I wanted to go to Business school, so I pivoted to Commercial Strategy at Beam Suntory. While I liked working in alcohol…I missed the pace, structure, and exposure in consulting and was brought back to Strategy&. I knew I wasn't going to stay to partner, but I never would have guessed that after 13 months I would be leaving, taking a role in International Strategy at Dr. Squatch.
How do you know when it's right to look for the next thing?
Ask yourself four key questions:
Do I enjoy the work and/or industry?
Do I enjoy working with the people at my company?
What's the total compensation difference? Personal finances are just that: personal. Money isn't everything, but investing pays off in the long run
Am I running "from" something or "to" something?
How do you stand out in this crazy job market?
This is debatably the hottest job market in modern history, so be excited! To stand out, be open and honest on your resume and include fun facts. I think that 75% of my time with recruiters was spent discussing my "additional" section because they're curious about my favorite dishes to cook or golf courses to play in Chicago.
Don't go crazy on breadth of experiences; recruiters will know that you're early in your career so it's better to have depth in 2-3 areas rather than breadth in 8-12.
