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Looking back on this class, I learned a lot about the whole process of being recruited for a job. I am entering the job market in about a week and a half and will use all of the information that I have received. One topic that I really enjoyed and took a lot from was when we looked into job descriptions. This interested me the most because I have been looking through so many descriptions and I did not know which were giving me the information that I needed. I believe this is one of the most important things that I learned because it now allows me to look closer and examine which parts of the job description are missing and which parts I will need to ask about in the interview process.

I did not realize how important it was to include aspects of what you will be doing in the job because it allows people to get a feel for the actual tasks at hand. As someone who reads job descriptions and will maybe be writing them one day, realizing this will allow me to make them much more accurate. Another aspect that I learned was important to add was the salary. This will keep the people who are qualified interested and may deter others who do not think they will get the job if the salary is that high. Whenever I look at descriptions that is something I want to see and I know how important it is for others as well. The last thing that I learned about is KSAO’s. These are job related knowledge, skills, abilities, and other characteristics that would be considered important in the position. It is crucial that the prospect knows what will be asked of them so that they do not waste their time or yours applying for a position they would not be interested in. Job descriptions make the process of hiring more efficient and allow people the opportunity to see the job without committing to it yet. 

What am I good at?: I am good at understanding people and approaching them with compassion. I can empathize with others and am always willing to listen. This is a trait I am proud of because I care deeply about my friends and other people.

What do I value?: The thing that I value most in life is my faith. I place so much value on it because I love Jesus and that is where I find my importance. This value allows me to be happy in different circumstances because I know there is a plan for me.

How did I get here?: I got here by mistake. The original plan was to go through college, get out and find a job. While this has still happened, my path took a sharp turn and I found my future wife, best friends, and loving community along the way.

Where am I going?: Right now I do not know where I am going. I do not have any job lined up yet and am always on the watch for positions opening up. I know that it will be obvious when I find where I am supposed to go.

After taking the IPIP test, my results did not surprise me. I scored high in extraversion which indicates that I am socialable and outgoing. I scored lowed on the gregariousness side because I am not a huge fan of crowds and enjoy being with people but not going out into big gatherings. I also scored high on the agreeableness domain and this was my highest one across the board. This indicates that I have a strong interest in other people’s needs and am sympathetic. Trust is something that I give people easily. The test shows that but it does not show that people can lose that trust easily as well. The next category on conscientiousness was more moderate for me. I sometimes have clear goals and pursue them but other times I can not be as reliable. The part where I ranked the lowest was on the achievement-striving which was disappointing to see. I ranked the highest in cautiousness and I recognize this because I always think things through. In the Neurtocism section, I was low in some sections and high in others. I was very high in immoderation because I act on impulse a fair amount of the time. The last section was openness to experience and I was very low in this. Everything was below 30 besides emotionality which was very high.

After considering all of these factors, I think that a potential employer may see my strengths stemming from emotionality. and my ability to see other peoples feelings as well. Along with this, I have high moral standards and feel that trust and respect is very important. These would all lead to a good employee because it is important to keep moral standards high and for trust to be important as well. Being sympathetic is also important because you need to be aware of your coworkers and team and make sure that you can work through things. I think that the biggest weakness that they would see from this test is my achievement-oriented side They are most likely looking for an employee who is a high achiever. Along with this, I tested low in openness to experience which showed that I may not always be the most adaptive in new situations. This could be seen as a weakness since you need to be flexible in work environments and they might think that I would be an issue.

It is an interesting problem to have where you have two individuals who are wrong from some industries but right for opposite ones. Considering the scenario, if I were in the shoes of the business owner and had to choose between the person that gave an average effort all the time and was consistent versus the person who slacked off but had a really high potential I would choose Jaime, the consistent one. She gives good results every single time that she shows up for work and even though she can’t produce much higher results when needed, I believe there is potential. I am considering their work ethic and the amount that they care about the job. If you are the best in the world at something but do not want to work hard because you are too cocky, you do not deserve a shot when other people are busting their butts to make it in their career. There are different careers where you need both types of people and they will thrive in different work environments.

Avery, the employee with high potential but poor consistency would be better suited for a job that relied on one key moment of pushing and grinding out work so that they can relax until that time comes again. This allows them to be below average all the time but when they are needed, give it there all and be the person that helps complete the project in crunch time.

Jaime, the employee with low potential but high consistency would be better for a job that is the same grind day in and day out. One that does not have a peak season or important meetings with high level executives. They would do good getting their job done every day with the hopes that over time they are able to get a higher potential and keep the high consistency becoming a better worker than Avery would have been.

After carefully considering my brand and what an employer might see in me when they first meet me, I thought back to the impression I have tried to leave on my previous employers. I think of myself as a personable, hardworking person who has high goals that I would like to achieve. My strengths are that I am a strong leader and am able to take change of a situation while not bossing around. I also am able to adapt to different roles and have a lot of experience interacting with customers. My goal is to work in project management and I think that these are all great qualities for that position. Thinking about your weaknesses is always difficult because you want to picture yourself as not having flaws while in reality it is healthy to identify your weaknesses. This allows you to improve and become more well rounded. One of my biggest weaknesses is getting lost in the details and not focusing on the overall picture. I can focus on something too small that is not a huge deal and feel like things are beginning to fall apart. I see myself as unique because I have a lot of different experience that people many not have had. I have had different opportunities to be involved in leadership positions that allowed me to enhance my interpersonal skills.

An interesting way that my brand could be shown to potential employers could be a countless number of ways. One unique option would be to create a video of myself and get it out on social media in hopes that it would go viral. This would allow people to see me more than ever before. From there, I would hire an outside source to get that information in the hands of potential employers. This is a creative way because in reality I would not have the funds to do so but I believe that it would work because of the amount of exposure that the internet has.

The last time that I applied for a job was two summers ago. I was desperate to stay in Corvallis for the summer and was looking for work anywhere and everywhere. Everything paid minimum wage and I was willing to take it because I wanted to live with my friends and move out of my parents house. One day, I got a text with a link to a job posting in Corvallis. It read, “Hiring a leasing professional, $16/hr.” Unfortunately I do not have the full job description still because it was so long ago. I thought it was too good to be true and applied immediately. Within the day I had an interview lined up, and the following day I had a job offer.

Besides the base pay, the description spoke of bonuses, room for growth, and experience in an office setting. The company was small so I was told that I would have the opportunity to do some marketing as well in order to get the word out to the college students looking for housing. Overall it seemed like a great opportunity for me to work in a more professional job while reaping a bunch of benefits along the way. I accepted the position and started working the following week.

I worked there for a total of two years and for the most part, the description was true. On top of my great pay, I was making $250 in bonuses every week. I was given the opportunity to experience growth and do some of the duties of the assistant manager while they were transitioning out of their role. I was offered the promotion but had to turn it down because of school. They did tell me that I would have the opportunity to do some marketing for the company and this was a mess. There had never been any marketing done before so they had no idea how to appeal to a college demographic. I tried very hard but without someone to help me along the way I was not able to grow very much in this. They mainly wanted me to just post on Craigslist. The biggest difference that I will speak to was the company culture. I was told it was an awesome environment and within one day of me working there a guy was fired for sexual harassment. Then my manager quit because of her being poorly treated. Then my coworker got fired for lying. Then my other coworker got fired for lying. The atmosphere was awful and I wish that I would have known that before getting the job.

In my opinion, a company’s reputation is everything. The way that any big organization acts will be broadcasted through the media, good or bad. As a consumer of their products, I would stop supporting them because by discriminating against individuals that have the same belief system as me, I must stand up for what I believe even if it means losing a brand that I love. By ignoring their actions, you would be showing them that people are okay with their actions and that they should continue. I have had to do this in the past with a certain company because they began to support things that I did not agree with. It led to me finding alternatives that were smaller brands which aligned more with my values.

When you think about working for a company you want to get your priorities straight. If you value family, your morals, and your time, do not let money blind you into taking a position that you will not enjoy. The same applies for the companies beliefs and actions. Unless you are placed in a specific position that is geared towards changing the culture and correcting the discrimination that happened, I feel you should not be considering employment there. If you are able to get one job there will always be more available. This is something that I have seen with friends in the past. They start a job because they feel it is there only option. The company does not align with what they are looking for but they feel they still need to take it. A few months go by and the hate their position and dread going to work everyday. This is why I feel so strongly about my position on the topic.

Hiring the right employee does save you money by taking time to select the right candidate. You avoid unnecessary extra training costs along with loss of customer due to hiring someone not fit for the role provided. While this seems critical to the success of an organization I believe that there are more important aspects.

Research and Marketing teams help drive a business to succeed. I believe that this is the most important part of a business because without the team that determines if a product will succeed, you may not have the ability to employee people at all. There needs to be balance and that comes with looking at the assets you have available and determining what your company is in need of. In the beginning stages of a company I believe most of the resources should be spent on getting the product off the ground. Later on once you have a solid customer base and you are expanding your business, you should focus more resources into your recruitment and selection.

By focusing less on the people you are hiring to sell your product, it opens up a lot of new areas for your business to grow. When you pump all of your resources into hiring it keeps you from even thinking about expanding the business or finding new markets to dive into. There are companies out there that screen people for you and find you the best candidate for the job and can save you a lot of time and resources. I believe that by freeing your finances up, your business can grow in new ways.

This past week I applied for my most recent job. We are in the midst of the Covid-19 virus and I realized that I needed to prepare for the job market being slow and have something until I am able to find better work. I found that Costco was hiring and knew that they would remain an essintial business throughout the virus and I would have great job security.

Their application process was sped up because of the traffic they had coming in the door. There was not time to be properly trained because they needed people immediately which I believe helped me secure my position. It began with me applying online but I took it one step further and brought in an application as well. They called me back the next day and set up an interview two days after that. The speed showed me that they were in great need but the way that my manager held himself during our conversation also showed me that they prioritized getting to know who would potentially be working there and were not just hiring anyone. You still had to prove your worth.

I sat down and had the most in depth interview I have had before and felt confident in my answers. What made me feel like I was making the right decision by accepting the position was talking to other employees even before my interview began. They all said the same thing, “Costco takes care of you.” This was important to me because even though I do not plan to work here forever, it is nice to know that their benefits and the way they respect you is unmatched. Nothing showed me that this company would treat me poorly or drop me when I made a mistake. They were always saying how hard they work to make their employees happy and wanting to stay at the company.

Since working there these past two weeks, it was a lot more than just talk. Their actions have showed that they want me to learn and grow as an employee. I may not be here forever, but throughout this whole process I know that Costco is a place that I would love to work for.

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