I admit it; I am NOT a basketball fan. This “March Madness” thing that’s happening isn’t really my cup of tea. As exciting as it is that my wonderful alma mater Marquette is in the Sweet Sixteen, the most involved I’ve ever gotten in the NCAA tournament was when I used to play against my little brother in a March Madness Playstation game. In terms of my personal basketball career, I played on my school’s team in fifth grade when I was probably only three and a half feet tall. I didn’t even understand HOW to play the game. I was fouled once and was awarded a free throw, so obviously I gave the ball to another teammate because that’s what I usually did whenever the ball somehow ended up in my hands. I found out I had to take the shot myself and totally air-balled.
One thing I find frustrating about basketball—that many people may find thrilling about it—is that it often comes down to a two or three point game in the last 3.287 seconds which the teams manage to make last FOREVER. I asked someone what the point of playing the entire game was if it always seems to end in the same chaotic, stressful way. The teams exhaustingly run back and forth on the court the whole game just to have to work their butts off even more in the final seconds. The response was that first of all, it doesn’t ALWAYS end like that, and also to get to that point in the end requires a lot of work and strategy throughout the game. Okay, whatever I get it. People think that’s exciting.
Obviously that is one of the things that makes a game like that entertaining. Let’s apply this concept to something else—the job search. I know you love that. A lot goes into pursuing a job. Filling out the online application, then a phone interview, then possibly personality/skills tests, then an in-person interview, then fulfilling requests for references, then waiting, then FINALLY a decision. All the back and forth between you and the employer and the work you put in to the process comes down to the final seconds—do they choose you or not? It’s thrilling. A yes feels like a last minute half court shot that wins the game and a no makes you feel bad and a little dumb, like the losing team that was taunting the other team the whole game with bad cheers. No, I don’t wish bad things on other job candidates…just that I get the job and they don’t…
Anyways there’s your analogy of the week. And here’s my personal job search bracket that I designed myself because I felt left out for not really caring about the NCAA one.
À la missy 