The title of this particular blog is about something that has irked me for quite some time: using relatives/friends/acquaintances to gain your dream job.
The adage of "It's not what you know, it's who you know" has always bugged me, because it should be the other way around. Do you want the guy with a degree in accounting to be doing your PR, just because he's LinkedIn buddies with ten contacts you happen to have in common?
Short answer: No.
Long answer: Nooooooooo.
You want somebody who has trained to do a job to do that job. The guy with an accounting degree should be in the accounting department, and the person you find with either a degree and/or sufficient experience in PR should be doing your PR.
My dad and I had a pretty good conversation about this bizarre turn of events where people have gotten jobs through friends/acquaintances/networking, turned said jobs into careers, and never used the degrees they worked to obtain. I understand getting a job through acquaintances/friends if you need a stopgap to pay the bills, and networking to attain that dream job. But when I earn my Master's Degree in Public Communication & Technology, I don't want to be wasting my time flipping burgers! I want to use what I learned to help the business I'm working for, in a marketing, journalism, PR or technical writing capacity (since all are under the umbrella of the degree).
I would love to start my career by getting in with a company in a low-level job and working for a Marketing Director or a Lead Technical Writer. I would prove my worth and my skills, climb the ladder to a higher position, help the company with marketing strategies or better written/formatted user guides. That is where I would be happy, because I'd be right in the thick of things and taking on challenges.
I do admit that networking is useful, and I'm not bagging it entirely because it has helped a lot of my friends get good jobs/internships. However, I'd like HR departments and Hiring Managers to consider that while the whole six-degrees-of-separation thing is a way to meet people who could be qualified, it's the people who are qualified who should be getting the jobs, regardless of who they know on Facebook and/or LinkedIn. Doing a job right means it's what you know, not who you know, that matters in the end.
That's my two cents, at any rate.
-AMW
Showing posts with label advice. Show all posts
Showing posts with label advice. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Friday, September 23, 2011
A Reality Check for Undergrads
I have been walking around campus and hearing bits and pieces of conversation as I pass by people, as well as seeing some different students on campus, and so these notes are to them, because there are some very, very delusional undergrads out there.
To Students In General, Looking At Your Life Post-Undergrad: A standard "Entry Level" job starts somewhere around $25K, not $40K, unless you're in a field where you need to have a very specialized skill set, or you need to have a Master's Degree (and even then, starting below $40K is the norm). Prepare to keep eating ramen noodles while you start to pay back all those lovely student loans you took out, because after you graduate, you're going to be getting a regular bill for them.
To The Students Who Think It'll Be Easy to Get Their Dream Job As Soon As They Graduate: The economy is still mostly tanked, so please understand that you are not just competing for a job against your age group in your field, you're also competing against every person who has been laid off/fired in the past year or more who needs a new job. Those people will have lots of experience that you don't have, making it much more likely that they'll be getting the job before you will. Also, do not send out your resume to just the companies you always wanted to work for; that is, quite frankly, a stupid thing to do in this economy. Getting a job is more important than getting your dream job, because bills do not magically pay themselves. Plus, any job you have can be put on your resume to show that you are willing to do a less glamorous job in your search for your dream job, which will garner you points in the long run. Quantity over quality in this case is key.
To the Students with Their Hair in Dreadlocks, Who Talk About Getting a Corporate Job to "fight the power from the inside": Yes, employers are going to judge your hair during interviews (even though they would never admit it), and it will not be in your favor. Sorry to spoil your hopes of being the first whistle-blowing corporation killer with waist-long dreads, but it's not gonna happen. You can't fight the power from the inside unless you look like you belong in the corporation, and that means the dreads have to go. Dreadlocks, to an employer, say you're quirky and dedicated to your lifestyle, but not dedicated to the company vision.
To the Students Who Show Up to Class/Meetings with Professors/TAs in Their PJs: So far I have seen a group of you who apparently do not own actual clothes, or if you do, you prefer to look like you rolled out of bed and just wore your PJs to class. I have even seen some of you who think it's okay to wear this type of clothing when you're meeting your Professors or Teaching Assistants to discuss your classwork/grades. This is troubling, and I would like to point out that there are several very affordable second-hand stores where you can buy clothes that are appropriate to wear outside of your bedroom. Please start dressing like you're an adult instead of a bratty four-year-old that wants to keep his PJs on when he goes to daycare. How do you expect to get a letter of recommendation from a professor in the future (either for a job or for getting into graduate school) if you dress like you don't care?
Finally, to the Students Who Think They Know More than the Professor/TA Who is There to Help Educate Them: No, you really don't, and you're being disrespectful to your educators. Every Teaching Assistant on campus already has their Bachelor's Degree, which means they've already been where you are, and have succeeded where you have yet to do so. They may also have several years of job experience in the field they're teaching in, which means that they have something valuable to bring to the table. Every Professor on campus has either a Master's Degree, a Ph.D. or about 15+ years job experience in the field where they teach. That puts them lightyears of understanding ahead of you in the topics they're bringing up in class, and you need to respect them for it. Your attitude towards your Professors and TAs is indicative of how you will act with employers (subconsciously or not), and no employer likes to feel disrespected, especially after they've taken time out of their day to interview you.
Sincerely,
AMW
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P.S.: For those of you who have never seen this blog before, this advice comes from somebody who has a B.S. in Written Communications and is attaining a M.S. in Public Communications & Technology, and has worked as a TA, so take this with a grain of salt if you need to. -amw
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To Students In General, Looking At Your Life Post-Undergrad: A standard "Entry Level" job starts somewhere around $25K, not $40K, unless you're in a field where you need to have a very specialized skill set, or you need to have a Master's Degree (and even then, starting below $40K is the norm). Prepare to keep eating ramen noodles while you start to pay back all those lovely student loans you took out, because after you graduate, you're going to be getting a regular bill for them.
To The Students Who Think It'll Be Easy to Get Their Dream Job As Soon As They Graduate: The economy is still mostly tanked, so please understand that you are not just competing for a job against your age group in your field, you're also competing against every person who has been laid off/fired in the past year or more who needs a new job. Those people will have lots of experience that you don't have, making it much more likely that they'll be getting the job before you will. Also, do not send out your resume to just the companies you always wanted to work for; that is, quite frankly, a stupid thing to do in this economy. Getting a job is more important than getting your dream job, because bills do not magically pay themselves. Plus, any job you have can be put on your resume to show that you are willing to do a less glamorous job in your search for your dream job, which will garner you points in the long run. Quantity over quality in this case is key.
To the Students with Their Hair in Dreadlocks, Who Talk About Getting a Corporate Job to "fight the power from the inside": Yes, employers are going to judge your hair during interviews (even though they would never admit it), and it will not be in your favor. Sorry to spoil your hopes of being the first whistle-blowing corporation killer with waist-long dreads, but it's not gonna happen. You can't fight the power from the inside unless you look like you belong in the corporation, and that means the dreads have to go. Dreadlocks, to an employer, say you're quirky and dedicated to your lifestyle, but not dedicated to the company vision.
To the Students Who Show Up to Class/Meetings with Professors/TAs in Their PJs: So far I have seen a group of you who apparently do not own actual clothes, or if you do, you prefer to look like you rolled out of bed and just wore your PJs to class. I have even seen some of you who think it's okay to wear this type of clothing when you're meeting your Professors or Teaching Assistants to discuss your classwork/grades. This is troubling, and I would like to point out that there are several very affordable second-hand stores where you can buy clothes that are appropriate to wear outside of your bedroom. Please start dressing like you're an adult instead of a bratty four-year-old that wants to keep his PJs on when he goes to daycare. How do you expect to get a letter of recommendation from a professor in the future (either for a job or for getting into graduate school) if you dress like you don't care?
Finally, to the Students Who Think They Know More than the Professor/TA Who is There to Help Educate Them: No, you really don't, and you're being disrespectful to your educators. Every Teaching Assistant on campus already has their Bachelor's Degree, which means they've already been where you are, and have succeeded where you have yet to do so. They may also have several years of job experience in the field they're teaching in, which means that they have something valuable to bring to the table. Every Professor on campus has either a Master's Degree, a Ph.D. or about 15+ years job experience in the field where they teach. That puts them lightyears of understanding ahead of you in the topics they're bringing up in class, and you need to respect them for it. Your attitude towards your Professors and TAs is indicative of how you will act with employers (subconsciously or not), and no employer likes to feel disrespected, especially after they've taken time out of their day to interview you.
Sincerely,
AMW
-----------------
P.S.: For those of you who have never seen this blog before, this advice comes from somebody who has a B.S. in Written Communications and is attaining a M.S. in Public Communications & Technology, and has worked as a TA, so take this with a grain of salt if you need to. -amw
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