Top 10 Things I Learned in Business School
#7 – Read everything you can get your hands on
A question I was asked last week was: What is the most important quality you would consider in hiring someone? This was especially important as it was during an interview for a job! It wasn’t what I was expecting, but here’s what I said:
Curiosity is by far what I consider most important in people. A drive to continue learning about things you don’t know shows so many levels of intelligence. Before I came back to school I consistently spent at least 2 hours a day reading wikipedia, blogs, books from the library, and the newspaper. These days I have had to cut that down to about 1 hour, but it’s still incredibly important to stay up on things and keep learning. Additionally, breadth in subject matter shows breadth in character.
It’s easy to strike up a conversation with a professor by reading related materials to a subject you’re discussing in class. If you read industry publications before going into an interview you’ll sound like you really know what’s happening in an employer’s business. Remember that the people you meet are probably well read in something and for you to be well read in that area shows respect and intellectual curiosity, which are two traits incredibly important in a professional life.
Managing your time wisely is something we’ll get to in posts to come, but remember to keep a healthy stack of periodicals by your bedside. Read the scholarly journals in the library: especially management and strategy as they’re usually pretty light compared to the finance stuff. Curiosity will pay off in so many ways!