A wise recruiter once told me that when you're considering whether or not you want a job, you should begin by considering three fundamental things:
- The job
- The organization
- The people you’ll work with
After twelve years of working in HR and career advising, my experience has been that the most common reason a person either loves or hates going to work everyday is usually tied to the people they work with. The people make all the difference. And if you’re looking for opportunities, you can usually read a job description and you can research an organization through their website, press releases, public records, etc. But figuring out who you’ll work with is usually the most unknowable of the three fundamentals when you’re applying for jobs or internships. There are two ways I most often see this cause problems, and both of them are especially difficult for people just starting their careers.
I Don’t Think I Like You
I’ve worked with a lot of students who don’t realize just how competitive the job/internship market is, and as a result, they decide not to apply for a job or internship before they know the most important part of the decision—who they’ll be working with. The key here is, don’t be too dismissive if the role and/or the organization is less than perfect. What you’ll be doing and where you’ll do it are important, but until you get a chance to talk to the people you’ll work with, you can’t make an informed decision about whether or not you really want the job. I’m not saying you should apply for anything and everything, but if you’re being picky and you’re not getting interviews or offers, it’s time to re-think your expectations.
I Don’t Know Anyone
Well-connected job seekers have a tremendous advantage over people who are relative strangers. Many people get on the candidate short-list because they’ve been referred to a hiring manager or a recruiter from within the organization. One of the next best scenarios would be to have met with people from in the organization to find out what it’s like to work there. For example it’s a big plus if you can say something like this in a cover letter, “Having met with three current employees of (name of organization), I have been extremely impressed that all of them have expressed a deep respect for....” Having insider connections alone won’t be enough to get you the job, but if you talk to enough professionals, you might be surprised how many of them got their jobs because they knew someone. So if you don’t know anyone, you have two choices, become a known quantity to your top employment prospects, or risk competing with someone who is.
There are obviously many variables that can affect these ideas. And helping students understand how to manage those variables is what we in Career Services try to do for our students and alumni. For information on scheduling an appointment with us, please email evansjob@uw.edu.
Published on October 18, 2010
