Looking Beyond
APLS Group is excited to have a guest blogger, our intern Marc McGrann, writing a column for the next few months. Marc’s focus will be his experiences while in school at North Carolina State University and working for APLS Group. We hope you enjoy!
Regards,
Nanci Appleman-Vassil
As I approach graduation and my future, I am trying to learn as much as I can from my short past. Looking over my past four years, there are two large lessons that I have taken from my college experience that I believe will always stick with me in my professional life.
The first lesson I learned in a business strategy course; it is important to stick to your core competences when determining the direction of your company. What this means is that when making strategic decisions you must keep in mind what your core capabilities are and the purpose or mission of your business. The “why” that a company exists is one of the most important components when deciding the “what” that a company does.
The second thing I learned was to understand what is being sold by looking beyond the box when considering what you are selling. I say, “looking beyond,” rather than “outside of” because you must keep your focus on what exists in front of you. This is not a time to think of new ideas, but rather realize what is already there. In order to sell we must realize that we do not simply sell the product; we sell the purpose for those products. For example, the internet was not created to see web pages. It was created to offer the capability of connecting the world.
When approaching my own job search and deciding on a career path, I have applied these ideas to myself. The biggest mistake I try to avoid is changing myself to fit a position rather than fitting the position to my competences. In each of the five or so interviews I have had over the past three weeks, I have been asked one common question, “Why do you think you would be a good fit for this job?” What I have strived to do to answer this question is research each company and make honest reasons why my skills would work well in each position. I do not simply look at what the company wants and read these traits back to them but figure out how my personal strengths can be used to fill the gaps which they require. This is done by looking beyond the product. By looking at myself as a product, I have to realize what my capabilities are and avoid simply selling myself as a potential employee. I am more than that. I am an investment opportunity for each company, whose core competences can be used in order to give the highest return to the company which realizes my potential. By doing this, I am using my core ompetences to find the best direction for my career while selling companies my ability and potential rather than an employee to fill a position.
To learn more about developing your core competences, please visit the APLS online store.
