Original Careers - OriginalSteps.com

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Original Careers; Published: 29 August 2012; Last Updated: 21 January 2016

Maya Shino: Creating a legal platform

"Actively seek opportunities to be exposed to new thinking and to meeting new people. You never know where new ideas might come from and where new connections might lead."- Maya Shino

Where are on the planet are you currently based? Wellington, NZ- living in beautiful Mt Victoria :)

You co-founded a website call Lawspot.org, tell us more and how did it all come about? LawSpot is a website that uses a Q+A platform that helps make it easier for New Zealanders to access and understand the law. Members of the public can ask their legal questions and LawSpot's qualified lawyer volunteers will answer them for free. LawSpot operates under an innovative public-private partnership model with Community Law Wellington and Hutt Valley (CLWHV), a community law centre in the Wellington region. All answers are monitored and approved by CLWHV before they can be published. It is the first website in Australasia to use this public-private partnership approach to address unmet legal needs. The website has been running in private beta since May and publicly launched on 1 August 2012.

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Original Careers; Published: 28 August 2012; Last Updated: 20 January 2016

Janine Hills: The business of reputation

"To open a company you have to have the right network, the right disciplines, and choose the right timing to be mature enough to go to market successfully."- Janine Hills

Where are on the planet are you currently based? Johannesburg, South Africa

You started a business that focuses on corporate reputation management, called Vuma Reputation Management, that sounds almost out the box but very much needed in the business sector, how and why did you start the business? It’s very much out of the box. Yes, in fact when we named the company and sent out a test to ten leading executives, all ten came back saying, Yes, the market is ready! One very prominent person in marketing did however ask “what the hell is that?” So yes, the industry has evolved certainly over the last 7 years and continues to evolve and the importance of reputation management is becoming more and more a factor, especially in government and corporate and entrepreneurial environments. My career started when I worked in the hotel industry for years, because I was not able to attend university due to financial restraints. I then moved from the hotel industry into telecoms and eCommerce, then into banking and then finally founding “Vuma Reputation Management”. It’s no accident that having worked in those sectors and in respectable corporates, that I personally learnt about financial discipline, sales, marketing and the will to serve – all of which has culminated in making a successful company.

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Original Careers; Published: 06 June 2012; Last Updated: 20 January 2016

Bowen Pan: building a career to change the world

"I want to touch and improve the lives of millions of people around the world, empowering them to create a better quality of life, stronger nations and a better world. "-Bowen Pan

Bowen Pan’s career has been larger than life in such a short space of time. Driving start-up businesses whilst pursuing an exceptional academic record at The University of Auckland in New Zealand, he is now building a future in business whilst tackling an MBA at Stanford Graduate School of Business. In a very cool interview Bowen discusses his current adventures, life, why apples are his tonic and how Steve Jobs has made a big impact on his ambitions!

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Original Careers; Published: 12 July 2012; Last Updated: 20 January 2016

Aamruth Shankarappa: I test helicopters as a career

"Studying in Germany was a complete different experience for me! I received a lot of opportunities to work as a student with many multinational organizations like AUDI and BMW. This provided a good overview into both International and European business markets. After my Masters, an offer from an Avionic organization presented itself in testing helicopters which I accepted."- Amruth Shankarappa

Where on the planet are you currently located? The land of beer-Munich, Germany.

You were born in India and done a fair bit of travel, how did you end up in Germany of all places? I was crazy about cars (like BMW) while I was in India and New Zealand, so wanted to learn the technical concept about automobile and space. So I landed in Germany and I am still crazy about cars!

Details: Written by OriginalSteps; Category: Original Careers; Published: 05 April 2012; Last Updated: 20 January 2016

Rob Symington: Building a global community!

“We only have one short life and we spend most of it earning our living. I'm not saying that everyone has to start a business based on their passions, I'm saying that there is a massive waste of potential out there and that people owe it to themselves to make career transitions into areas that make them tick on some level.”- Rob Symington

In 2011 FirstStep.me named Escape the City as the coolest online recruitment website of the year. It was different and desperately needed for a career market that lacks personalised career direction. FirstStep.me caught up with co-founder Rob Symington to find out more about why he started such a cool project along with the story of his own career path!