There are many excellent books on the art and science of writing, with William Zinsser's On Writing Well possibly the best of the lot. His recent commentary about the book's evolution over 35 years includes much wisdom about personal and professional development, not just about writing. Here are the key points I took away from this article:
* Trust your gut and the advice of those who love you. The idea for the book came from Zinsser's wife, and he intuitively like it.
* Write about what you teach others to do. Zinsser had been teaching writing at Yale for four years, so the book provided him the opportunity to engage course material on a deeper level.
* Consult other sources for inspiration, but don't copy them. Be yourself. Zinsser achieved a breakthrough when he realized he didn't need to be like E.B. White, the author of another classic, The Elements of Style. He merely needed to draw on his own experience and style.
* Seek inspiration from outside your primary area of activity. Zinsser's model was Alec Wilder's American Popular Song: The Great Innovators, 1900-1950, not other books on writing.
* Go wherever the process takes you physically and intellectually. In Zinsser's case, that meant speaking at universities around the U.S. and expanding and revising the book as times demanded.
The result: a book that's sold nearly 1.5 million copies, an amazing intellectual and professional journey, and undoubtedly a rich, rewarding life.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Getting Unstuck: How MBA Students Can Overcome Internship/Job Search Inertia
Yesterday I shared ways some students sabotage their search for internships/jobs. Here's the positive side of the story, as I present some principles that might help you address those challenges and overcome the inertia (and even boredom) that's seemingly unavoidable in any search effort.
* Act as if you know what you want. Find a way to connect to a prospective opportunity in a way that excites and inspires you. It could be the function, company, industry, or geographic location. Your desire will permeate every component of your effort to obtain that position -- and will motivate you to do the research and reflection you'll need to make contacts, develop materials, and apply for available internships/jobs.
* Consider every internship/job as an opportunity to learn -- if not about what you're doing, then about the organization, industry, or even how people relate to one another. Perhaps you'll even learn something about yourself! Your ongoing challenge is to clarify what you like and don't like in your work -- a process that based on my experience takes some time. Moreover, you never know when or where an experience may come in handy in the future. (I speak from extensive personal experience on this last point).
* Recognize that an internship/job is just that -- it's not your life, it won't last forever, and you don't have to get it right the first time (or even the second or third times, for that matter). Three months in an internship may seem like an eternity, but (in most circumstances) won't kill you -- nor will a year or two in a job.
* Develop a plan A, plan B, and even a plan C for your internship/job search. In other words, always have a backup plan should your first (or second) choice not work out. Who knows, your plan B job may evolve into a plan A job -- or may even become what you truly want to do!
* Act as if you know what you want. Find a way to connect to a prospective opportunity in a way that excites and inspires you. It could be the function, company, industry, or geographic location. Your desire will permeate every component of your effort to obtain that position -- and will motivate you to do the research and reflection you'll need to make contacts, develop materials, and apply for available internships/jobs.
* Consider every internship/job as an opportunity to learn -- if not about what you're doing, then about the organization, industry, or even how people relate to one another. Perhaps you'll even learn something about yourself! Your ongoing challenge is to clarify what you like and don't like in your work -- a process that based on my experience takes some time. Moreover, you never know when or where an experience may come in handy in the future. (I speak from extensive personal experience on this last point).
* Recognize that an internship/job is just that -- it's not your life, it won't last forever, and you don't have to get it right the first time (or even the second or third times, for that matter). Three months in an internship may seem like an eternity, but (in most circumstances) won't kill you -- nor will a year or two in a job.
* Develop a plan A, plan B, and even a plan C for your internship/job search. In other words, always have a backup plan should your first (or second) choice not work out. Who knows, your plan B job may evolve into a plan A job -- or may even become what you truly want to do!
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
11 Student Actions that Sabotage Job/Internship Search Efforts
Here are eleven actions students take that doom their efforts to find jobs and internships. While MANY students succeed by assuming responsibility and taking consistent, well-thought out actions related to job search, the occurrence of these eleven actions is frequent enough to warrant my decision to share them here.
1. Commiserating with classmates in person on how you can't find an internship or job (or using Facebook and Twitter for the same purposes).
2. Expecting that stating "I need an internship/job" out loud to no one in particular will result in an offer.
3. Working endlessly on your resume.
4. Saying you don't know what you want, and not taking action to gain clarity.
5. Blowing off opportunities to meet with alumni (and guest speakers sponsored by clubs and outside organizations) who are willing to share their career insight and leads to internships or jobs.
6. Blowing off opportunities to meet with companies visiting campus for the express purpose of connecting with students to discuss internships or jobs.
7. Writing cover letters for jobs that don't exist, and/or that are so general as to leave the reader uncertain as to their intention.
8. Blowing off opportunities to practice interview skills or gain other insight and knowledge to help you in the search for an internship or job.
9. Saying there's no time to look for an internship or job, when time is available to socialize, travel during spring break, etc.
10. Criticizing services provided to help students find internships and jobs.
11. Failing to reach out to people who care for and love you, who'd be willing to help you gain clarity and make connections -- as well as others who've pledged the same kind of support for your search process.
Fortunately, each of these actions (or lack of action) is correctable. I've explored several in past posts, and will do so in the near future as well.
1. Commiserating with classmates in person on how you can't find an internship or job (or using Facebook and Twitter for the same purposes).
2. Expecting that stating "I need an internship/job" out loud to no one in particular will result in an offer.
3. Working endlessly on your resume.
4. Saying you don't know what you want, and not taking action to gain clarity.
5. Blowing off opportunities to meet with alumni (and guest speakers sponsored by clubs and outside organizations) who are willing to share their career insight and leads to internships or jobs.
6. Blowing off opportunities to meet with companies visiting campus for the express purpose of connecting with students to discuss internships or jobs.
7. Writing cover letters for jobs that don't exist, and/or that are so general as to leave the reader uncertain as to their intention.
8. Blowing off opportunities to practice interview skills or gain other insight and knowledge to help you in the search for an internship or job.
9. Saying there's no time to look for an internship or job, when time is available to socialize, travel during spring break, etc.
10. Criticizing services provided to help students find internships and jobs.
11. Failing to reach out to people who care for and love you, who'd be willing to help you gain clarity and make connections -- as well as others who've pledged the same kind of support for your search process.
Fortunately, each of these actions (or lack of action) is correctable. I've explored several in past posts, and will do so in the near future as well.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)