Forgive me for this indulgence, but this post talks about one of my hobbies, rugby.
It’s the Rugby World Cup right now, and it seemed too easy to use this as inspiration for the blog. I’m sure that many of you won’t have any previous experience of rugby, and might be entirely uncertain about what’s going on during any rugby match. But, let’s be blunt, that’s identical to how most people arrive in the world of work, so I think this analogy is useful.
The big story from the first few matches of the Rugby World Cup has been the surprise win for Japan over South Africa. If you know anything about rugby, you’ll appreciate how significant this result was. South Africa are two-times world Champions, and before the game, Japan hadn’t won a world cup match in 24 years.
Many observers have noted that the key to victory lay in the fact that the Japanese team were exceptionally well prepared in terms of fitness and strategy. Japan’s coaching staff features a number of world class experts, all working obsessively towards a common goal. Quite simply, everyone on the Japanese team knew what they could do, they knew what they needed to do in order to overcome the situation and were motivated to try their hardest.
This idea of preparation is the link to employment. If you read almost any job advert, you’ll see that employers are often looking for someone who is “complete” in the sense of training, performance or previous experience. Adverts very rarely say “We’ll take anyone and train them up!” Employers want people who are “ready” to fit right into an organisation.
But how does an individual job-seeker demonstrate preparation and confidence when it’s so hard to find good work experience? I’m not sure you can fake it. Humbly, we suggest a good starting point would be for the individual to show that they know the business situation facing the employer organisation. Evidence of having thought about the company, it’s challenges and it’s opportunities will go a long way to persuading a hiring manager that you are to be taken seriously.
Mercifully, this context and preparation is what bizenko does for you. We’re the detail-obsessed coaches who can help your career-planning. If you want to out-perform the expectations of others (and you’re prepared to work hard) bizenko could be the missing ingredient in your job-search?
