Family Business
Question:
All of my work experience has been short term projects in one of my parents’ companies. They never wanted me to work for anyone else while I was in school because they wanted me to focus on getting good grades and getting my MBA. If I worked for them, I could study at work if I needed to, or not come in the day before a test. They taught me a great deal and they say any business would be lucky to have me, but I am not having much luck getting interviews.
Thanks, Thomas.
Answer:
Lack of on-the-job experience is a problem faced by many people coming straight out of school, and there is probably no candidate I see who has a tougher time than the MBA with so much business theory bursting out of them but not enough practice to get employers to take them seriously. Working on a casual basis or in a family business is generally better than never having worked at all, but it takes a great deal of care and expertise in presenting that information to have it work for you rather than against you.
For anyone reading this who is still in school, especially business school: Take note of Thomas’s conundrum and get yourself into a co-op program, get a summer job, or offer to intern for free – just get some experience out in the world and build new, professional relationships before you graduate!
For Thomas: I encourage you to try and get some sort of independent experience as quickly as you can, including volunteer or internship experience, and to continue with that work even after you get a job. You need to build a record of achievement which is wholly your own and objectively verifiable. Second, I would suggest that, if possible, you should get some references for your work from someone other than family – ideally from clients, as they have no incentive to say nice things about you if they are not true. Your next best bet would be other employees of the company – though, since they report to your parents, they cannot be completely objective, they will nonetheless appear to be more objective than a relative.
Also, make sure your resume conveys job titles and company information which appears as conventional and independent as possible. Don’t write “Summer Fill-In” if you can write “Service Associate (contract).” Never sacrifice truth for style, but give yourself as much style as you can while keeping your resume in the genre of non-fiction.
One final note: the reason that family business experience is often not considered as valid as work experience “out in the world,” is that sometimes children do not have to work their way up from the bottom but rather get to enter at the middle; or, they do not learn to think and perform as independently as they might if they had to impress strangers. Your email and its many references to what your parents wanted for you and what they think of your career path now conveys more dependence on them than would serve you in an interview. Make sure you really are ready to deliver results at an MBA level of responsibility and, if an honest look at yourself says you are not, then focus on getting some challenging experiences under your belt in any way you can. And when you interview, now or later, speak from an “I” perspective, with confidence in who you are and where you are at.
Minto Roy
President
CareersToday Canada
www.careerstodaycanada.com
www.mintoroy.net