Featured Alumni

Today I sat an interviewed Associate Degree student Elena Kalinina from Russia. She had many great views on the program, as she had quite a bit of experience before coming here with the work world as it really is. She is currently on her How to Effective Write Company Policy course and just finished her How to Increase Profits Through Proper Financial Planning Course.

Me: First off, where are you from?
Elena: Moscow, Russia.

Me: How did you hear of the Hubbard College?
Elena: I heard about it through my boyfriend who has a technology company in Switzerland. He wanted more trained employees and wanted me to work for him so I came here to get the right training.

Me: What made you decide to come to the college?
Elena: I was looking for something new. I had graduated a university in Russia with a degree in engineering. I didn’t see in my education what I really wanted. I was looking for something I could apply.  When I was shown the Hubbard College website it was interesting. The degree included sales, marketing, PR, and so many other parts. It included all I needed. Also, it was a good idea for me to come to America and have to be in an environment where I could learn English and have to learn English.

[Elena has been here less than a year and is already speaking amazing English]

Me: What did you do in Russia for work before you came here?
Elena: I have had many different experiences. The last company I worked for was IKEA Moscow, in the leasing dept. I had also worked in a hair transplant clinic as a receptionist! Looking back at the other jobs I’ve had I can now spot the mistakes the companies made by comparing them to the data I have now learned.

Me: What in particular makes the Hubbard College career education stand out from other colleges and business schools?
Elena: First of all, in my university I would only study 2 weeks prior to my exams and I would study TO pass the exam. So the purpose of studying was wrong. It wasn’t to apply the course. At the end when I had my university degree I didn’t feel I could comfortably work in a company because I had no experience before.

At this college there is no stress for exams. Students have their own speed. Here you study at your own speed. Some are fast some are slower, but each student has the purpose to learn the course and then go and use the knowledge.

Also all I learn now, I can remember. When I do a course and then go apprentice, the information is more real to me because I have done something with it and used it.

Me: The current unemployment rate includes college graduates. What about your education here makes you sure you’ll find a job after finishing your program?
Elena: The administration technology I have learned here makes me feel secure because it’s a technology and there are formulas. It’s actually really simple, if you know how it works. That gives me security.

Me: How do you think your management degree will help you if you were to start a company as an entrepreneur.
Elena: Well the basic idea is being able to establish a valuable final product and then set up a system to produce and deliver it. I need to be able to communicate to others, and again, apply certain formulas to increase the statistics. To run any business, I have to be able to have an organization not just a group of people (company). I know the right way to have coordination inside a company. I know all of these things!

-Cassidy Turbin
turbinstudios@yahoo.com

This blog starts the beginning of a series of blogs I’ll be doing which will offer any blog follower a better insight into different Hubbard College of Administration (HCA) students and their career education paths. In my first blog post I gave a little bit of information about myself– now you can learn about some others and see the veritable melting pot we have here.

Today I sat down in Interview Room #300 with Franco Chaves, a 21-year-old student attending the Hubbard College and talked a bit about his life goals and experience at the HCA so far.

Me: First off, where are you originally from?
Franco: Lima, Peru.

Me: And how did you hear about the Hubbard College?
Franco: I heard about the Hubbard College through a high school tutor who used the study technology that is used here at the college. One day she brought me here on a tour and then bang, I was interested. When I finished school and started considering college, my first choice was here.

Me: What program are you on currently?
Franco: Well, I first started on an Administrative Management Program. When I finished it I decided to do the degree program. So now I’m on the degree program getting my Associates.

Me: Did you attend the Sales Workshop here April 4th and what did you think about it?
Franco: Yes, I’ve gone to four of them now! I like that there’s practice of the techniques of how to sell! I also like that I could talk to the seminar speaker and he helped me with the application of the techniques.

Me: What in particular has made your Hubbard College career education stand out from the rest of the career colleges and business schools out there?
Franco: Because of the apprenticeships here- I can practice what I learn and I meet different business people at the same time.

Me: Have You Planned out how you’re going to find a job after finishing your program?
Franco: I will be working with the job placement service here at HCA. I’m not worried. Also I’ve made many friends here from different places: Los Angeles, Lebanon, Japan, Russia, Columbia, Cuba, and many other countries. I’m sure I will keep in touch with them throughout my career. You never know…

Me: Is there something that stands out in your experience here so far that you would like to mention?
Franco: Yeah, being sent to different apprenticeships gave me a real good understanding of how companies work and how the structure works. This helps because it gives me ideas of how I can use the structures and plans they use in my own company.

Me: What are your immediate plans after you get your Associate Degree here?
Franco: My plans are to become an American Citizen, work, save up more money and eventually go back to Peru and open a business consultant company.

There aren’t many schools out there that really show you how to be an entrepreneur. If there were, I think there might be a lot more young entrepreneurs out there in the world. There are plenty of great ideas out there, but what happens?

Having a great idea doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed success. You have to know what to do next. A lot of people take their ideas to a “professional”. I was at Coffee Bean the other day and I overheard one of these meetings with a “professional”. I could tell it was their first meeting; the professional didn’t even care about what the product was.

I thankfully don’t have this problem. I listened to this guy talk about marketing, business models, even job titles regarding a two person company and all the money it would take to do so properly. It seemed to me all he was marketing was himself. If everything out there needed money to be successful we wouldn’t have Google and Facebook.

Now I’m not saying you don’t need money. You just don’t need it as the end all to whether or not you are going to fail. It definitely helps!

I go to a college where they teach you the importance of a career education. They actually show you how to start, run, and be successful at the goals you’re trying to reach. For that I’m truly thankful, because I would never want to put my company in the hands of some guy meeting me at Coffee Bean to go over my business.

I knew straight out of High School that I wanted to go to a college in California. I was coming from Florida, so I was going across the country. One of the things that I didn’t have was a load of money to sit around while I wasn’t at school.

Hubbard College had something that no other college in California has. With any other college in California, I would have a hard time living and working AND going to college. Hubbard College allowed me to set-up my own schedule while I pursued a Management Degree so that I was able to work and go to college while supporting myself. I could take classes based on the schedule that I needed, instead of having the college set-up the schedule and then trying to work around it. No other college would let me do this.

I don’t think I would have been able to go to college without having a flexible schedule.

Redmond, Student at Hubbard College

As a young entrepreneur I never wanted to find a job and work for a company. I just wanted to own my company. These days I hear that a lot. Someone asks little Timmy what he wants to be when he grows up, “Own my own business.” Everyone says great and just carries a long. Well I realized a few years back that owning your own business is a lot more complicated than that.

I needed to get a Business Administration Degree, or else I was never going to reach my goal of “owning my own business.” Well I’m almost there. I haven’t got my Business Administration Degree yet, but I’m already starting my own business. And on just the start-up I’m very happy I have all of the knowledge I’ve learned so far. I don’t think I would have made it this far without learning how to really run a business.

My theory is if you know how to run a business, then you know the proper way for it to be set-up. And it’s also a whole heck of a lot easier to set it up.

Today’s world is changing, and you’ve got to know what you’re doing just to keep up with the changes that are going on out there. Mark Cuban recently asked on his blog for a good idea for a new product or business that needs his money. Hundreds of people out there have submitted in-the-works ideas, but few have been chosen.

The point is 5 years ago that would have never happened. With the Business Administration Degree that I’m getting from Hubbard College, I feel like I have the ability to survive in this crazy business world.

Redmond, Student at Hubbard College

I just completed the Hubbard College sales workshop and I have to say “awesome.” You would be surprised on how many different places you can use this stuff. I mean, the other day I was out with my friends and I had my idea of what I wanted to do that night, and simply sold everyone on what I wanted to do. It was that easy. I must say the sales training they have on the Associate degree is great.

I’ve been selling for a while, but there were always a few types of people who seemed to get me. Talk about some on the spot career training. Now I have no issues, and I thought that I could sell before this, I mean I did make a living at it. I personally have seen a lot of different sales training seminars and courses out there, but this sales training seemed to break down all the points that you need to know and show you what to do.
I’m still practicing, and I am by no means an expert yet, but at the very least I know what to do and I certainly don’t get tongue tied any more.

Have you ever been to a car dealership or anything else where there’s a salesman, they talk and talk and talk and really try to lay it on you why you should buy this or that. It’s like a really bad blind date that you just can’t wait to get away from. The sales dude practically runs you out of the sale. This sales training definitely fixes that.

If you have a good story of some salesman going horribly wrong, I’d like to hear it so leave it in the comments!

Redmond, Student at Hubbard College

So I’ve been going to Hubbard College for a little while now and I’m almost done. A few weeks from now I’ll have my associate degree. I don’t think it was an easy process, I did do some work. Unlike a lot of people out there, when they hand me my degree I know I’ll really be able to do something with it. To me it’s more than a piece of paper.

I’ve had to show that I can really do everything that I’m supposed to be able to do, and I did. Which is nice, because when I go into a business I’m not just some kid straight out from college. I can actually do something. I can set-up programs and actually get them done. I know how to market a product, but not just in theory. I’ve actually successfully marketed a product while in college.

I know I can do it, and it really gives me the confidence to not worry about “Oh my god, what do next”. Have you ever heard of someone having to learn “in the real world” how to something, even though they’ve been to college for that exact purpose? What’s the point of going to college if you have to learn about it in the real world before you can do it?

That’s one of the things that Hubbard College has on all of the other colleges out there. When you get out, you know how to manage a business. And you can do it as soon as you step through the door. How do I know? Because I’ve done it before! I’ve already proven it before I graduated. I went out into that “real world” and proved I knew what I was doing. I proved that I could actually do what was needed of me. So when I stepped into the “real world”, I already knew what I was doing. Kinda nice, wouldn’t you say?

Redmond, Student at Hubbard College

What Makes Hubbard College’s Associate Degree Different from Other Business Administration Degrees?

My experience at the Hubbard College of Administration (HCA) has been different in many ways than any prior school I’ve attended: The New York Collective, Hollywood’s MI (Musician’s Institute), you name it. At other schools I registered for each semester and then was burdened by the class schedule: One class at 10:30 another at 1:00 and then one at 6.  And that’s just one day! So I’d end up having too much time to kill between class, usually not very productive time as I’d be on campus, away from my home where I had other things to tend to.

When I started HCA I was happy to find out that they have a self-paced college degree, which you study in a classroom at your own pace. So I could make my own schedule and not be restricted. Here’s how it works: there are 4 periods per day, each about 2 hours long, one in the morning, two in the afternoon and one after dinner. (I currently go for the 2 afternoon periods 1-6pm with a break between for some food) Some others who work all day do the night period after dinner, so they can still get a degree without having to quit work and get a student loan.

So whatever schedule conflicts I have– jury duty, flat tire, meteor shower, etc… I can always put in my time at school. It’s great, the more periods I put in each week, the faster my degree goes. It depends on me, hey that’s novel… Now I’m getting my associate degree at Hubbard College on my own time!

Cassidy Turbin, Student at Hubbard College

I find it helpful that upon completion of each course on my business administration degree I’m immediately put onto an apprenticeship with a working professional in that field. Be it PR, organizational patterns or marketing, I’m introduced to new aspects of that field as well as practice the theories and tools I learn on my course. The apprenticeships also open up the door to more career opportunities and let me work in any given field for a week or two, building my portfolio before even finishing school!

Just recently after finishing my PR course I went to apprentice at a company and ended up learning how to do a formal case study and write press releases. At first when I was told that I’d be interviewing clients, designing and writing a case study and then writing press releases, I was stumped. I didn’t learn that on my course… That’s why I guess there are apprenticeships here. I got to put tools from my course to use when interviewing their clients for the case studies and in interviewing the clients I learned a lot about the retail business.

I came out at the end with a great final product. I was even offered a job there once I complete my associate degree!

Cassidy Turbin, Student at Hubbard College

Since I’m trying to start my own business while I am going to Hubbard College, it really helps that they allow you to go at your own pace. For instance, a few weeks ago I needed to spend more time on a business project I was doing, but I had college that night. Hubbard College let me spend that time on the business thing I was doing and make up the scheduled time on my Associate Degree later on the week.

Having a self paced career education really helps when you’re trying to start a new business or even find a job. You don’t always have time to focus on school when you’re trying to start the next Google, no matter how old you are. Remember, Facebook changed the world and it was started by some college dude.

Hubbard College knows that, and it’s something they highly support. That’s why they allow you to go at your own pace. Instead of having hoping you get all you need to pass the next test and praying you remember it by the time finals come.

Redmond, Student at Hubbard College