Everette Fortner's Blog

I’m so bummed right now.  I’ve met with many, many great job candidates in the past few days who keep coming in second place in the job offer process, when only first place is getting the offer.  I’m bummed, but the students are more than bummed:  sad, disillusioned, disengaged, demotivated and mystified.  One solution to their doldrums:  just quit working at it so hard, or working at it at all.  Probable outcome:  no job.

Another idea:  Work the Problem.

One of my favorite movie clips comes from the movie, Apollo 13.  Disaster begins to unfold on the space craft.  After a few minutes of blaming each other, leadership emerged.  Ed Harris, portraying NASA flight director Gene Crantz, said:  “Let’s work the problem people.  Let’s not make things worse by guessing.”  So if you are repeatedly attending weddings as a bridesmaid, never a bride; or getting up to the plate, but swinging for a miss; or, in plain English, if you are consistently getting the interview, but not getting the offer, the work the problem.  Start at the beginning, and work the problem.

Start with Your Objective.  You might think that because you are getting the interview, then your objective, resume and other marketing materials are in fine shape.  Actually, it may be that when you get into your interview, a few problems with your objective might be surfacing.  You might be interviewing for something that is a poor FIT, and that lack of fit is coming through in the interview.  You might be failing to make the connection between where you are coming from and your new objective—failing to leverage your transferable skills effectively.  Or you may just not be focused—interviewing at any place that will give you an interview rather than a place that is a good fit.

Stay (or Get) Focused.  Failure in the first few interviews usually leads many candidates to significantly expand their focus.  Wrong.  Focus is required to get more interviews, to get help from networking partners, and to convince an interviewer that you are the right candidate.

Re-check Your Marketing Materials.  As stated above, just because you are getting an interview doesn’t mean your marketing materials are working for you as they should.  Your materials may be getting you the wrong interviews.  Maybe your resume is targeting the wrong job.  Maybe the wrong transferable skills are emphasized.  Perhaps you’ve positioned your past experience differently on your resume than you are communicating in your interview.  Have a professional review your resume again, and then continue with a mock interview, to ensure consistency of communication.  Tailor your resume for the position.

Assess Your Story.  The most important part of your job search process is a coherent, logical, compelling story.  Your story is used when networking and interviewing.  Your story should make logical connections with what you have done to what you are seeking.  Your story should sell your transferable skills while compelling the interviewer to ask for more.

Re-practice Interviewing.  Interviewing takes practice, practice, practice.  A Darden first-year student a few days ago told me he had done thirty mock case interviews in practice for a consulting interview.  That number is low for some seeking positions at major firms.  Seek assistance from a career consultant.  Spend the requisite time to get your answers in a format that your listener can take in (try STAR:  Situation, Task, Action, Results), it works.

Think Career Path, not First Job.  You might need to concede that the job you are seeking is not attainable given your current experience.  This reality is hard to face.  But if it is reality, then don’t give up on the dream—create a path to the dream job, starting with the next one.  What can you do with this next job (or summer internship) that will make you a better candidate for the next interview?  Think about your career in ten year chunks, not in the next job.  A colleague of mine wrote in his blog today:  “Look at your career as a chess board, not a dart board. In chess, you cannot win the game in one move. It takes multiple moves to achieve your objectives. It takes patience.” 

Network.  Network.  Network.  80% of jobs are never listed.  The number is higher for summer internships.  You have to make the market aware of you—who you are and what you have to offer—and help the market make the connection that you are the right candidate right now.  You do this by networking.  Check the CDC web site for insights into effective networking. 

It’s a Team Sport.  Engage others.  Bring in the experts.  Call a Career Consultant at home.  Go watch Apollo 13 and see how Gene Crantz sought advice and input from a cadre of experts, working as a team to solve the problem.  Yesterday I met with a student seeking work in advertising—I immediately connected him with another student whose parent is in advertising.  Three days ago I connected a first year with a faculty member who is an expert in her area.  This week I met with probably ten first year students, doing mock interviews and working the problem.  And my load is a light one:  Darden’s Career Consultants are meeting with students every hour of the work day.  Why aren’t they meeting with you?  I’ve mentioned before the need for a personal board of directors.  Curt Rosengren recently blogged on the subject in US News:  “6 People You Need on Your Career Dream Team” 

Do It Now.  In Apollo 13, the astronauts had only a few days to live.  Solving the problem was urgent—life or death.  While your situation is not life or death, I urge you to engage now while you are warmed up, and while you can still diagnose the problem.  If you disengage because of your apathy, fear, or disillusionment, you’ll go stale, you’ll miss an opportunity, you’ll lose the momemtum.

Darden just yesterday released its acceptances for the first round applicants in the admissions process.  A student named Katie, whom I first met in Boston at the recommendation of a friend, was accepted.  I’m so proud of her and of Darden for recognizing her talent.  Though I never saw Katie’s application, I was confident she would get in because her approach to applying to Darden demonstrated to me a deeper character to which I was attracted.  I believe the same approach Katie took to getting into Darden will serve her well in her job search and will reveal to employers skills that employers are seeking. So what are the skills that employers seek?

First, prospective employers want applicants who are focused.  When a job search applicant can articulate what she wants and what she can do for the company, the employer begins to imagine the applicant within their organization and how that person will fit in.  When I first met Katie, she clearly articulated why business school and why Darden.  I got the impression of a woman who knew what she wanted and had a good idea of how to get there.  Most importantly, she gave me the impression (I had no doubt that) she would get there.

Second, prospective employers want applicants who are prepared.  Companies want to hire students that have done their homework, know their business and know to whom they are talking.  As an employer, it makes you feel that the person values your time and as an employee would use her time with you and other senior leaders wisely.  Again, when I met Katie, she had researched Darden, spoken to alumni, visited on her own and memorized the Web site.  She knew how she would fit in and how she could contribute to the community.  I began to think about how I could make sure she met the admissions director and the dean, because I knew she’d make a good impression.

Third, prospective employers want applicants who are inquisitive, critical thinkers.  I heard a great quote a few months ago:  “if you can Google the answer, you asked the wrong question.”  As pointed out above, prospective employees need to be very prepared from all available sources of information about the company, so that their questions to the employer are focused on issues of why and demonstrate an interest and inquisitiveness that is sought after in the job.  Katie’s research of Darden allowed our first discussions to be about how I felt about Darden, what I believed our opportunities (and challenges) were.  Our conversation and her questions derived from the moment rather than from her predetermined list of questions.  I could tell she was thinking on her feet and listening to me.  As Darden is a case method school, I could imagine that she would ask questions in the classroom that would advance the discussion, not recall case facts.

Next, employers seek those who can build networks.  A critical skill in most large organizations is the ability to build a lattice of networks—connecting to people across functional lines and hierarchical barriers, reaching out to potential customers and suppliers, and getting to know potential employees and alliances.  I first became aware of Katie’s interest in Darden via email through a former acquaintance of mine and current colleague of Katie’s.  Katie had obviously helped him make the connection.  Then Katie cold called me, inviting me to “meet” her at the upcoming Boston reception.  She then sought me out at the reception.  Next she sent me a thank you note, recalling something clever I had said that deepened her interest in Darden.  She scheduled a visit through the admissions department, contacted me to let me know she was coming and requested a minute or two to ask a few more questions.  Then she followed up with a thank you note.  You get the picture.  The impression I am left with:  this is a woman who networks naturally, has incredible social skills, and will get what she wants.  She engendered in me a desire to advocate her candidacy.  Let me be clear:  it wasn’t that she checked the boxes of thank you notes and meetings.  It was that she demonstrated a capacity to do that for Darden and for herself in the job search that gave me confidence she would be successful.

Finally, prospective employers want to be wanted.  Nothing is more flattering than being desired.  It’s human nature.   At one of my former employers, if you couldn’t demonstrate in the interview process that this employer was your number one choice, you wouldn’t be hired.  Katie wasn’t afraid to tell me genuinely that Darden was a top choice for her and why she liked it.  I felt drawn to her and began to imagine her in the third row of Section D.

Now all I can say is she better say yes.

I’ve never been much a fan of New Year’s Resolutions.  Can’t remember one that I stayed with more than a week.  Even the standard resolution of losing weight or getting in shape—not one I could easily rally around (who wants to start working out in the cold, short days and winter doldrums of January?) But,  as I read the Sunday NY Times this weekend, I was motivated by a piece by Phillys Korkki in her The Search column entitled “Getting Back in Shape for the Job Chase.”  The article is a good reminder that some of the basic elements of the job search must be in top form in order to enable a successful search.

Korkki’s article also helped me crystallize some thinking about my own career from the past few months.  My thoughts might apply to your career as well, whether you are a student in the search right now or a colleague thinking of a job change this year.

So, in 2010, regarding my career, I resolve to…

Invest time and deliberation into my career.  A long, successful career requires nurturing and maintenance.  I’ve been with Darden over six years now.  Am I still meeting my career life themes?  Am I learning, and growing?  Making the money I need to make?  Bored?  It’s actually easy to coast along and not invest the time needed to consider these questions.  I believe a person should be deliberate about their career.  I’ve had six major changes in my career—five of them I sought and made happen.  The one that I let happen to me is the only one I am not proud of.   If you are a student, are you really investing time and deliberation into your career search?  Are you letting the search happen to you?  Resolve this year to be in charge and to be deliberate in your search.

Network more.  I have an Outlook full of extremely important people who can make a significant difference in my career.  I didn’t send any of them a Holiday card.  That’s a missed networking opportunity.  Each month I travel to cities on behalf of Darden and meet important company executives.  Yet I seldom take a breakfast or a cup of coffee with someone who can advise me on my career.  Even closer to home, I can’t remember the last time I called a faculty colleague and went to lunch together.  Faculty relationships are critical for success in my position.  Who are your close career advisors with whom you share your career aspirations/needs/motivations?  Do you have a person “board of directors” with whom you consult on any career move?  If you don’t, resolve to create one.  If you do, resolve to network with them now, before a crisis occurs and you need more than just their advice.  If you are interviewing for on-campus jobs in the next few weeks, you’ll want to have your “board” prepared to hear your options.

Be prepared.  I think I’ll follow Korkki’s advice and get my marketing materials in shape.  Why?  Because the key marketing materials needed in a job search are the same/similar to the marketing materials needed to promote yourself within your current job.  They are the same ones needed to raise capital for a promising idea.  Many times they are the same ones needed to sell an idea within your company.  Senior executives frequently tell me that when they are deciding whether to commit company resources to an initiative, they are more likely to invest in the passionate, convincing person than the idea with all the numbers supporting it.  Also, updating your resume helps you keep an inventory of the impact you’re having in your current job.  If you go to update your resume, and you have nothing new to add, then perhaps you’re not having an impact on the organization. 

Improve my skills.  One of my colleagues just took a Darden Executive Education one-week course at one of the busiest times of the year for him professionally and personally.  Darden’s Exed courses require commitment from Sunday to Friday, every day and every evening.  At the end of the course, he said it was the best investment of him time he could imagine.  What I admire about him is that he is absolutely committed to being the best leader he can possible be and is willing to invest the time to improve his skills.  In 2010 I need to improve my skills as a corporate relations executive.  I need to learn how to connect Darden and companies in a way that has a profound impact on both.  What does this have to do with career management?  Everything.  The single most profound activity you can undertake to positively impact your career is to gain new skills and make yourself more valuable to your current employer and to the marketplace.  Current students obviously realize this and are spending two incredibly valuable years and lots of money to gain new skills.  But are you really learning the skills that will be invaluable to your new employer?  First years, I implore you to ask your summer employer (assuming that your summer employer is a good candidate for your full-time employer) what skills they want you to develop in your second year of school and then assemble a plan to develop those skills. (notice I didn’t say, which classes to take—I think that’s a very different question.)

Improve my profession.  I recently had the opportunity to review the on-line persona of about a third of the Darden MBA for Executive 2010 cohort.  These are experienced professionals further along in their careers than the average Darden MBA.  What struck me was how many of them are active members of relevant professional organizations and that a few are leaders in these groups.  I have been involved in MBA Career Service Council, but I have also watched peers be leaders and share their knowledge and experience with larger industries.  What strikes me is that every time a headhunter calls me about potential candidates for positions, it’s these colleagues that I think of.  Do others in the industry think of me in this way?  It’s important for my career that they do.  What’s the student corollary?  Many candidates for the most coveted positions are highly qualified and probably have more experience that you do.  But it’s the candidate that knows more about the industry, that seems invested emotionally and passionately about its success, that breaks through in the interview.

Blog more.  One of my greatest development areas as a leader is the willingness to take quality time and think an issue through thoroughly before acting.  I’m an idea generating, action oriented leader.  Same goes with my career decisions.  However, blogging is one of the times that I really think through something.  So, for my sake, I’m going to use my blog this year to think through issues, especially as they relate to my (and to your) career.

Happy New Year.

Recently I have come across several Darden alumni and other business people, both senior and junior; who mentioned they started their career or spent time mid-career in sales.  Frankly, I was surprised.  The rap on MBAs is that we don’t like to get our hands dirty – sales is somehow beneath us.  Yet these business people credit their effectiveness and even success to their sales experience.

I agree.

Twenty five years ago I graduated from Vanderbilt with a degree in Chemical Engineering.  While I had opportunities in manufacturing management, a combination of self-assessment and the influence of a mentor led me to start my career in sales and sales management.  At Frito, starting in sales means three months as a Route Salesman – loading the truck at 5:00am and getting to the first stop by 5:30am.  A typical week included fifty stops at grocery stores, convenience stores, drug stores and even bars.  My responsibility was to sell Frito products to a highly diverse, group of customers, to work as a team with ten highly diverse, differently motivated salespeople.  I handled customer objections and rejections daily.  I felt the pressure of meeting a daily sales plan and meeting expenses.  I implemented Headquarter plans using headquarter/marketing-developed promotional material.

After three months I was promoted to Sales Manager with ten diverse, differently motivated sales people reporting to me a twenty three year old with three months of experience, I was now management – that entity I had learned to curse in only three months of the route.

What I learned (some of which I’ve blogged on before)
1. Empathy – customer, employee, senior management, headquarters
2. Play – making work fun, integrating
3. Story Telling - convincing, management of my ideas, selling customers on new possibilities
4. Listening – to customer needs, to employee concerns, to management demands and to family commitments
5. Results Orientation – with a team, within a timeframe
6. Prioritization – in every sales call, there are infinite priorities and things to get accomplished
Two common themes I learned: focus on customers (internal & external) and results through others.

What MBA careers require sales experience?  These lessons and themes are applicable no matter your career objective.  A consultant must learn these skills just as much as a marketer. Interesting to me is that one industry, pharmaceutical, is one of the few hold-outs that requires its MBA marketing hires to spend a significant amount of time (one year plus) gaining sales experience.  Many customers packaged goods companies also require at least a token amount of time in sales.

Even the Chief Marketing Officer of a cutting edge billion dollar new technology company recently told me that everyone on his senior leadership team had been in technology sales before ascending to the top of his company.  The Chief Executive Officer, he suggested, currently still spends 85% of his time selling; selling their products to customers, selling investors on financing, selling shareholders on his vision, selling employees on the commitment required to succeed.

So is this advice actionable?  Are there sales jobs that pay what today’s MBAs expect?  Probably very few.  But don’t abandon the objective: talk about it in your interviews.  Ask questions like: how do your new hires get intimate with the customer? How do people in your company learn to empathize with client needs?  How do you foster/reward teamwork?  Another suggestion: ask explicitly if this company has “sales training” as part of your integration into the company.

And finally don’t be afraid to take that “lower paying” sales job – many times the upside pay potential is greater (albeit more variable) than the headquarter job.  Now is the time to take that risk. Now is the time to learn to sell-before you become too busy, too senior, too important to carry a bag.

I was watching a movie, The Proposal, last weekend—it was entertaining enough, certainly not one that will make my top 50 list.  But mid-movie, the leading actor delivered a line that really struck me:  “the only thing you really own is your story, make it a good one.”  I’m not ready to philosophize on my life and my story yet, but as I work with so many young MBA students, I began to think about how that quote applies in two ways:  one, you have a story to tell right now that will determine if you get that job you are gunning for; and two, you are at a moment in your life to significantly shape your story—make it a good one.

Your story in the networking/interviewing/job candidacy process is, in my opinion, the difference between breaking through, or not.  If you have a compelling story, the entire interview hangs together and compels the interviewer to see the “fit” between you and the opportunity.  This week I was working with a second-year Darden student—she had a successful internship which resulted in an offer and she is a Second-Year Career Coach (a select group of students chosen to “coach” first-year students in the job search process).  As a coach, she has received positive feedback from students on her ability to help them with their stories, yet this week she came to see me because she didn’t feel her story was as compelling as it should be.  I admire her introspection and willingness to both be a coach and be coached.  One of my true passions is helping students develop this skill (see my blog on Daniel Pink’s chapter on “Story Telling” in his book, A Whole New Mind, or go to the source).   What I believe we uncovered in our discussion about her story was the need for her to be direct and upfront about how what she has done in the past weaves together nicely to perfectly prepare her to interview for this job at this time.  While she was communicating her transferable skills and the brief history of her accomplishments, she was missing the compelling, believable story.  In the process of our 45 minutes together, I think she got much closer.  At least, I was convinced.

What makes a story compelling?  It really is hard to put a finger on it.  It’s certainly not a history lesson in what you have done.  It’s also not a recitation of skills that you know the job requires.  A good story is not groveling and just saying what the interviewer wants to hear.  The trouble with these three approaches is that anyone’s story could be the same as yours.  Instead, a good story is uniquely yours—it celebrates your accomplishments, highlights your skills, and yet demonstrates your vulnerabilities and moral fiber.  The hero in the story is YOU.  It shows what you have discovered about yourself and where those discoveries are leading you.  It begs more detail and questions.  It sets up the remainder of the interview.  It creates a bond from the beginning of the interview.  The story is what makes you, you.

Now to my second point:  your career will be punctuated with a few seminal events.  Choosing to attend Darden is certainly one of them.  You had a story up to this point, and many of you want to make a significant change in your story at this point in your life.  You had dreams and hopes when you applied to business school.  Are you still pursuing those dreams, or bigger ones?  I encourage you to let go of the herd mentality of MBA students—go after what you are dreaming about.  I’ve met with students in the past few months who want to make significant career changes into passions not normally pursued by MBAs.  Are you still chasing those dreams?  Equally importantly, do you have a compelling story of why that dream makes sense both for you and for the target of your dreams?  If not, keep working at it.  It’s those that have a dream that develop and deliver the most compelling stories.  Those trying to fake it usually have trouble making it believable.

So, your story…in the end it’s the only thing you really own.  Make it a good one.

This past week I think I may have stumbled onto another key to success in the job search (and in life).  Have you ever met with someone and, after the meeting, you felt like a million bucks?  Do you find that some people are always accepting and affirming--they build you up whenever you are together.  This week my Darden travels took me to Atlanta, Boston and New York City for admissions receptions and visits with companies.  Though I met easily 100 new people, and visited with 20+ prior acquaintances, and even saw at least five good friends, three of the meetings stand out well ahead of the others.  These three people don't know each other, and are nothing alike in most ways, yet they all three make me feel the same way:  accepted and affirmed.

The first person is an old friend, one I've known since my time at Darden.  He is exceptionally smart and successful, running or investing in multiple businesses, leading hundreds of employees or constituents.  When I come to Atlanta, about twice a year, he makes time to see me--generally molding to my schedule and putting my needs first.  We usually, as was this case this time, can only squeeze in about an hour of time to talk.  Yet, when I leave my visit with him, I feel great.  He lauds me on my job, encourages me on my endeavors, listens when I talk, relays stories that relate to my needs, and digs deeply into my personal life.  We pick up like we have never been separated.  I don’t have many close male friends, yet it’s as if we have been friends forever.  When he asks me questions, he asks deep personal questions.  When he talks with me, he tells me what’s really happening in his life, with what he is struggling, and why he is feeling the way he is feeling.  When he left, I felt accepted and affirmed.

The second person is a new friend, a colleague from my current job.  We see each other once or twice per year and correspond infrequently.  We met this week to share ideas about our field, compare notes about programs, and commiserate on the bad economy.   She too has the ability to really focus on a person.  She never checked her Blackberry.  She lost track of time during our visit.  She took extra time to give me a tour.  She held back nothing, though her program is probably the best in the industry and she’s probably the best in her field.  She relayed a professional struggle that she is dealing with—which has turned into a personal breakthrough.  I learned from her experience.  As I look back, she let me do most of the talking.  Yet, when I left, I felt affirmed and accepted.

Finally, the third person who left me feeling the same way as the other two is a person I met for the first time this week.  I met her at a admissions reception in Boston—she’s a prospective student.  Of course, she’s in the position of perhaps feeling the need to “suck up” given she’s trying to get into Darden, but I didn’t feel that way at all.  We probably had three short chats throughout the evening—five to ten minutes each.  During each encounter, she exhibited an unusual energy and a genuine interest in the person with whom she was talking.  She asked probing questions, and she had done her homework on those she would encounter during the evening.  While her experience (current job) was good, it was her personal magnetism and personal presence that make believe she’ll be a great fit for Darden.  More than that, she comes across as someone I’ll want to see become a fellow alum.  After our meeting, I (and others) felt accepted and affirmed.

Now let me relate this to your job search.  When I talk to recruiters about characteristics that they seek from new employees, I always get a great list of things like problem solving skills, analytical skills, team work, leadership, creativity, etc.  But most students have these skills.  The acid test is something like “someone I wouldn’t mind being stuck in an airport with.”  Most MBA jobs require many, many hours of work per week, and we all want to work with someone with whom we enjoy. 

These three folks are ones with whom I wouldn’t mind being stuck in an airport.  Not just because they are interesting and fun, but when I am with them, I feel like a better person.  I actually want to be a better person when I’m around them.

(By the way, I’m sure there exists good literature about this subject.  I just started a terrific book that discusses a related topic—Powered by Feel, by James Clawson (Darden professor and good friend) and Doug Newburg.  Jim and Doug explore the question, “How do you want to feel?”  While I haven’t quite worked completely through the answer, I believe for me, and for many others, accepted and affirmed might come up (though, according to Clawson’s work, these emotions might reflect “outside in” thinking. (Clawson and Newburg, p. 28.)  Perhaps the subject of a subsequent blog.)

Based on my observation of this week’s travels and my encounters with these three different individuals, I offer these thoughts on building these types of connections in your brief encounters and interviews with potential employers:

·        Ask about them, and listen to the answers.

·        Know them as best you can before you meet them, so that you can get personal more quickly.

·        Affirm the person and the conversation:  this is the hardest, because faking it is easy to spot.

·        Don’t be afraid to get personal, opening up and revealing yourself to them. 

By the way, those who can’t do, blog.  I blog what I struggle, yet aspire, to do.

Yesterday I was inspired by two Darden second-year MBA students.  One of the two has recently turned down a job offer with a typical MBA hiring company to stay in the job hunt and pursue his passion, technology.  My conservative reaction:  are you crazy?  In this market?  With no US passport?  The other student is his wife, also a MBA student, with no job offer either.  I was inspired for two reasons:  one, these two students are willing to take career and financial risks to pursue their passions; two, they have a thoughtful plan and are executing that plan to be successful.  I believe we can learn from these two students.

One of our recent speakers at Darden’s Leadership Speaker Series used a quote that really struck me:  the quote was something like, “If you don’t take a risk, then you may never reach your full potential.”  This resonated with me, as I reflected on my own career and thought about our students at the beginning of their career.

This year I’m twenty-five years into my business career.  I’ve taken a couple of large, life-changing risks and innumerable small ones.  I’ve also “chickened” our on a couple of risks that could have been life altering and maybe career enhancing.  In 1998 I sought and accepted a senior marketing role in Singapore.  My wife, Sally and kids (ages 10, 7, and 5) moved to Singapore for nearly two years.  Many advised me that an international assignment was career limited—I’d be lost and lose “pace” with my peers.  What the move actually did was change the career game for me, caused me to think more deeply about my career aspirations, and provided enormous personal growth.

Six years ago I took another substantial career risk by leaving corporate America and pursuing a passion in educational leadership, marketing a brand for which I had passion and a deep sense of gratitude.  While I thought the move was risky, I felt it was a risk worth taking.  In the words frequently used by Dean Bob Bruner when speaking about Darden’s future:  for me, standing still was not an option.  (Perhaps more details should be the subject of a future blog.)  I’ve not looked back for the past six years.  I’ve grown and developed: it would be hard to find a job I love more.

On the flip side:  at one pivotal point in my career, I turned down an offer from a Fortune 50 multi-national company because I thought it was too risky.  The job was for a company I considered not in the top tier of “marketing” companies and would have required another relocation (my eighth, but who was counting).  Within a year the person that was hired was promoted to president of the division.  It could have been me.  Or could it?  I’ll never know.  I was afraid to take the risk.  Maybe right, maybe wrong.

A few principles I have learned when experiencing career risks:

·         Career risks early in one’s career leave more time for recovery from a bad mistake;

·         Career risks must be balanced with and taken in context of personal (familial) needs and personal risks;

·         Career risks in pursuit of a passion leave little room for regret;

·         Career risks should be taken only when a thorough action plan has been created to minimize the risks;

·         Nearly all career risks provide opportunity for growth;

·         Standing still in not an option—not taking the occasional career risk is in itself a career risk.

The reason the two students mentioned at the beginning of this blog are taking such a risk is that they have to:  they have to bet on a market that may or may not develop.  Technology companies don’t generally define their hiring needs until spring.  Yet, the on-Gounds recruiting machine will come and go by then.  In addition most technology companies are 3000 miles away and require personal investment of time and money to build the relationships necessary.  What excites me about these students is their detailed action plans for managing this risk.  They are not waiting until the spring, but are investing now in building the network to be successful.

So, to the two students with whom I met this week:  thanks for reminding me personally that career risks lead to substantial rewards.  More importantly, thanks for reminding me how I should be counseling new MBA student risk takers.  I’m sure I’ve said it before (Breakthrough Career Development Advice, Mariah Carey’s Career Advice on American Idol, Bee Movie Guide to Career Development—Part 1), but it’s worth saying it again:

·         Pursue your passion.  Now is the easiest time in your career to take a risk.  Don’t follow the MBA sheep unless they are pursuing your passion.

·         Be patient.  You may have to wait until spring.  You may have to wait until five years after graduation. (Yesterday, I ran into a 2004 alumnae who went through three jobs since graduation before landing a few months ago in the job she really wanted at graduation.)

·         Own it.  Don’t blame Darden for not being strong in your area of passion.  Don’t blame the recruiting calendar for presenting some opportunities before others.  Don’t sit back and wait for it to come to you (or to pass you by).

·         Let me (or others in your life) help you along the way.