Shadowing Practice: Employer Spotlight - Techtronic Industries (TTI) - Learn English Speaking with Video
Creating lesson...
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Amen.
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Yeah.
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All right.
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Hello and good afternoon everyone.
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I'm Mary Beth Woodward and I work at the Center for Career Development and Academic Exploration.
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I am here today with Ashley.
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She works at Tektronic Industries, also known as TTI.
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and she is going to be telling us all about the company and all about what they do so Ashley welcome
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- Thank you.
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Thank you so much for having me.
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I'm excited to be here.
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- Yeah, thank you.
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So Ashley, if you could, Really just start us off and tell us a little bit about Tektronic Industries,
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also known as TTI.
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What do you all do?
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Of course, no problem.
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So TTI is actually a world class leader in quality consumer and professional tools,
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mainly marketing towards the home improvement and construction industries.
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I like to always say the joke that we're one of the largest companies that no one's ever heard of before, particularly college graduates.
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But although you may not have heard of TTI, you've probably heard of some of our major brands before.
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So we've got Ryobi Power Tools and Mobility.
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in Home Depot.
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We also recently launched a brand new
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power tool brand called heart in Walmart and that was in last year
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so that was a crazy experience to be a part of
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and launch a brand new consumer power tools brand in Walmart And we also do have a floor care section too.
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So we also have brands like Hoover, and Dirt Devil as well.
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So we mainly focus out of a couple of key strategic partnerships for our retail sales business.
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So these are Home Depot and Walmart, again some of the largest retailers in the entire world for this industry.
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And we really focus on driving innovation.
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We have a lot of power tools in our name, but we're not a power tools company.
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We are a technology and fulfilling any demand that we find in the market.
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So we have positions across the entire country, basically wherever you find one of those major retailers, whether it be Home Depot or Walmart,
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we have positions for you in our leadership development program.
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Through this program, everyone in our entire company starts here.
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So I started there myself as a field sales rep.
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And you're in these retailers and you're learning our products, you're learning DIY, you're learning our consumer base, and you're learning how to sell those products too.
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whether it is in sales, whether it's marketing, or whether it's management as well.
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You can really tailor your career with how you want to grow professionally.
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And I love that about TTI.
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It's a great company to be a part of some of the innovative products and brands.
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And it's an exciting industry too that a lot of people don't think about when they're graduating.
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Yeah, that's really interesting, Ashley.
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Yes, I am familiar with some of those brands that you mentioned and home improvement is such a big thing right now.
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So I'm sure.
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Yes, I'm sure that's going well.
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Tell us a little bit,
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you mentioned kind of the maybe the entry level role that a lot of people start with a leadership development program.
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Tell us a little bit more about that role and who would make a good fit?
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What kinds of skills and experiences are required?
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Yeah, absolutely.
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So our leadership development program is really geared towards college grads and we are finding future leaders of our organization.
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We're not hiring you for that first role, we are hiring you based on your potential to fulfill openings throughout the entire company as you progress in your careers.
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So that entry -level role, as I mentioned, is an retailers.
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So you're going to learn our consumer base.
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Again, you're going to learn how we market everything and all of our promotions throughout the year.
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And most importantly, you're going to learn our power tools too.
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So coming on with the company, I had no power tools experience.
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I would like to say I was a daddy's girl and loved it.
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But I had never touched a drill.
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I had never touched a power tool.
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I had no idea what I was doing.
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And that's no problem at all.
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We send you to one of our world class training facilities right out of college, right when you're starting that entry level position.
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every single tool we make of our brands and the competitive market.
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In our second training that you're a part of, you often build an entire bathroom setup.
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So you get to learn everything from drywall and installation, to framing, to any tool that you would come across on the job site.
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So don't be afraid of the word power tools whatsoever when you think of us.
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We're going to give you all the traits to be successful.
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And then that first rule, you're taking all of those skills that you've gained in training
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and you're directly impacting our business and our bottom line in our stores.
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So you're working with our customers, you're uncovering their needs and you're pitching them a solution that fulfills those needs.
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I think in our current environment, there's been such a focus on DIY in the past year or so.
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So we are really there to help the consumers
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and make sure they have every single thing they need when they're leaving the store to complete that project.
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And give them new inspiration and what projects they could be doing or what they can renovate next in their home.
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And that's super rewarding to me.
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So from that first position, when you're learning sales and the customers,
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you are then promoted to really anything that interests you in our company.
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So our three pillars are sales within Home Depot or various field sales roles or management.
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Maybe you love working with people and creating future leaders and making them the best they can possibly be.
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You can go on a management path.
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Maybe you love marketing and you love uncovering user needs.
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You can go into a marketing path, but there's so many different jobs that you can also go into.
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It's not just secular.
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You have to do a certain job and then go into a new one.
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So for me, I started as a field sales rep at five stores right out of college in 2016.
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I was there for about a year and a half and then I transitioned to our operations team.
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So I was working with all of our brand teams
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and how could we communicate what we needed to achieve in stores to our field the most effectively.
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I was in that role about a year and a half and then went to product development.
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So I was creating new to world technologies for Ryobi cutting tools.
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I made new speakers that launched this year.
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So I had hands in a variety of different product development paths.
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And I would have never thought that's where my career took me or would take me right out of college.
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And then now I actually transitioned to a marketing role where I am marketing a lot of our technologies
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and our sales to our consumers.
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So you can really make your career anything you want it to be in the leadership development program.
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Yeah, that's really interesting.
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So I'm going to, I guess, come back to a couple of things you said.
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So you mentioned, so you are a UT grad, correct?
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Yes.
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Yes.
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As you were applying for your first job out of college, your job with TTI.
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What kinds of experiences did you bring to the table?
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Yeah, part -time jobs, internships, leadership roles, anything that you found helpful.
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Yeah, so we're really looking for just people that are driven.
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They have a really great work ethic and they want to be future leaders.
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Sales experience is great.
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I didn't have sales experience on my resume though.
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The art of selling is really just being able to persuade someone to take an action you want them to take.
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So maybe you have a retail experience, maybe you don't.
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It doesn't matter.
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Just relate to something that you've persuaded someone to do in their life.
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So for example, I've persuaded my family to let me study abroad in Italy.
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That's an example of situation.
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It doesn't matter that level of experience.
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It's just your ability to relate what you've done in your life to a sales role.
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give you all those skills to be successful, but just being driven and being passionate about your career and not just Finding one job that seats you,
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but wanting to have an entire career with us is really what we're looking for.
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- Sure.
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And then you mentioned kind of locations across the US.
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Can you tell us about maybe Some of the most popular locations that you see UT grads going to?
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Absolutely.
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So like I mentioned, we're hiring for that entry -level job across the entire country.
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So anywhere you see a Walmart or Home Depot, there's probably an opportunity for you with us.
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College grads out of UT, it's very popular to want to stay in Tennessee, and we do have positions available.
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Knoxville Markets, Nashville Markets.
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I was a rep in Chattanooga right outside of Knoxville myself right out of college.
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and then expand somewhere else after, you can do that.
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If you want to be in a corporate office, like I am now, our corporate offices are in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Greenville, or Anderson, South Carolina,
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and then we have our floor care office in Charlotte, North Carolina.
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But there's endless opportunities throughout the entire country for everybody.
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Yeah, that sounds great.
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So tell us a little bit about how you would apply for the Leadership Development Program.
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How would you apply for this position?
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Absolutely.
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So there's actually a couple things you can do to apply to us, whether it's an immediate position right now or upon graduation in May or even December.
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So the main one is you can actually text us.
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It's actually really cool.
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So one, two, the number 443,
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205 -1340 and we're just going to get information about you.
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We'll send you a link to fill out a profile, upload your resume, and we'll work on open positions and schedule an interview with you.
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If you don't want to text us today, that's totally fine.
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Me and two of my colleagues will actually be at the virtual career fair tomorrow, so we're happy to give you more information on TTI or talk one
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thoughts for tomorrow so go on handshake search for tech
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or techtronic industries and find my name and i would love to talk to all of you tomorrow That's awesome.
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Can you repeat that, Vols?
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I'm going to put it in that text on Facebook.
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Vols21 to...
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Yes, so the number is 443.
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two zero five Jennifer Blevins: One three four zero right that's awesome.
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Thank you.
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Absolutely.
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Yeah.
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And then I might be.
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I'm not sure about this.
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So you mentioned entry level roles.
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Do you have internships or does TTI offer those?
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We do.
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We actually have internships available in the Tennessee area and beyond.
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So maybe you live in Nashville over summer, we can accommodate those opportunities too.
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Or maybe you're from California and you're going back to California for summer.
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That's totally fine too.
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So we're actually hiring 400 interns this summer for opportunities.
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And we're actually hiring 600 college grads for our full time positions as well.
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So again, endless opportunities.
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It's a great time to come on board with us.
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Absolutely.
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That sounds awesome.
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And just the ability to, well, the opportunities you know, to stay if you need to stay,
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but have an adventure and go somewhere new if you if that's something that appeals to you, right?
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Yes, absolutely.
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We're happy to accommodate any need that you have.
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Great.
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Tell us a little bit about TTI's company culture.
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Why do you like working there?
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Yeah, so we're just a group of young, fun, vibrant professionals.
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We all start around the same time outside of college.
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So we're very like minded people.
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We're all very driven in our careers.
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We want to grow professionally.
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We're very competitive.
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I'll say that about all of us that are in the office and everyone I'm in contact with.
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We're very competitive and we like to have fun.
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We want to have fun in our roles, but we want to succeed and we want to help each other along the way.
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And that's just a great part to be in TTI.
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It's a great culture that I've not found anywhere else for sure.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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It's definitely when you're coming right out of college, it's really fun to work with.
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Jennifer Blevins: People of a similar mindset age group sometimes so.
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Jennifer Blevins: Definitely that's important to us and in that first training, I know we touched on a little bit earlier.
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You're not just going by yourself.
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You're going with a group of graduates that are in
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that position that have Jennifer Blevins: Basically a similar career path
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and experience and you get to network with them and follow their careers throughout the company.
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with the company and it's
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so rewarding to get to see where their careers have taken them and that's that's amazing to me.
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Absolutely.
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So tell us, actually tell us, do you have any advice for students who are job and internship searching right now when,
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you know, Jennifer Blevins: A pandemic is still going on and just seems like recruiting has kind of changed a little bit.
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Jennifer Blevins: What what advice might you have for students.
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Jennifer Blevins: So my main advice to all of you guys is to get outside of your comfort zone.
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Jennifer Blevins: If you don't stretch yourself.
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You're never going to grow.
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You're going to be at the same level you are now and that's not what we want.
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We want you to push yourselves and take on new opportunities.
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I know career fairs are a little different and meeting all of us on the recruiting teams, but get outside your comfort zone, schedule a video chat with us, call us, email us.
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We're happy to talk to you, whether it's working for us or just career advice.
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And try something new.
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Don't just look for a company that you've heard of before.
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There's so many different opportunities out there, no matter what you choose.
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you're going to be trained, you're going to know how to do that job.
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And don't let just a brand name or a company name that you've not heard of set you back.
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Yeah, absolutely.
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There's, you know, there's so much out there that you just might not have been exposed to,
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but that doesn't mean that they're not a great company or have great really, you know, opportunities and great way to start your career out, right?
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Absolutely.
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So why, why do you like hiring UT Balls?
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Why, why does TTI like to hire UT Balls?
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Yeah, so I think me coming from the university, I had a great time in school there.
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I loved the Hazen College of Business, and I love coming back and giving back to all of the students there today.
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I still network with my old professors.
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I absolutely loved it.
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So I want all of you to
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expand your horizons and get career advice and figure out what you want to do and how you want to grow professionally, and I'd love to help you along the way.
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And I also love the Vols help, and cooperation.
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You guys are so driven and passionate in everything that you do.
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I know coming there myself, the culture is just amazing there and I love hiring UT grads.
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It's a great fit for the TTI culture and I hope you see that too.
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Yes, yes.
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And I like the Vols Help Vols too.
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I like that.
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We want to, yes, help everyone along the way with their careers.
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Absolutely, absolutely.
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So, Ashley, as Ashley mentioned, TTI will be at our virtual career fair tomorrow.
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to talk with them and to talk with Ashley.
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But thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today
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and for us to learn a little bit more about about you all and what you do and we really appreciate it.
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Of course, thank you again for having me.
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I love talking about not just our company, but you know the University of Tennessee.
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I'm so glad to be here and meet all of you
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and please if you haven't already set up a meeting with me tomorrow.
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I'd love to talk to you about your careers.
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Definitely, definitely.
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Well, thank you so much, Ashley.
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Yeah.
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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson
This video has 247 sentences and 2814 words to shadow. The speech runs for 17:17. The speaker talks at a natural 163 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. 87% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is easy to follow.
Key vocabulary in this video
15 words from the video worth learning, with pronunciation and meaning:
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| hire verb | /ˈhaɪɹ/ | To obtain the services of in return for fixed payment. |
| retailer noun | /ˈɹiteɪlɚ/ | A retail sales company or salesman. |
| internship noun | /ˈɪntɜːnʃɪp/ | A job taken by a student in order to learn a profession or trade. |
| skill noun | /skɪl/ | A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate. |
| fulfill verb | /fʊlˈfɪl/ | To satisfy, carry out, bring to completion (an obligation, a requirement, etc.). |
| persuade verb | /pə(ɹ)ˈsweɪd/ | To successfully convince (someone) to agree to, accept, or do something, usually through reasoning and verbal influence. |
| professionally adverb | As a professional; for one's paid career. | |
| transition noun | /tɹænˈzɪʃ.ən/ | The process of change from one form, state, style or place to another. |
| comfort noun | /ˈkʌm.fət/ | Contentment, ease. |
| expand verb | /ɪkˈspænd/ | To change (something) from a smaller form or size to a larger one; to spread out or lay open. |
| reward noun | /ɹɪˈwɔɹd/ | Something of value given in return for an act. |
| virtual adjective | /ˈvɜɹt͡ʃuəl/ | In effect or essence, rather than in fact or reality; also, imitated, simulated. |
| relate verb | /ɹɪˈleɪt/ | To tell in a descriptive way. |
| endless adjective | /ˈɛndlɪs/ | Having no end. |
| resume verb | /ˈɹɛz.ə.meɪ/ | To start (something) again that has been stopped or paused from the point at which it was stopped or paused; continue, carry on. |
Phrasal verbs you will hear
| Word | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| come across verb | To change sides; to cross over to work for the opposition. | |
| come back verb | To return to a place. | |
| figure out verb | To come to understand; to discover or find a solution; to deduce. | |
| fill out verb | /fɪl ˈaʊt/ | To complete a form or questionnaire with requested information. |
| go back to verb | To stem from; to originate in. | |
| set up verb | /ˌsɛt ˈʌp/ | To make ready for use. |
Grammar in this video
The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:
| Structure | In the video |
|---|---|
| Present perfect have/has + past participle — a past action that still matters now | you've probably heard · you've gained · you've persuaded |
| Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does it | are required · is really geared · are driven |
| Superlatives the -est / the most … — the top or bottom of a group | the largest · the best · the most effectively |
| Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing form | love working · love marketing · love coming |
Pronunciation to watch
The speaker uses 81 contractions and reduced forms, such as you're, we're, I'm. Say them the short way, as you hear them.
- The “sh” and “zh” sounds: internship /ˈɪntɜːnʃɪp/, transition /tɹænˈzɪʃ.ən/, passionate /ˈpæʃənɪt/, partnership /ˈpɑɹtnɚʃɪp/, inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/
- Long words — get the stress right: accommodate /əˈkɑməˌdeɪt/, inspiration /ˌɪn.spɪˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, innovation /ˌɪn.əˈveɪ.ʃən/, cooperation /koʊˌɑ.pəˈɹeɪ.ʃən/, communicate /kəˈmjuːnɪkeɪt/
How to practise with this video
- Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
- Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
- Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like hire, retailer, internship.
What is the Shadowing Technique?
Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.