Nothing we accomplish happens without the buy-in, partnerships, collaborations, leadership, and energy of many people.
By Dave Newport
Probably because I have bombed more interviews than Charles
Manson at the parole board, people keep asking me for advise about their
upcoming interview for sustainability-something at such-and-such college.
Yes, I have a lot of experience; but remember experience in
your career means you have broken more stuff than most...
The good news is apparently there are more job opportunities
for sustainability professionals lately. I hope that’s true and keeps going.
Anyway, I have thought about the jobs for which I was a lock
that I didn’t get. A couple of themes
emerged when I reflected on this “experience.”
First, being recruited for a job is a trap. It sounds nice
and feels good because somebody wants you, or so it seems. However, recruiters
really just want to put a well-rounded variety of candidates in front of their
clients. They don’t want you, they want plausible options. For that, they get
paid.
Likewise, for those of us with ego issues (looking in the
mirror now), it’s easy to feel a recruiter’s love –or the search
committee’s love--and swell with pride and wax “all about
me.” Even if you try to keep that under wraps, it can leak through. Nothing
puts an interview into the ditch faster than a candidate driving home how well
he/she can do the job with even a hint of hubris showing.
The point of this may sound counter-intuitive but hear me out: the sustainability job interview is not
about you.
Case in point is my first job interview coming out of
college back before Man discovered fire. There were three of us from my
graduating class all applying for the same environmental research job with a
national foundation. After making the rounds interviewing with the other staff,
I ended up across the desk from the boss. His last question was a doozy: “Of
the three of you applying for this job, what distinguishes you from the others?”
Ugh.
I was friends with both of them. We’d gone through school
together. We partied together. We liked and respected each other. We were the
top three in our class. The question was fair and tough--and a great test. He
leaned forward to watch and listen to my response.
In a rare moment of humility informed by the reality of the
situation, I told him I didn’t see significant differences between us. I told
him he could pick any of us at random and get a solid employee.
I got the job. The boss, the late Herb Berger, was the best
boss I have ever had. He was a kind and loving human being. He modeled selfless
leadership. When I think of him, I become--temporarily at least—a better
person.
When I recall my better interviews that were successful, I
recall talking more about the other great people I worked with and less about
me.
This is especially important in the sustainability world.
Nothing we accomplish happens without the buy-in, partnerships, collaborations,
leadership, and energy of many people. Indeed, that is the critical element of
sustainability: inclusion. I am powerless to unilaterally effect any
sustainability outcome that would be durable. Even if I could, without others’ ownership and support
any achievements will be temporary.
I was once explaining sustainability to somebody who was
just learning about it—and she taught me something. After I went through the
above inclusion lecture she remarked, “OK, I get it: with sustainability the
process is the product!” Indeed.
Bottom line: in your interview for sustainability-something
at such-and-such college, talk about everybody who you have worked with and
learned from--and how effective they were at helping get things done. Your employer wants to know you will build coalitions and teams and all those words. You can't do it alone.
Sustainability: it’s not about you.
Good luck!
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