Great questions and fodder for our AMA collegiate chapters.

I agree that a well-rounded person makes a better job candidate. However, so much of business is conducted person-to-person, and that means having excellent people skills and a pleasant personality. You can't study that, I'm afraid.

I once interviewed an MBA candidate with amazing experience and background. I then interviewed another candidate without all the bells and whistles, but a decent marketing background - not as rich as the first one. I hired the latter candidate because I felt his personality and sense of humor would be a better fit for my team.

Elaine, thank you for taking the time to comment. Related to your comment on hiring, I usually find "The Welch Way" - Jack and Suzy Welch's column in Business Week a bit fluffy, but this week their advice on hiring was spot on. It's titled "Hiring is Hard Work"--check it out.

Paul,

I am always first looking for someone who is a good fit within the culture. That means, candidates need to understand that culture before they apply for an opening. Doing so is easy with an online search, asking other employees and getting an informational interview. Second, I won't hire anyone who hasn't some experience either in marketing or communications. As Elaine says, I want only excellent writing and verbally expressive candidates to apply. We can train them how to do their job; we can't teach them out to write or speak. And third, I want candidates who have interned.

Lewis, you hit upon an interesting point of focus for college grads seeking a marketing position--comms skills (writing and speaking). And since you're offering to do the training, it would appear you would strongly consider speech communication, English lit, and other majors in additional to marketing. Do I have it correct?

If I have it correct, if one is a pure marketing major, would you recommend they really hone and brush up on their communication skills first and foremost?

Paul,

Yes, I have hired non-marketing majors in the past, especially for start-up positions. I want communicators who can write and speak clearly. And I want people who like and care about other people, especially our customers.

To stand out, students should do a variety things such as: join inexpensive programs like Toastmasters where you can learn to present well and speak effectively (and Toastmasters is held in high regard in business circles, and there are opportunities to meet business people, including marketing executives); attend networking sessions that small business owners go to and learn how to network the right way; the productive way, and there are opps to meet business executives, etc.; volunteer for marketing nonprofits like the Taproot Foundation (which enables people to donate their skills to help nonprofits with their marketing, human resources and information) and which will give you immense hands-on experience and look great on your resume; contact your local Chamber of Commerce and see if any of their small business members has an opening, and, because chamber members network so frequently, they oftentimes know people who know people. Also, at smaller companies you wear many hats, so you gain a great deal of experience and exposure, and you can use the opportunity to learn that which you may not be able to learn in a larger firm, because of the built-in job compartmentalization.

Stacey, thank you for commenting, and you bring up solid advice regarding communication and networking skills. Many colleges provide great communication courses (esp speech comm) in lieu of Toastmasters, although one couldn't go wrong either way.

So far, I've heard from MPFix members that soft skills (which evidently are harder to come by) are what students should be primarily improving/developing.

Soft skills are important - no doubt - but I'm also of the opinion that familiarity with other disciplines (project management, finance, accounting, comp sci etc) is almost as important. Agree/disagree?

I like the points Elaine and Lewis made, Paul. It is very important that young would-be marketers develop people skills. Great managers learn how to get things done through other people. To do that, basic skills have to be taught and a passion for the business embedded. Marketers have to be able to interact meaningfully with other employees and their customers. That takes people skills.

Likewise, it is essential that marketers be able to communicate well. I do not believe educators are putting enough emphasis on helping their students develop strong speaking and writing skills these days. While content is important, so is delivery.

In this same vein, I do not see students being encouraged to read. I seldom see young people reading much of anything. Books open up the world to us. Especially great literary works. They inspire us to dream and give us ideas. They instill language skills in us. They educate us about other cultures and help us to see that there are many ways to think and many ways to approach problem solving. Business needs all of that.

Well-rounded, well-read people are high on my list. The pursuit of many interests broadens a person's knowledge and understanding of the world and enables them to make real contributions in business.

Getting real work experience by taking entry level jobs while still students is also invaluable. Nothing teaches like hands-on experience.

Smart students should seek out the expertise of marketers they know and have respect for. They can learn a great deal from the right person. Offering to become a stellar marketer's assistance for a pittance in salary and a wealth of knowledge gained from observation, as well as verbalized training is worth its weight in gold.

These are my recommendations to young would-be marketing professionals, Paul.

Claire, thank you for taking the time to comment. Your points regarding communication/presentation skills are valid and I sure hope universities across the globe are listening. I know many universities that encourage presentations in just about every class, with the hope that by the time a student graduates, they will have honed these skills. However--without critical feedback on presentation skills, students end up repeating and perfecting poor speech delivery techniques.

It's also interesting that you brought up a more well rounded background through exposure to books of all kinds. As noted in the BW article, Carly Fiorina, former CEO of HP was of all things a medieval history major!

A lot can be learned from a candidate through a simple query; "What are you reading these days?"

Working at the university newspaper -- editorial or business side -- would certainly get my attention. Would show interest in the world around him/her, communication skills, desire to inform and be part of larger dialog. My school didn't have an undergrad marketing major, and I've been less than impressed, generally speaking, with the written AND verbal communications skills of those who "studied" marketing and PR.

Agree with Clare, too, about avid readers. I once worked at a small publishing house & never could understand the candidates who'd come in for an interview & tell us that they didn't read much!

"What are you reading these days?" Interesting question, Paul. My husband asked our niece who is in college and two nephews who are in high school that question last weekend. The answer? Dead silence. He asked neighbors' kids the same question. Again: dead silence.

By the time kids get to the college level, and they haven't the language skills to speak or present ideas well, it's already kind of late to try to teach them, isn't it? How can college professors try to instill the basics that should have been taught all through school, along with the courses they're supposed to teach? That just isn't going to happen.

BTW: I'm an advocate of majoring in business and minoring in history, English Lit, French Lit, anthropology or any of the other humanities. I think it's a great counter-balance to business courses, and again: a mind opener.

Patricia, your comment about the less than impressive communication skills of many marketing majors is quite an indictment, and one that I'll second.

Funny thing is, the marketplace expects marketing majors to have these skills nearly perfected, and it's a sore disappointment to see that in most cases students just don't possess these skills. The good news is that these skills are just that --skills--and can be honed and improved through constant practice. Sure there are gifted speakers and writers, but most of us can get to a respectable level by focusing on constant improvement and lots of practice.

Claire, thanks again for commenting. And speaking of the humanities, for students that can afford it, travel helps broaden their horizons and provides some life-application to the skills they're learning in school. Who knows, maybe they'll pick up a second language along the way!

Paul,

I asked a very similar question about a year ago and put everyone's answers in a free ebook that is available for download.

http://tinyurl.com/26twrs

I think one of the biggest conclusions was -- be willing to take risks and stay open to what's possible. The dream job you've never even thought about might be right around the corner.

Drew

Drew, you cannot beat free! And it appears you have captured sage answers from some very smart marketing bloggers. Thanks for the url pointer and thanks for commenting.

Paul,

Thanks for this article. I'm an adjunct at LMU, where my students soak up this stuff up.

Some thoughts I've shared with former students:

You are a brand. Figure out your strengths and how to leverage the heck out of them. Just as important, have a solid handle on your weaknesses so you start honing in on where you need to improve.

Get a mentor. Get two mentors. Find someone you admire professionally. Seek out the mavens and connectors who can give you real advice and help link you to influentials.

Professional experience is critical. Completing an internship or a part-time entry-level position shows you can function in the real world and not just in the college scene.

Take advantage of the fact you are in a practice bubble and can have lots of do-overs. Ditto on the handraising - "but please give me an internship, an AMA club leadership position, or an impactful marketing senior project"

Stay humble and nimble. Demonstrate an aptitude for learning.

Best,
LCS

Lydia, I appreciate you commenting and your wise insight. I really enjoyed your comment, "you are a brand". I think that students, much less seasoned marketers would be good to remember this. In the past year, I came upon a "branding expert" that had all the big company experience. Look him up on Google, however, and you'll find close to nothing. As stewards of the brand experience, marketers need to be their own best qualification.

On the mentor comment, many universities are trying to implement a mentor program. Are you having any luck?

Maybe someone else mentioned it but i didnt see it by my quick skim of the comments.

One thing I see on just about every resume as well as with my marketing strategy students is the "Graduate Marketing Club (or similar)." This used to be an attention getter, but now it is almost a commodity. My advice to candidates is if you are going to join one of these AND put it on your resume, do something useful with it. For example, I've seen some of these clubs sponsor marketing competitions where groups attempt to solve a real world problem in competition with their peers. This makes for a good discussion during the interview. If you join a club just for the sake of resume padding...tsk tsk.

The advice for interviewers should be obvious - check the resume to see what sort of extracurricular activity the candidate had during school and probe it during the interview to see if it was worthy or just padding (see paragraph above).

Kevin, terrific advice on digging deeper on resumes. Picking some key bullets on a resume and doing a deeper dive can usually tell an interviewer if there's substance behind the resume bullet or just %$#@.

A key message I'm hearing again and again is marketing students need to do the things that drive distinction (preferably in marketing) and make sure there's substance and impact to the activity. You must do more than join, you must participate, learn, and apply those learnings.

Thanks Kevin for commenting, I appreciate it!

I have read your comments and agree with each of you. Taking this conversation a step further, does anyone think that this generation's obsession with texting is reflective in their lack of communication skills? I have seen many students with excellent 'book' grades, who simply cannot hold a truly intellectual conversation. I would like to know your thoughts... and what do you think will happen to the younger kids who ONLY use letters to talk instead of actually knowing how to (gasp) spell the words. Or looking at the other side, as marketers, is this how they communicate with one another and we should just learn to run with it?

Donna, thank you for commenting. Funny you mention this, I read an article (and wish I could source it) where some of the lingo used in texting is making its way into reports and essays that students are writing for class coursework. Of course, the teachers don't accept mangled English and thus students using text-speak in their papers end up with poorer grades.

That said, I believe some of the more popular text phrases are making their way into not only our daily lexicons but also the dictionary!

As far as keeping up with it all, http://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/textmessageabbreviations.asp, it's almost a new language to learn for an old guy like me!

Paul,
Great points. One thing that I like to tell students -- budding marketers and others -- is to really think about what they say in their cover letters for internships and jobs. They often start the same way "I'm looking for a ..." I tell them that -- really -- their prospective employers do not care what the student wants -- they care how the student can help their company. LCS @ LMU makes some great points in her comments. I'd only add that students should spend more time on their cover letters than their resumes. I wouldn't bother reading the latter if I'm not impressed with the former -- would you?
ahg3

Arthur, thanks for your insights, I appreciate them.

You make some good points about the importance of a compelling cover letter.

However, in many larger corporations, resumes are read by machines first, scanned for keywords, and then flagged if some threshold is met. So while I agree that a coverletter that addresses the employer's painpoints is extremely important, it's probably more important to know your audience and spend your time (ratio of resume to cover letter) accordingly.

So for example, applying to GE, one might go 70/30 (resume to cover letter) vs small business 30/70.

That's my take, others might disagree...

I think one of the most desirable traits for any position is that of diplomacy.

This means being able to express an opinion and so on but not be an jerk about it.

Neil, thanks for submitting your two cents. Your advice is good, but how does a hiring manager discern a skill for diplomacy? What kinds of questions should they ask? How should students build such skills? Looking forward to your response.

Wow, that is a tough one. At our firm one of the things we look for in any new hire is whether they are going to be a disruptive influence or not. Even one demoralizing person on a relatively small staff can be very bad. We have had such people in the past but now we have a very cohesive team.

Disagreement is a very *good* and necessary thing. We do not want "yes" people but, there is a big difference between diffidence and being negative all the time (i.e., complaining constantly), getting personal, and the other deadly sins of work life.

I'd say that reading articles and books on constructive confrontation and communication skills and, of course, just practicing it in every day life can help anyone.

As to how a hiring manager can discern these traits? That is a tough one.

I am not an HR expert but I am a manager and we have built a cohesive team somehow without specifically asking questions in the interview but more relying on a degree of instinct on these matters.

On the other hand, I bet there are interview questions that might help:
"What if you disagreed with someone about X, how would you approach the situation?"

It might be instructive to hear how someone describes the way they would handle a disagreement.

BTW, when I said "getting personal" I meant personal comments or attacks, not sharing of personal information.

Some degree of personal talk can increase bonding and is a good thing.

Neil, your question of "What if you disagreed with someone about X, how would you approach the situation?" is a good one. Since sometimes good coaching can help an interviewer answer that one, I might ask, "Give me two examples when you disagreed with someone in the workplace and how you resolved the conflict." Conflict resolution skills are one of the soft skills that can really make or break how well an employee "fits" within a company.

BTW, just 20 minutes ago this article was posted on yahoo news:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080710/us_nm/workplace_usa_deskrage_dc;_ylt=AovmGr_K26PtYdxdkYVL3LKs0NUE

It convinces me that civility, diplomacy, tact, basic manners, etc., are the single most important job skills!