Kelly Olin
Kelly is a former FORTUNE 500 College Recruiting Manager, certified career coach, trainer, expert speaker on Gen Y and careers, and columnist for the Detroit Free Press. She is the owner of Next Stop Career, a professional development company with the mission to help college students, recent graduates and other members of Gen Y identify and achieve the careers of their dreams. Born and raised in suburban Detroit, Kelly has lived and studied in France and Thailand and has served as a missionary in Africa. She graduated from Michigan State University with her undergraduate degree in Supply Chain Management and graduate degree in Human Resources and Labor Relations (MHRLR). Additionally, Kelly has earned her Professional Coaching Certificate (CPC) from the International Coaching Academy in 2010, an International Coaching Federation accredited institution. Today, Kelly resides in Royal Oak, Mich., with her college sweetheart husband, Marc, and baby boy, Briggs.
Tips for Gen Y to update professional image
September 8, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
As we start another school year, now is a great time to update your professional wardrobe so you can position yourself for your dream job or internship. The working world often judges a book by its cover. Therefore, when job searching, it’s more critical than ever that your image be spot on. As an added [...]
Tips to achieve your S.M.A.R.T. goals
August 25, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
As the summer winds down and we transition into the fall season, it seems like we are renewed with the feeling of a fresh start. It’s as if we have been “off” for the summer with an endless number of excuses as to why we didn’t get done what we wanted to do and now [...]
Should you change your college major?
August 11, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
At age 18, you were asked to pick a major and thus a career path for the rest of your life. Kind of seems like a bit much considering you can’t even decide what your plans are for this weekend, let alone the next 40 years! For this and many other reasons, it is VERY [...]
Gen Y can stand out with video resume
July 28, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
In this competitive job market, we are all looking for a way to connect with employers and make our resume leap off the page. Thus, a great new tool to help you bring some personality to your application is a video resume. A video resume, also known as a video profile or video cover letter, [...]
4 tips for professionally wrapping up internship
July 21, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
We are now in the second half of the summer and you will probably be wrapping up your internship in the next couple of weeks before you return to campus for the fall semester. Like making a good first impression, it is important to also leave a positive lasting impression as you depart from your [...]
3 things to do this summer if you didn’t intern
July 7, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
Well my friends, it is now the middle of July and chances are, if you haven’t already landed an internship for this summer, it isn’t going to happen. We all know (or should know) the importance of having internship experiences during college to help prepare and market ourselves for full time employment. So, if you [...]
Internships have gone virtual
June 30, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
With the surge of college students competing in the slow job market, finding an internship can be quite challenging. Thankfully, the growing trend of “virtual internships” has provided more opportunities for students to build new skills and experiences on their resume while flexibly working around their school schedule. By leveraging the “telecommuting” model and newer [...]
Professional follow up: keep the ball rolling
June 14, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
You just got back from your first career fair, networking event, or interview and are buzzing with excitement regarding all of the opportunities you learned about and the connections you made. Now what? How do you keep the ball rolling? I get this question quite often, and trust me, it can seem overwhelming trying to [...]
The ugly truth about image and career
June 9, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
We’ve always heard that we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. However, putting all judgments aside, the cover is still the first thing we see, right? I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the same theory often applies in the hiring process. If two applicants have similar skill sets, communication skills, [...]
Leveraging LinkedIn in your job search
June 2, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
I am excited to bring you the second chapter in this blog series on the hot topic of social media and how you can leverage it in your career search. Today, we’re looking at LinkedIn. I’m sure you already have set up a LinkedIn account, but if not, you’ve certainly heard of it. It is [...]
4 tips for Gen Y to manage brand on Facebook
May 24, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
Social media is not going away. Although it may never replace old-fashioned face-to-face interaction and handshakes, social media has proven to be a highly efficient tool to increase your professional network and get noticed. Therefore, “evolve or die!” I am excited to bring you the first chapter of this social media blog series on the [...]
Does golf guarantee Gen Y a hole-in-one career?
May 19, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
We’ve all heard that golf is the sport of business. The two practically go together like peanut butter and jelly. We hear things like, “business deals are made on the golf course.” But what if you didn’t exactly grow up with a club in your hand or a role model to teach you this rather [...]
Gen Y competing in the global job market
May 10, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
In today’s competitive, post collegiate professional world, the “Average Joes” are not going to cut it. Gone are the days when you can run with a pack of other “normal American kids” and expect to get an “average job” with “average benefits” and live an “average life.” Now, and more so in the future, the [...]
5 tips for Gen Y to succeed at career fairs
May 3, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
You are on the job hunt and heard about an upcoming career fair or expo. Great! These can be an excellent way to connect face to face with potential employers. HOWEVER, they can also be a complete waste of time if you don’t know how to work them effectively. Consider these top 5 tips before [...]
Time management: where does your time go?
April 26, 2011 | BY Kelly Olin
Congratulations! You’ve landed that part time job or internship while you are already a busy college student. But you are starting to wonder if there are enough hours in the day to be superman or superwoman. We hear you! But don’t worry. I always like to say, “the busiest people always get the most done.” [...]
