WOuld I Hire You?
Your college experience is good preparation for the professional world in many ways. Of course, the material you learn in class will be helpful to you. But, just as important are a set of skills that relate to how you interact with people, how you present yourself, and your work. These are often overlooked and I think underemphasized as well. I want you to begin thinking about cultivating these skills by framing them with the question: Would I hire you?
Think about everything you do in your college classes as being a part of your overall professional impression or personal brand. There are things you can do to enhance your brand and things you can do to detract from it. You want to maximize the former and minimize the latter.
To illustrate what I mean consider the following story:
The Hines Story:
Mr. Hines, the owner of the Hines Lumber Company recently had to fill a top executive position. Two of his managers with equal experience were considered but the choice went to the man who had fewer years with the company. Upon learning of the promotion the other man asked Mr. Hines why he wasn't the one selected. Instead of answering him, Mr. Hines asked him if any lumber had come in that day. The man said he would check and a few minutes later reported that a carload had arrived that morning. Mr. Hines then wanted to know the type of lumber. After again checking, the manager told him it was number 6 pine. Mr. Hines then asked the man how many board feet were in the order. Again leaving the room to check he returned shortly with the answer of 3500 board feet. This type of questioning went on for several minutes and then Mr. Hines asked the man to sit in the next room, leaving the door ajar so he could still hear.
Mr. Hines then called to the manager who had been promoted and asked him if any lumber had arrived that day. The manager said he would check and in a few minutes, he returned with the following answer. A carload of number 6 pine had come in on track three at 9:30 A.M. and totaled 3500 board feet. The lumber was unloaded by 2:00 P.M. and stored in warehouse number 18. It was order number 65-03 for the Williams Company and its total value was $16,352.00.
Mr. Hines thanked the man and said he could go. After the second man left Mr. Hines called in the first manager who had heard the entire conversation. The first manager said he knows now why the other man had been promoted instead of himself.
http://www.nvisionglobal.com/hinesstory.html
Are you more like the first manager or the one who got promoted? It is important to begin thinking about this now! Here are some skills that you can cultivate to ensure you are the successful person in the story:
1. Show initiative: Don't always wait to be told what to do, take the lead and get out ahead of the curve. In my class, that means submitting assignments early and often and not waiting to be prodded by me to do the work.
2. Be thorough: Don't do the minimum required but try to give more than that. In my class that means posting more than the minimum to the discussion boards, writing assignment responses that convey plenty of thoughtful details, and writing professional emails.
3. Be willing to communicate and ask questions: If you don't understand what is required of you in a work assignment ask for clarification. Don't assume you understand what you are being asked to do. It is better to ask a few questions than to proceed with a wrong assumption about what you're supposed to be doing. In my class that means confirming that you understand the course policies regarding assignments, discussion boards, and scheduling. You will never create a bad impression by asking for more information. You will almost always create a bad impression by acting on your wrong assumptions and then asking for clarification after the fact.
4. Own your mistakes: If you miss an assignment or do poorly on it don't make excuses, don't explain your way out of it, own your mistakes! Be a professional. Admit you made a mistake, try to learn from it, apologize (if necessary) and move on.
Here are some things to avoid doing:
1. Sending emails with no subject heading or signature. This may seem like a small item but it creates a very bad impression. View your school correspondence as professional correspondence. Use succinct and relevant subject headings and always include an opening salutation and a closing signature.
2. Submitting assignments or sending emails without proofreading: Again, this may seem like a small item but no one will be taking you seriously if your written work consists of typos and grammatical errors. I can promise you will not make a good impression with these practices!
3. Doing the bare minimum work: I understand you have many other commitments in your life and there may be times when you can only do the minimum amount of an assignment, But, don't let this be your default practice. Don't become known as the person who always does the least amount of work.
4. Making excuses for poor or missing work: A large part of your success in the work world will be the quality of your work itself. If you are not producing a quality product find out what you can do to improve and then improve it. Don't try to defend substandard or missing work. There is mostly no defense for such things. If the customer for your work is not happy, you're not going to make them happier by trying to explain to them why your poor or missing work should be acceptable to them. In the classroom, your main customer is your professor. You may think your work is brilliant but if your customer is not happy with it, work to improve it.
Why does this matter? Once you leave the class what will be the benefit of having done all of this? One of the most important skills you will need for success in work and life is the ability to cultivate different relationships through networking. Imagine completing your college career being reasonably sure that every one of your professors would answer "Yes!' to the question "Would I hire you?" Wouldn't that number of positive professional contacts be a huge benefit to you? Imagine the possibilities for getting job interviews, recommendations, business contacts, mentors, future customers (if you want to start a business). Whether you believe it or not, what you do now and how you present yourself in the classroom will have an effect long after you leave the classroom. Let's get started!
Think about everything you do in your college classes as being a part of your overall professional impression or personal brand. There are things you can do to enhance your brand and things you can do to detract from it. You want to maximize the former and minimize the latter.
To illustrate what I mean consider the following story:
The Hines Story:
Mr. Hines, the owner of the Hines Lumber Company recently had to fill a top executive position. Two of his managers with equal experience were considered but the choice went to the man who had fewer years with the company. Upon learning of the promotion the other man asked Mr. Hines why he wasn't the one selected. Instead of answering him, Mr. Hines asked him if any lumber had come in that day. The man said he would check and a few minutes later reported that a carload had arrived that morning. Mr. Hines then wanted to know the type of lumber. After again checking, the manager told him it was number 6 pine. Mr. Hines then asked the man how many board feet were in the order. Again leaving the room to check he returned shortly with the answer of 3500 board feet. This type of questioning went on for several minutes and then Mr. Hines asked the man to sit in the next room, leaving the door ajar so he could still hear.
Mr. Hines then called to the manager who had been promoted and asked him if any lumber had arrived that day. The manager said he would check and in a few minutes, he returned with the following answer. A carload of number 6 pine had come in on track three at 9:30 A.M. and totaled 3500 board feet. The lumber was unloaded by 2:00 P.M. and stored in warehouse number 18. It was order number 65-03 for the Williams Company and its total value was $16,352.00.
Mr. Hines thanked the man and said he could go. After the second man left Mr. Hines called in the first manager who had heard the entire conversation. The first manager said he knows now why the other man had been promoted instead of himself.
http://www.nvisionglobal.com/hinesstory.html
Are you more like the first manager or the one who got promoted? It is important to begin thinking about this now! Here are some skills that you can cultivate to ensure you are the successful person in the story:
1. Show initiative: Don't always wait to be told what to do, take the lead and get out ahead of the curve. In my class, that means submitting assignments early and often and not waiting to be prodded by me to do the work.
2. Be thorough: Don't do the minimum required but try to give more than that. In my class that means posting more than the minimum to the discussion boards, writing assignment responses that convey plenty of thoughtful details, and writing professional emails.
3. Be willing to communicate and ask questions: If you don't understand what is required of you in a work assignment ask for clarification. Don't assume you understand what you are being asked to do. It is better to ask a few questions than to proceed with a wrong assumption about what you're supposed to be doing. In my class that means confirming that you understand the course policies regarding assignments, discussion boards, and scheduling. You will never create a bad impression by asking for more information. You will almost always create a bad impression by acting on your wrong assumptions and then asking for clarification after the fact.
4. Own your mistakes: If you miss an assignment or do poorly on it don't make excuses, don't explain your way out of it, own your mistakes! Be a professional. Admit you made a mistake, try to learn from it, apologize (if necessary) and move on.
Here are some things to avoid doing:
1. Sending emails with no subject heading or signature. This may seem like a small item but it creates a very bad impression. View your school correspondence as professional correspondence. Use succinct and relevant subject headings and always include an opening salutation and a closing signature.
2. Submitting assignments or sending emails without proofreading: Again, this may seem like a small item but no one will be taking you seriously if your written work consists of typos and grammatical errors. I can promise you will not make a good impression with these practices!
3. Doing the bare minimum work: I understand you have many other commitments in your life and there may be times when you can only do the minimum amount of an assignment, But, don't let this be your default practice. Don't become known as the person who always does the least amount of work.
4. Making excuses for poor or missing work: A large part of your success in the work world will be the quality of your work itself. If you are not producing a quality product find out what you can do to improve and then improve it. Don't try to defend substandard or missing work. There is mostly no defense for such things. If the customer for your work is not happy, you're not going to make them happier by trying to explain to them why your poor or missing work should be acceptable to them. In the classroom, your main customer is your professor. You may think your work is brilliant but if your customer is not happy with it, work to improve it.
Why does this matter? Once you leave the class what will be the benefit of having done all of this? One of the most important skills you will need for success in work and life is the ability to cultivate different relationships through networking. Imagine completing your college career being reasonably sure that every one of your professors would answer "Yes!' to the question "Would I hire you?" Wouldn't that number of positive professional contacts be a huge benefit to you? Imagine the possibilities for getting job interviews, recommendations, business contacts, mentors, future customers (if you want to start a business). Whether you believe it or not, what you do now and how you present yourself in the classroom will have an effect long after you leave the classroom. Let's get started!
