The student asked me 2 separate questions, but, as I was responding, I realized that her second question about the traits that I thought undergrads should have was really important and especially timely based on what’s going on in the world. So, I took time to blow that response out a bit and figured that it was worth bringing attention to it in the title of this entry.
It’s a tough time out there for kids coming out of college and it makes me smile to know that there are Freshman out there trying to prepare for the storm ahead.
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KB wrote:
Mr. Parker,
First off, I would like to say thank you for inviting the KLLC into your office and making time in your busy schedules to speak with us. I love going to a company to not only experience an atmosphere that I could potentially be a part of in just a few short years, but to also see how people who are within my age range have turned a “college degree” into a real life career. I am so greatful that I was able to learn more about Aon.
I enjoyed hearing from the panel. Allowing us to ask questions about how to find companies that will be a good fit for the individual and going through recruiting tips that will remain in the back of every student’s mind while they interview. Unfortunately with so many people its hard to always ask everything that was crossing my mind.
Thank you so much for everything you did for us. I am so disappointed that I had a test when you originally came to the KLLC to talk to everyone, but I am glad that I got the chance to speak with you while in Chicago. I thought it was really interesting how you talked about the differences in being smart and cool. I was wondering what it is like to work for such a well known company? My other question is what do you think are the most important traits for a college graduate to posses these days?
Thank you again for your time.
KB
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My response:
Hi KB,
Thanks for reaching out with this email. My goal with that session was to have each of you walking out feeling like you knew Aon a little better and with some additional insights that will help you on your personal career journey. When choose the members of the panel, I went for colleagues who would bring a combination of fun, candor, and a genuine desire to provide helpful information. Emails like yours let me know that we accomplished our mission on the Aon side, which makes me smile 🙂
Also, thanks for your questions. As I mentioned over the weekend, I’m really passionate about helping people out, especially young folks, because there are so many things that I wish someone had told me when I was younger. I’d be in a whole different place career-wise if that had happened. Anyways, let’s get to your questions:
What is it like to work for such a well-known company?
My short answer is that it’s pretty friggin’ cool :-). I’ve worked for small, unknown companies before and, while there can be benefits to those kinds of spots, I just like working for a company that has a strong brand. In today’s business world, one’s personal brand can literally change the way that he/she is looked at in the market. The elements of a business professional’s personal brand include schools attended, degrees earned, and companies where the person has worked. When a person has companies with strong brand recognition on his/her resume, it can serve as an important indicator of his/her qualifications.
Prior to business school, I’d worked for companies that no one had ever heard of, so, when people saw my resume, I figured that they’d be left with questions about my background. Since starting business school in 2004, I’ve aimed for companies with strong brands, including Aon, McKinsey, and Accenture. The only exception was the company between McK and Aon and that was basically a horrible miscalculation of the value proposition of that role on my part.
As I mentioned on Saturday, Aon recently announced that it will move its headquarters from Chicago to London, which was pretty big news in the business world. Knowing that I was working on something that made a few headlines put a big smile on my face. Even better, the stream of emails that came in asking whether I’d be moving to London brought out a chuckle too.
At this point in my career, I’m all about working for a well-known company and aiming to perform well in that environment. I may want to switch to a smaller place later on once I’ve established myself more as a businessman though.
What do I think are the most important traits for a college graduate to possess these days?
Great question! It’s especially timely because the bad economy has changed the game for college students and, unlike in years past, it isn’t sufficient to simply have a college degree anymore. The job market is making it difficult for kids from the nation’s best universities to find employment, so the game has definitely changed. Here are a few traits that I think are useful for new college grads to have:
- Intellectual ability: This one should be self-explanatory. College students should aim to get smarter at whatever it is they choose to study while in college. Whether it is business, engineering, or social sciences, employers and graduate schools will expect kids to have strong intellectual ability upon graduation and I can’t help but think that those with strong intellect will have a better chance of being successful.
- Strong communication skills: Over the weekend and at the Monday session, I tried to underscore the importance of networking in growing one’s career and setting him-/herself up for success in the future. The hallmark of effective networking is being a strong communicator. Also, when it comes to maximizing effectiveness in a business environment, great communication skills allow professionals to, not only influence others, but also share their insights, results of analyses, and perspectives with their peers and manager in the best way possible. Finally, I also underscored to you guys the importance of relationship building. As you can imagine, it’s incredibly difficult to build the right kinds of relationships to support your career if you aren’t a top-notch communicator.
- Patience: Patience is always a virtue, but it’s especially important now because it can take so long to find a good job opportunity in this economic environment. I know highly-qualified people who went unemployed for over a year for a variety of reasons and, at times, they were on the verge of giving up. Ultimately, their patience paid off and they were all able to find jobs that made them happen. In some cases, these weren’t the “perfect” jobs that they were hoping for, but they did offer the chance to re-establish themselves and build their careers back up.
- Flexibility: This point is related to the issue of not finding the “perfect” jobs mentioned above. Many college students go in with the idea that they’ll be able to graduate and find the job of their dreams in the area that they went to college to pursue. That was pretty much the case back in the day when I was in college, but, in the past few years, everything changed. Now, college students need to be flexible in many areas to find success, including their course of study, desired post-college career path, and graduate school options. It’s still possible for kids to graduate and have great careers, but those careers may not be in areas that they anticipated.
- Ambition: This should go without saying, but ambition is the key to being super successful. I’ve met some incredibly smart people in my life who have underachieved because they lacked the ambition to actually do something with all of their potential.There’s nothing worse than a person with outstanding potential and an “I don’t care if make use of that potential or not” attitude. For college students today, it is imperative to set super-high goals and be willing to do whatever is possible to reach them. In my eyes, strong ambition is something that will take a kid who is simply smart and turn him/her into a kid who I really think will make big moves in his/her career.
- Positive attitude: I put this one last on the list because it might be the most important one. In several of the bullets above, I’ve mentioned the impact of the down economy on job prospects for college students today and, in many instances, it is causing kids to feel down about their situations. I’d argue that kids need to have a positive attitude and be sure to exhibit it at all times. I’ve interviewed folks who looked down in the dumps before and it is incredibly difficult for people to hide when they aren’t feeling positive about a situation. College students should be willing/able to smile when circumstances make them want to frown, to gladly accept a so-so opportunity when they were expecting a knockout one, and to graciously take “no” for an answer when they were dreaming of a “yes”. This may seem like I’m advocating for kids to adopt a wimpy stance, but that’s not the case. I’m just saying that kids should think according to one of my favorite sayings: “When life gives you lemons, make limelight”. Having the right attitude will make students look at each opportunity that comes his/her way as a win, even if it isn’t exactly the kind of win that they wanted starting out.
Please note that I didn’t include high grades on the list above. I guess that should go without saying, but, nowadays, even strong grades aren’t enough to guarantee a job without the characteristics that I’ve listed above. I’ve met plenty of young people who had 3.8+ GPAs and went 12+ months past their college graduations without a full-time job. The young folks that I’ve seen be most successful in the past few years were all strong in these “soft skill” areas that I’ve highlighted here. Other business professionals might have a different list of desired traits, but, for me, these are the most important ones.
I hope these answers are the type of feedback that you were seeking. Let me know if you need any additional details for either of my responses.
Take care and I wish you the best of luck with the rest of your semester.
Marquis
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