One of my friends has a MBA from a really good school with a really bad football team. A school so highly regarded that when they received my application some years ago, they not only rejected me on basis of my academic performance, but they added that with my interpretation of what constitutes “good” personal hygiene and a fashion sense that would make Huggy Bear exclaim “Dude, that just doesn’t match”, that I would be lucky to become a half-rate writer or a derivatives trader for Lehman Brothers.
The laughs on them. Based on feedback from one’s of our fans, my writing has been consistently described as “half rate”. So there.
Anywho, back to my friend. He has the MBA, from the good school, and his current job? Cutting grass.
Yep.
A lawn mower jockey if you will. Although he’s not of the seniority to actually ride the lawn mower, he can just help get it off the truck. MBA’s will only get you so far.
While we all need to stay positive and be thankful for today and not worry about what we had yesterday, its tough out there. I was quite fortunate in my recent job search to land into a real opportunity in work I enjoy. Others are not so fortunate.
Everyone knows someone that is out of work and is forced to look at short-term jobs that are far below their typical pay grade. Another friend whose last job title was “President” is looking at delivering pizzas. It happens.
I was struggling with why my MBA friend could only find day laborer work. Then it dawned on me. The MBA.
No boss wants to hire someone they know is not going to fit in with the rest of the team.
If you are looking for mall or retail work, how many other MBAs are on the floor hocking chinos and cookware?
Worse, if the interviewer feels that you are more qualified than they are, there’s a good chance you will not get the call back.
If you are looking for a sales gig, the fact that you closed multi-million contracts with the Government is not going to carry much weight with the HR person at the local home improvement store. And lets be honest, if you are seasoned white-collar executive, you are most likely going to stink in a blue-collar job that involves sweating.
Im not advocating that you play dumb or hide your accomplishments, but if you are looking for work outside of your normal career, you need to tailor your resume and your interview pitch to fit the job. If you are interviewing for a job where most of the employees are high school/2-year college you may want to omit the “M” from your “MBA”.
Also you will want to have different flavors of your resume to fit the opportunity.
In my personal resume collection I have the following versions:
- A version that emphasizes my experience working in startup environments
- A version that emphasizes working with Fortune 2000/Federal Governments
- A version that emphasizes management achievements and sales performance but doesnt go into too much detail on the vertical experience but is more general.
If you have other suggestions, we would love to hear them.
3 responses so far ↓
Lynn M // July 27, 2009 at 11:55 am |
I think what you’re advocating is tailoring your resume to fit the situation. Know when it is appropriate to share certain information and know what not to leave out as well. Those who are really putting their all into finding a job will take the time to customize their job-seeking materials rather than churning out identical copies and sending out to every hiring manager. This should be obvious in the field of sales since you’d tailor your pitch to the type of customer you’re meeting with.
Twitted by dorothyARussia // August 24, 2009 at 10:18 am |
[...] This post was Twitted by dorothyARussia [...]
Michael Lovas // September 3, 2009 at 12:30 pm |
We’re talking about specificity and relevance. This works for a resume in the same way it does for selling products and services. The more you know about the firm, and the person in front of you, the higher your chances of being successful in that situation. So, how can you learn about the person in front of you? We teach our clients how to read simple facial lines. That tells them the person’s personality type, values and communication style.
– Michael Lovas