16.10.2024 Today’s Insights from the Wall Street Journal: Successful Bosses Love Talking about their Fast-Food Jobs
Dear Students,
Right about this time of year, you may be noticing how often you are hearing about what Michael Erickson, Director at a strategic communications firm quoted below, calls “grit.” With the intense pressure to succeed in midterms, job interviews and extracurricular leadership roles, young talents (like you and your friends) who “know how to handle pressure and deal with all kinds of people” tend to stand out for your resilience.
As we’ve profiled for you in prior articles, many professionals who go on to become successful business leaders (including presidential candidate Kamala Harris) actually began their “careers” in hourly, blue-collar roles like working at McDonald’s (as noted in today’s piece). While ambitious international students like you sometimes hesitate to include such experiences on resumes and LinkedIn, in cover letters, networking and/or interviews, such early challenges can serve as excellent “teachers” of valuable power skills. “Any job where you’re on the lowest tier is a really good job to have done in your life, because it shows your character,” writes one former McDonald’s employee who’s now CEO of a tech consulting firm.
Candidates like you, though, may wonder if the idea of “starting at the bottom” is trite and irrelevant, now that most of you have left your teenage years behind. Yet, we’d beg to differ. Some of the most significant power skills actually take root in such roles, with sample competencies including:
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Teamwork
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Time management
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Leadership
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Initiative
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Patience
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Organizational skills
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Conflict management
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Dealing with diverse stakeholders, backgrounds and communication styles
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Verbal and written communication skills
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Problem-solving
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Analytical skills
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Adaptability/flexibility
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Creativity
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Curiosity and inquisitiveness
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Self-awareness
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Resilience
…and many, many others.
The moral of this story? No aspiring professional – not even you! – needs a fancy title, a prestigious job nor even a well-known organization to dip your first toe into the world of work. Character, conversely, may be best built through your openness to working with people at all levels, throughout new, sometimes uncertain situations, making mistakes, and continuously learning, all while intentionally and consistently collaborating with teammates to achieve a collective mission.
Our coaches therefore urge students and new grads like you to “start small!” Metaphorically-speaking, that “bit part,” with one line of dialogue in your first film, may well get you noticed for the major-studio production not so far down the line!
Enjoy your “flipped burger” this evening!
Best,
Amy-Louise