The Job Search; a Course in Professional Development

So you've just completed the recruiting process for a summer internship or other full-time position. You researched many companies, sent out tons of resumes, prepared and practiced for interviews, attended networking events, made lots of informational phone calls. You even sacrificed other school and social activities so you could stay focused. It was a pretty rigorous and time-consuming process. And, hopefully you've landed or will soon land a great summer internship.

With all that preparation you may ask, was it all worth it?  Certainly getting a job contributes worth, but still was it worth it? Of course it was! So much of what you learned during this recruiting process can be applicable to what you will need to do in your job and to your future success. The Carnegie Institute of Technology recently conducted research that shows that 85 percent of your financial success is due to skills in “human engineering,” your personality and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. On the other hand, only 15 percent is due to technical knowledge

Let's connect the dots a bit..

~ Interviewing. Hopefully you learned how to speak with impact; to convey your thoughts and enthusiasm in a succinct and clear way. Guess what, this ability not only serves your interviewing success but is one of the core competencies required of any successful leader.

~ Networking. In a sales role, being able to develop relationships and win referrals is key to success. But even in non-sales related roles, in the matrix organizations that exist today, you need to be able to successfully navigate across different teams, and among different supervisors.

~ Self-promotion. How many times did you have to answer this question in an interview "Why should we hire you over someone else?". This is a question you'll need to answer the rest of your career if you hope to move to different positions.

~ Management. It may not be obvious but the attitude of determination and organizational skills that it takes to manage a job search process successfully are exactly the skills you'll need to use once you hit the ground inside an organization.

~ Personal Leadership and Personal Mastery. I bet almost every job interviewer asked you about your leadership experience and leadership style. And I bet you had to spend many hours thinking about what leadership means, how you view yourself as a leader, how you want to grow as a leader moving forward. I bet you were asked about your strengths and weaknesses over and over again. Learning how to build this self-awareness early on in your career will be key to your later success when you have more complex relationships and situations to navigate.

~ Handling rejection. It ain't easy. But it is a reality of the recruiting process. The truth is that the rejection can help you build resilience and resilience is a good thing. I recently wrote about some research conducted on just this topic. Paul Tough's research shows that those with an ability to overcome obstacles with resilience, to face the world with a sense of positivity, and to self-correct along the way have a greater chance of long term success than those with strong cognitive skills alone.

~ "I have a disability" and other related disclosures. At some point many of you may need to disclose that you have a disability. And as you move up the ranks and become more high-profile, delivering this message could reach a wider audience. So practicing this sensitive conversation early on while interviewing will help you to master it later on. Read more about this topic in this 3-part blog series on disability and disclosing.

So instead of resisting or burning out from the job search process, embrace it. The investment of time and energy will pay off!

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