newjerseynewsroom.com

BY LINDA VAN VAKLKENBURGH AND ANDREA L. GOLDMAN

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

Another exciting season of NCAA Basketball is moving in the direction of the playoffs.  Soon there will be words thrown around like March Madness, being invited to The Dance, the Sweet 16, the Elite 8, The Final Four, and Bracketology. There are many similarities between career search and March Madness and we would like to share with you some of our thoughts on the subject.

No matter what team you choose, it starts with a wide-open playing field and ultimately the teams winnow down to the Final Four semi-finals and then the Monday night championship game. It is a ritual that takes the country by storm, the pre-cursor to the beginning of baseball season!

What commonalities do job search and March Madness share, and what can we learn from them?  Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that at the very beginning of the college basketball season, there is a very large playing field like in job search. There are anywhere from 64-68 teams that will compete across the Division 1 spectrum and it is a clean slate. Ever so slowly, the teams start to play and the standings emerge. Eventually, in each of the regions, the top team emerges and tries to hold onto its spot for prime seeding. Seeding is a technical term referring to where the team will be placed in the regions of the conference. Better seeded teams get better geographical placement. In job search, candidates start out with a large playing field, which they have to narrow down as they figure out what they want to do and what companies they want to apply to in the hopes of gaining an interview.

A lot of work goes into becoming a top seed.  It is hard, physical and mental work. For the jobseeker, being in career transition is some of the hardest work they will encounter, too. What do the players have to do to make it to New Orleans where the final championship game is held? They must do the same thing that jobseekers have to do to get chosen as the final candidate.

[Jobseekers:  Check out  our new PERSONAL FINANCE PAGE for more valuable advice.]

The players need to develop a plan for winning and then work on implementing the game plan.  They have to do research including watching practice films of the opposing team and learning as much as possible about the opposing team, which for the jobseeker would be the company. They must learn how to manage the clock and make sure they use it to their advantage. Jobseekers must manage their time between pouring over the computer, attending networking events, taking classes or other ways they invest in themselves. The players must train themselves to focus on the game and the task at hand with laser beam precision. They need to understand that the game is comprised of both long and short shots. Some teams are masters of the long or three point shot, like the Duke Blue Devils, and use a combination of the two types of shots to garner their success.  In search, jobseekers go for their “reach” companies along with their short shots.

The players know how to play to their strengths as well as the strengths of their teammates. For example, if Austin Rivers is sinking his 3-point shots, you pass to him and he plays to that strength. Players work as part of a team and know that having a great coach can be the difference between victory and defeat. This is also true in the world of career transition.