It was 2am on a snowy February night in the winter of 2006 when I had a profound realization while binge watching the outstanding Kiefer Sutherland show 24.
I was desperate to watch the next episode (oh the cliffhangers). My wife was urging me to go to bed and I was basically whining that I wanted to watch just one more episode.
She laughed and said I sounded like a child asking for permission to stay up late. I paused, apparently got a funny look on my face and then said in a voice two octaves lower, “I’m going to stay up and watch another episode. You’re welcome to join in, otherwise I’ll see you in the morning.”
She was right – I didn’t need her permission though she regretted helping me realize that (she was right, work was painful the next day).
Students seeking jobs typically end up in this position
Too often MBA students in the job seeker position for coveted roles assume a similar role. They are eager which is good but often put themselves in an inferior position, almost adopting an Oliver Twist like “please Sir, I want some more” attitude.
Of course no one does this consciously. It’s partly inevitable since they are the job seeker but it’s partly due to a large gap in knowledge between them and their interviewer.
Key realization – be an equal not a supplicant
The way to solve this is to close that gap as much as possible.
Realistically, you are never going to close the gap in M&A knowledge with an M&A banker if you never been one or a McKinsey consultant if you don’t have a similar background.
However, you can augment your classroom knowledge using social media tools and that can massively set you apart from your peers.
It doesn’t take crazy hours of work to accomplish this. But you do have to have a genuine desire to be great at your field.
If you want to be great, then it’s not “work” to read about a major deal that happened in your industry or to think about why a major product launch flopped. This is different than “I want to be an I-Banker because they make a lot of money.”
In fact, adopting this approach will set you apart from the “I like the money” types.
If you want to excel in your field, then tune in tomorrow. I’m going to show you how to employ social media to stand out in your job search and career. Oh, and it’ll almost certainly help you get higher grades as well.
