Hi everyone:
Staring out my window this morning at 20+ inches of snow (at Chatham, MA, I'm
at Ground Zero for yesterday's nor'easter; and it's started snowing all over
again on my freshly shoveled walk), I started thinking about the problem of
student inquiries (especially those last minute, poorly written, horribly
conceived emails). And granted: the email we received the other day was a
thinly veiled request: "Hey, do my homework for me, will ya? I'll just use my
handy/dandy cut and paste function and call it a term paper."
As an HR writer with a byline that carries my email address, I also get those
inquiries. And they can be a nuisance. But I'd like to pose the possibility
that this "problem" could be harnessable energy.
To wit: instead of perceiving student requests as a global nuisance, I wonder
if employers could reframe the situation into one that's a recruitment
benefit. For instance, the career guidance types all recommend that students
contact successful people in their field of choice for that "informational
interview." I don't know about you, but I've always been intimidated by the
prospect of doing that.
So we should make it easier for students to come to us! Companies that are
into heavy recruiting now -- or that expect to be in that mode 4 to 8 years
from now -- would do well to work in partnership with educational institutions
of their choice (high school AND college+).
INVITE students to contact selected employees to ask about the nature of their
work and skills/education requirements. Coordinate with school department
heads so that students are equipped with intelligent questions to ask.
(Granted, at the higher education level, we shouldn't be getting emails of the
quality we got ss of correspondents.)
As a writer, it's my business to contact busy businesspeople and say, "gimme
what you got." But because I'm a writer with 20 years of experience doing it,
I can couch my request in much more sophisticated language. But, all in all,
the request is still pretty much the same.
And I DO remember the early years when my worst fear was asking the stupid
question. Maybe we can help these kids ask better questions and be rewarded
with a readier cadre of candidates when they hit the job market: Employees who
know exactly how to pursue professions that they're going to love and
contribute to for the rest of their lives.
Since they're going to hit the job market anyway, the alternative scenario is
unthinkable.
Martha Finney
speaker, co-author, Find Your Calling, Love Your Life (Simon & Schuster, 98)