Individual Analysis
The current job environment means that people have to be well qualified for the job they are seeking or they will not be considered a candidate. There are people hunting for jobs who have decades of experience in a particular field, so it is difficult for a recent graduate, even one with a graduate degree and some experience in management, to compete with this type of candidate. This is the situation that I find myself in. I am going to hit the job market with a graduate-level degree and some amount of experience, but very little practical experience. It is possible to entice a prospective employer with the fact that I am young and have recent intense theoretical knowledge (which may help in some instances, but not many), but most employers realize that they have a wide pool of applicants to look through with vastly greater amounts of knowledge of how to manage people. The question then becomes, how can I put my best foot forward in a job search? How can I distinguish myself from other candidates? These are difficult questions, but they can be answered from a business standpoint. Using the same tools with which a business is gauged, it is possible to see the competencies I have that may not exist for a worker who has been in the field for a longer period of time. Identifying these competencies and focusing them into a jo search strategy is the purpose of this paper.
It is difficult to assess what one receives from a graduate education other than a certain amount of knowledge that may or may not be required on the job. I understand that it is difficult to bring to mind a management theory when it is time to use a one for a specific management need. However, hopefully some of that knowledge has become engrained to the point that it has become a part of the repertoire I will bring to a new employer (Hellriegel, 2007). Knowledge is one of the list of competencies...
As I have said though, the knowledge may not be readily available unless it is used and engrained which means that some situations mat require a level of expertise that I so not yet possess, or at least is not yet readily available to me through introspection. Thus, it is necessary that I possess the educational competency necessary to get the knowledge from some source external to me (Whiddet & Hollyforde, 2003). Whether that means doing an internet search, seeking advice from a trusted colleague or looking something up in a book, I have to realize when I need to seek the knowledge of others. The competency here is really one of managing myself and my own resources (Whiddet & Hollforde, 2003).
One of the first elements of a successful job, company or location evaluation that the business graduate learns is how to conduct a SWOT analysis. This can work well for a personal evaluation also. Basically, I would conduct a SWOT of the type of job I am going to seek based on the competencies that I possess. Since the job-type I seek is as a business manager, it is necessary that I gauge what I already possess and what I need to acquire to be able to do that job effectively. The first category is that of strengths that I possess to perform the job adequately. Probably the best quality I have, as noted by colleagues and past managers, is an ability to motivate people. I do not have a great deal of experience leading or managing people, but I know from personal experiences that I can empower people. This is a type of change management that can work to benefit an organization (Paton & McCalman, 2008), and that I can point out in an interview using specific examples. However, it is necessary to assess weaknesses also, to make sure that I can be show that I will be a successful manager. I have a tendency…
