Time for another season of commencement speeches. The air is filled with unsolicited advice to new grads. I would like to join the chorus. But the tips I have to offer are neither motivational (“If you can dream it, you can do it.”), spiritual (“Carpe diem!”) or even humorous (“If you see a fork in the road take it.”). I do hope, however, they are useful.My goal is to offer a bit of practical wisdom, gleaned from more than 20 years running fast-growing companies, large and small, public and private, from hiring more than 10,000 people, and from my current work as a hands-on investor. Simply stated, I have a point of view to share on how to successfully pick the right place to work after you graduate.
Image source: Forbes Many college students have made very thoughtful decisions about where to enroll and what to study, while others fell into a decision based, in part, on which schools said no. No matter, success can be found at all schools if one searches for it. But when it comes to the decision on where to work, it’s both more important and more impactful. College grads often join whichever company recruits them the hardest or makes the first offer. Instead, I would urge graduates to take a more deliberate, systematic approach to picking an employer. You will thank yourself years later. And yes, it may take that long before you appreciate the lessons that you can still learn in your vocation.I realize that for many young adults (and their parents), getting a job, any job, is an achievement. That is especially true in this economy. But I would suggest that being selective in that process is paramount to future success, even if you are only choosing among limited options. And finding a job, especially a first one, is like running a marathon. It’s not where you start, it’s where you finish. Going out too fast doesn’t lead to a strong finish.When I graduated college many of my classmates were recruited to work for large, successful companies like Eastman Kodak and Digital Equipment Corp. that paid a lot of money. Many of those companies later ran into trouble. The jobs the new grads believed they had earned, the high salaries, and the lifestyle, were, in fact, unsustainable. As the fortunes of their employers changed, many of my school friends underwent painful transitions for which they had little preparation.Taking a job at a big, stable company is not necessarily a bad thing. But make sure that other boxes are checked as well. Investors allocate their energy and capital not simply to the first investment that comes along or the best short term option. They typically use a sophisticated screen to find the right opportunities.And choosing a job is even more important than picking a stock to buy. Not only will you spend a lot of your time there, which makes it the ultimate undiversified investment portfolio, but the work habits you form will begin to be set for the rest of your career.What I like to do when I learn about a new opportunity or when I am advising someone on whether to take a particular job, is to ask five questions. These questions are somewhat subjective. Not everything can be built into a financial model. Yet I have found that when I follow this screening process I tend to be more successful. New graduates will also benefit:1. Do you like the people?Every business is all about the people who work there. You will spend more time with your co-workers than possibly anyone else during your first job. It is critical that you have the right cultural fit. If everyone wears suits and you prefer polo shirts, don’t force it. If there is an intense competitive ethos, but you prefer consensus, listen to yourself. Don’t try to be the round peg in the square hole.Find the right fit. Remember, would you buy a shoe that didn’t fit—that didn’t feel right? So don’t choose a job that way. Trust yourself. Listen to your gut.2. Do you believe in the idea?Every organization has a mission. Ask yourself: Am I passionate about this mission? Is it something that resonates with me? Can I commit to it? You are going to spend a lot of time working in whatever role you choose. If there is dissonance between what you believe in and what you are doing, then you will not have the right formula to succeed.And does the mission make sense? Is it something I believe in strongly enough to dedicate my most precious resource, my time? Let’s say it’s 1982. You really want to work in technology, and you think the future is personal computers. Working at a mainframe computer company, no matter how good the offer, would be a huge mistake. No matter what industry you would like to join now, there are going to be winners and losers. Some companies will have vision while others are stuck. And remember, you have more insight into whether an idea will work than you give yourself credit for. Would you buy the product? Would your friends or parents? Trust your instincts.3. Does the company have customers?The follow-up question to the mission question is: Is the market buying what this organization is selling? This applies not just to start-ups, but any kind of job opportunity, no matter the industry. No matter what kind of widget you sell, make sure that its customer base is growing, not shrinking. If you yearn to work at a nonprofit, find out if it is attracting donors and if its charitable work is well-received. As investors like to say, “Will the dogs eat the dog food?” Don’t hitch your buggy to a slow horse.4. Is it scalable?As an investor, I am always looking for growth. That’s how I make an impact. As an employee you should be doing the same.
The chances of having an impact on the world in a shrinking company are close to zero. The chances of being promoted and experiencing a leadership role are slim. Every company, charity, or government entity is selling something. In the technology world scalability has a specific meaning, the ability to create something that can naturally get bigger without proportionately increasing the inputs. If you write a piece of code and can sell it million times that is far more desirable than selling it a thousand times at the same margin. Use analogous logic to evaluate opportunities across sectors. Is your government job tending an old program? Or are you developing new ones that show promise?5. Does this new job give me experience or experiences?I’ve interviewed people who tell me they have five years of experience, but when I look at what they’ve done, it looks like one year of experience repeated five times. If someone said he or she had five years of experience in the third grade, we wouldn’t value that very highly. In fact, we would question why they’ve repeated the same thing over and over.You want a job that constantly challenges you, creates new opportunities, projects and yes, experiences. This is how you grow. You don’t want to be an expert on one thing because the thing will inevitably change. (“I’m a whiz at dot-matrix printers!”) You need to learn how to manage that and create new experiences, inside and outside of your job.And, one final note, since more parents will read this than new graduates: During this process, be patient. You cannot and should not direct. In part, it’s because you don’t know how to best prepare your son or daughter for an uncertain future. So guide, support and let your child experiment and make some mistakes. Better early in their careers when they are young. Those are the experiences they need.I’ve often been asked about failures in my career. My response is that we rarely fail, but we do know that some lessons, some learning, is a lot more expensive and painful than we would like.The philosopher who got it right describing the journey was Dr. Seuss:You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act.So go forward and interview, but remember: You are doing the interviewing too. And there are no mistakes, only experiences to learn from.
Anthony Tricoli, CEO and president of The Global Center for the Advancement of Higher Education, is an advocate of alternative educational methods. See this Facebook page for updates of his most recent activities.
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