Bethany Lang-Vander Schans· July 1st, 2014
Originally posted to Coursera
Enhance Your Career and Employability Skills
I am very interested in the idea of Introversion vs.
Extroversion and being unable to overcome this in a job search or finding
extroversion to be vulgar and needy. I work as a career counselor. I am
extroverted which serves me very well because a great deal of my professional
life involves public relations and sales. I work for a college, and it is my
job to market graduates to companies for job interviews and to coach those
graduates in good job search habits. To be successful, I have to network
network network. I use every avenue and opportunity to do so; this includes but
is not limited to social networking, job fairs, networking events, building
relationships with community outreach programs, Chamber of Commerce activities,
and cold calling. The latter being the bane of my existence, but it is extremely
effective when done correctly. Here is a great article on the subject: https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140630220305-42858647-how-to-find-the-courage-to-cold-... Alas,
I am not intending to write about cold calling, so please allow me to return to
the topic at hand...professional networking.
Very recently I was frustrated by this very topic in my personal life, which spilled into my professional life a bit. A dear friend, who we shall call Marcus, has been a great success with company X for several years now. However, he is beginning to feel that there will be no more opportunities to grow within the company. Working for company X has provided Marcus the opportunity to be on the advisory board for organization Y. He has met many great people in his industry while serving on the advisory board. Organization Y will be opening up a brand new innovative concept which Marcus has been instrumental in helping plan through his involvement in the advisory board. Marcus has expressed to me a desire to be the director of the exciting new concept. Being a career counselor, I wanted to offer some suggestions to help plant the idea into the heads of those in charge to visualize him as a candidate. It must be said; he is extraordinarily qualified for the position. The facility won't be opening for several months; however, Organization Y recently held a ribbon cutting for a separate facility, and through my involvement in the local Chamber of Commerce, I was invited to attend. I invited Marcus as my guest, as I felt it would be a great opportunity to network with people who would be making hiring decision in the future and show them how invested he is in the projects and work of the organization. He initially agreed, but stood me up in the end. The ribbon cutting went on despite his absence and there was great conversation and the facility is amazing. In short, networking happened. When I asked Marcus why he didn't make it, he responded that he is introverted and didn't want to be to pushy.
Marcus may very well in the future leave Company X, be a success in attaining his desired position with Organization Y, and become the Director of Concept Z. There is no doubt in my mind that he is qualified, but the job market is so competitive. The pool of candidates is the most educated group of people that has ever been. The fact is that in every arena of life there will be someone smarter, faster, and stronger than you. When it is the choice between two qualified candidates the manager will always choose the person they happen to have met a few mounts ago at a ribbon cutting. Why would someone deny themselves an edge on the competition? When it comes to Introversion vs. Extroversion in a job search, it is best to fake it til you make it. Go team Extrovert! Now go shake some hands!
Very recently I was frustrated by this very topic in my personal life, which spilled into my professional life a bit. A dear friend, who we shall call Marcus, has been a great success with company X for several years now. However, he is beginning to feel that there will be no more opportunities to grow within the company. Working for company X has provided Marcus the opportunity to be on the advisory board for organization Y. He has met many great people in his industry while serving on the advisory board. Organization Y will be opening up a brand new innovative concept which Marcus has been instrumental in helping plan through his involvement in the advisory board. Marcus has expressed to me a desire to be the director of the exciting new concept. Being a career counselor, I wanted to offer some suggestions to help plant the idea into the heads of those in charge to visualize him as a candidate. It must be said; he is extraordinarily qualified for the position. The facility won't be opening for several months; however, Organization Y recently held a ribbon cutting for a separate facility, and through my involvement in the local Chamber of Commerce, I was invited to attend. I invited Marcus as my guest, as I felt it would be a great opportunity to network with people who would be making hiring decision in the future and show them how invested he is in the projects and work of the organization. He initially agreed, but stood me up in the end. The ribbon cutting went on despite his absence and there was great conversation and the facility is amazing. In short, networking happened. When I asked Marcus why he didn't make it, he responded that he is introverted and didn't want to be to pushy.
Marcus may very well in the future leave Company X, be a success in attaining his desired position with Organization Y, and become the Director of Concept Z. There is no doubt in my mind that he is qualified, but the job market is so competitive. The pool of candidates is the most educated group of people that has ever been. The fact is that in every arena of life there will be someone smarter, faster, and stronger than you. When it is the choice between two qualified candidates the manager will always choose the person they happen to have met a few mounts ago at a ribbon cutting. Why would someone deny themselves an edge on the competition? When it comes to Introversion vs. Extroversion in a job search, it is best to fake it til you make it. Go team Extrovert! Now go shake some hands!
