Background of the case
The given case "Professor Henry Baker (A)" is written by James O'Brien under the observation
of Mitch Rothstein. In this case, Ralph Power, a second-year MBA student who had been in his
first-year organizational behavior course, came to his university professor, Henry Baker, for
some career suggestions. He searches for a job, and that's not going well. He is looking for some
help with his resume from Henry Baker. So far, he had sent out 75 resumes, and the results had
been discouraging. Fifty had been rejected outright, 17 had received no reply at all. His friends
and roommates are getting ample of job offers, on the other hand. He is a bit tensed regarding all
these.
Mr. Power is looking for a job in a financial organization. For him, these are the best jobs, and
this is what he most wants to do, and to him, these are the best and highest-paying jobs. Power
looked confused that Baker didn't already know this, but at the same time, he didn't look entirely
influenced by his own answer. Professor Baker tried to understand Mr. Powers 'situation. He
questioned Mr. Power about some of his interview experiences. Most of the interview that he
attends was not going well as he thought. As a career advisor, Mr. Baker tries to understand Mr.
Power's situation. He is predicting that Mr. Power is out of the path because of his frustration.
Me. Baker also thinks he did not perform well in interviews because he was not sincerely
fascinated in the spot.
He recommended Mr. Power do some study before joining any job conference. He also thinks
Mr. Power to do certain self-assessment check to recognize what he actually wishes. Baker
described a number of self-assessment methods to Power. Prof. Baker took Power's resume with
him and advised him to come with the self-assessment test outcome in their next meeting. In
their next meeting, Prof. Baker will tell him further about the job market and try to give some
recommendations to prepare him for the job market.
In our case writing, we try to identify all the problems. We also try to give some
recommendations that will Mr. Power to gain advantages in the job market.
Problem Identification
1. Looked for a job to think about only salary and for peer pressure:
In this case, we can see that Mr. Power chose to do a job in a finance position for peer pressure
and salary. Professor Henry Baker asked Mr. Power why he is interested in doing a job in a
finance position. Mr. Power's answer was, this is the best job for the highest salary. Moreover,
Mr. Power also told him that He had tremendous peer pressure for applying for a job in a finance
position.
2. Uncertain about his personality & lack of confidence:
We learn from the case that he was confused & uncertain about the type of job he will be suitable
for and started to lose his self-confidence. His self-confidence took a big hit when he was getting
rejected from every recruiter while his roommate received jobs from 9 renowned organizations.
3. Insufficient preparation before facing an interview:
In the above case, we have seen that one recruiter wanted to know his opinion about the firm's
recent merger with the competitor in a job interview board. In return, he could not present
himself with any suitable answer and was also told that he was unaware of it. This created a very
negative first impression of him towards the recruiters, and as a result, he was unable to convince
the recruitment board. This very incident shows that he does not take ample preparation of
himself before appearing in front of an interview board.
4. Lack of subject knowledge:
In Ralph Power's CV, he did not mention his major or concentration subject as he was a
candidate for the MBA program. Subject knowledge is important because most of the recruiters
focus on major subject. So, there is a high chance that maximum recruiters rejected his CV at the
first stage because he lacked subject knowledge.
5. Lack of experience in the relevant field:
We learn from his CV that he has no relevant professional experience in finance. Previously he
has worked as a trainer, supervisor, consultation, product developer. However, he lacks
experience in finance-related jobs, which will benefit Mr. Power's current target.
6. Mistakes in the CV:
It is found that Mr. Power's CV is not attractive at all rather, it has some major lacking, which
could be the reason for his being rejected in the first place by most of the recruiters. For example,
there's no formal picture of him, no e-mail address, etc.
Recommendation
1. Should not choose any position of job based only on salary and for peer pressure:
A person should not choose a job position based only on salary or for getting pressure from
his/her peers. For selecting a career, a person should first identify which sector he is adept at and
interested in. If a person wants to do a job only for salary and does not have any interest, the
person will face many difficulties during the work. On the other hand, if a person looks for the
position of a job based on his interest, he will be able to provide the best outcome to the
company
2. Finding out his personality traits and improving self-confidence:
Mr. Power can get a better understanding of his personality by doing some personality test &
survey. The Myers- Briggs Type Indicator (MBIT) or "Big Five Model" are some of the popular
tests that will help him find his personality traits like confidence level, emotional stability,
reliability, and creativeness extrovert or introvert, etc. With the help of those personality tests, he
can quickly identify his problems & can concentrate on his weakness. He should also try not to
lose hope & confidence, no matter how bad the situation is. It does not provide any solution
rather makes the person want to give up trying - which makes the situation even worse.
3. Taking adequate preparation for an Interview:
A candidate must always take good preparation before facing any interview. He/she should study
and try to research about the company's history, mission, vision, current product line, conduct swot
(strength, weakness, opportunity, and threats) analysis of the company, current market share,
current market position, Unique selling proposition (USP), main rivals and their strategies so that
they can gain a competitive advantage over them and many more. Comprehensive knowledge
about the company gives a candidate a competitive advantage over other candidates. It shows a
very positive first impression about the candidate and provides the recruiter the idea that this
candidate is genuinely interested in working for this company. However, the candidate must also
apply his knowledge related to his expertise area and try to relate that with the company. This will
show his confidence and practical knowledge to certain extent and will convince the recruiter to
have a strong positive impression about the candidate. In this case, Mr. Power applied for a finance
position so he should possess sound knowledge on the area of finance and relate that with the
company he applied.
4. Need proper subject knowledge:
If Ralph Power is interested in a finance-related job, then he can do an MBA with a finance
major. Also, there are many short courses on finance. He can take those finance courses or can
do any professional degree in finance. Proper subject knowledge can help him to get better
attention from recruiters.
5. Lack of experience in the relevant field:
We learn from his CV that he has no relevant professional experience in finance. Previously he
has worked as a trainer, supervisor, consultation, product developer. However, he lacks
experience in finance-related jobs, which will be beneficial for Mr. Power's current target.
6. Writing a Better CV:
This will solve the problems in Mr. Power's CV. It is very important to have an attractive and
differentiable CV in this competitive job market to catch the attention of the recruiters, as a CV
is a way to communicate with the recruiters at the first place by expressing oneself in a short
way. So, it is important to have a good-looking CV with no mistake.
Here are some advice Professor Baker can give to Mr. Power regarding his CV:
I.
II.
Along with the telephone number, Mr. Power should add his e-mail address in his CV.
He must attach a formal photo of himself in the right or left top corner of the CV.
III.
Professional working experience should be written down before the educational
background.
IV.
It would be better if he includes Microsoft Word and PowerPoint in the "Computer
Literacy" section.
V.
If he knows any other language apart from his mother tongue, he should mention it.
VI.
If he has any professional skills such as leadership, presentation skill, good
communication skills, etc., he should add them too. This will make him different from
other candidates.
Conclusion
Most of the time, the organization got so many CV but did not get candidates on their own
requirement. Most of the time, they do not get a qualified candidate for the respected position.
Most of the time, they are not preparing themselves for the interview. The majority of the people
are not properly reading the job responsibility. The candidate is even applying for a job without
reading the job narrative or sending a CV through e-mail without any appropriate subject or
cover letter. This condition of Mr. Power is the presenter of our existing job market situation.
For their some common mistake, most of the candidates are not getting a suitable job. These
common mistakes also destroy the recruiter's valuable time, and sometimes qualified candidates
suffering from this even though they are eligible for the job. For this reason, candidates should
be concern about their mistakes.