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| The dangers of paperwork!!! |
Published in the Bluffton News -- January 24,
2013
Interviews seem to all go pretty similarly. They ask for your strengths and weaknesses,
how you performed at other jobs, how you would perform during a specific
scenario likely to arise in that job.
They may ask, “If we asked others about you, how do you think they would
describe you?"
As I answer these questions, I feel as though I probably
answer them differently every interview, and I probably answer them similarly
to other job candidates interviewing for the position.
What are your weaknesses? You want to be very honest with this question, but you also want the
job. I am certain that people do not
actually list their true, human-like qualities.
I could never imagine someone answering, “I have a problem with
lateness” or “I am not a morning person.”
What about, “I tend to get really lazy towards the end of the week,” or
“In the past, I have not gotten along with coworkers”? I can envision the knowing looks of potential
employers and the immediate personal wall that would be built in between the
job candidate and the potential employer as soon as he or she stated their true
weaknesses. This is a competition, not a
confessional.
Competition makes job searching difficult. Interviewers must make themselves out to be
better than every other candidate in a small amount of time. When I was in Bluffton, I did not really need
to be competitive. I worked hard on my
own coursework, worked one-on-one with my advisor to plan classes, worked with
others in a group at times, and was evaluated by my own work—not on my work
compared to others’ work. If the rest of
the world worked like Bluffton, the world would be a much better place.
The difference may be due to the amount of people looking
for work compared to the small community of people in Bluffton. Politicians make promises that more jobs will
become available soon, that the economy is going to get better soon— soon,
soon, soon. In the presence of this
impending shadow of uncertainty, I come to a question that many other
job-seekers arrive at—Should I just go to graduate school now?
Thankfully, I have a couple of job prospects at this time;
however, I am not getting my hopes up.
In the village of Bluffton, it was fairly easy to hold on to hope. Walking down the street, attending the
university, or visiting Bluffton’s small businesses, I encounter friendliness
and smiles. In Bluffton, I learned to
trust people and to trust my own abilities, as well. How can I take these priceless, gained
positives from a small community to a large community full of competition,
selfishness, and negativity?
I know that I went to Bluffton University for a reason. I lived in its quaint community to learn
something about people, and to learn something about life. The university’s sculpture, Constellation
Earth, represents this life lesson to me well.
The seven children holding hands in a globe shape represent the seven
continents of the earth. Though this
figure is a replica of Granlund’s sculpture in Nagasaki, Japan’s Peace Park, it
certainly fits Bluffton, but also the rest of the world. The figures in the sculpture are nude,
symbolizing that underneath it all, we are all the same. We all have dreams, needs, and fears. When the world necessitates competition, we
can work alongside competition with two mediums. We can choose to continue our positive,
honest, and humble natures (like those that I fostered in Bluffton), or we can
choose to change ourselves into something negative, manipulated by a need for
power in difficult times.
I refuse to leave what I learned from Bluffton behind. I remain hopeful in my job search and plan to
stay honest, positive, hardworking, and humble when faced with difficult times
like what I face as I search for a job in a difficult market.
The truth sets free.
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