Unprepared (Advancing the game column)

On Dec. 14, 2005, I presented my “Strategic Career Planning” workshop to the Metropolitan GCSA Chapter membership at the Apawamis Club in Rye, N.Y.

Three months later, three Met GCSA assistants called me to ask for last-minute help as they prepared to apply for two regional superintendent jobs that had opened unexpectedly within recent weeks. These assistants made it very clear to me that they were unprepared for the task, meaning they didn’t have tight resumes, personal Web sites or strategic game plans ready to launch as fast-fleeting opportunity was knocking at their door. Of course, I worked with the three assistants – one of whom was hired to fill one of the existing job openings.

However, I’m disappointed and frustrated the three assistants hadn’t attended the December career-planning workshop right in their own backyard. In fact, only 19 out of about 600 assistants throughout the region attended this 15-year-plus proven workshop despite several well-defined, pre-event promotional mailings.

Sadly, this “wait to the last minute” approach to career planning isn’t uncommon in the world of golf course superintendents. I’ve seen this similar pattern throughout the profession for more than 25 years. Late each summer I’m approached by dozens of superintendents and assistants seeking last-minute counseling as they prepare to react to the onslaught of job openings that surface each fall. This scenario is repeated a hundredfold throughout the country each year. Unfortunately, this “wait and see what develops” attitude isn’t a trend, it’s a long-standing professionwide cultural pattern.

No responsible, career-minded person in any profession should go more than six months without asking himself two questions: “Where do I want to be careerwise in five years?” and “How do I best get there?” Until these two questions are repeatedly asked and answered through the years, career-minded professionals will consistently fail to develop the vision needed to guide and motivate career advancement.

My well-tested observation is that very few superintendents and assistants address the issues these two questions raise during the formative years of their careers. Consequently, far too often an aspiring job applicant’s only option is to scramble at the last minute to respond to highly competitive job opportunities as they present themselves, an approach that makes it difficult to land an interview, never mind a job.

Career Web sites
Since my November 2004 GCN column first mentioned the concept of personal career Web sites, I’ve spoken with several hundreds of GCSAA members who have openly acknowledged they had accepted the premise and would waste little time developing their own Web site. As I write this column almost two years later – having maintained contact with this group of supposed Web site devotees – I’d estimate that less than a dozen of the several hundreds who had expressed interest in personal Web site development have actually followed through developing one.

I caution superintendents and assistants not to delay too long developing a personal Web site because in about three years time it’s likely that as much as 80 percent of available interview slots will be assigned to those who have submitted an application with a personal Web site address. Past GCSAA president Bruce Williams (Los Angeles Country Club) advises personal Web sites will be as prevalent in a few years as business cards are today.

Furthermore, because the overall quality of resumes submitted today is many times better than those submitted 10 years ago, a good resume no longer opens the interview doors like it used to. The question, therefore, becomes:

“What can an applicant do today to regain an edge within this highly competitive job application/interview market?” The only legitimate answer is for superintendents/assistants to commit to developing their own individual career Web sites. For the next few years, until personal Web sites become common place, a quality personal Web site will virtually guarantee a job interview.

When I ask the many job applicants I regularly come in contact with how badly they want a new job, they almost universally answer: “It’s my highest priority.” At the same time, however, they admit to doing little to advance this cause through Web site development. This is a dangerous disconnect for those looking to advance their careers. Delay at your career’s peril.

Sabbaticals
When I introduced the sabbatical leave concept in my July 2005 GCN column, it caught most superintendents by surprise. Clearly, they liked the idea but were slow to embrace it because of a fear of job security and because they aren’t confident such applications would be well received by employers.

I take issue with these two concerns because postsabbatical-leave jobs can be protected by contract and because it would be a mistake for superintendents to look at the concept of a sabbatical leave as a perk or gift of management. Rather, a sabbatical leave should be looked at as an earned opportunity to revitalize a career worn thin by a most demanding industry. Sabbatical leaves can breathe new life into a job and/or family situation gone stale, benefiting the employer as much as the superintendent.

Because any sabbatical leave decision must be made by the employer several years before the leave year, nothing will happen until the superintendent educates and prepares his employer for the process. Unfortunately, veteran superintendents who would be clearly eligible for sabbatical leave consideration are as lax preparing for sabbatical leave opportunities as they are with almost everything else relating to career advancement. This is just another example of opportunity being lost because superintendents fail to recognize the fundamental premise that the meaningful pursuits in life require early attention.

Final perspective
I suggest that if you want to take full advantage of the talents the good Lord has given you – while at the same time raising a stable, happy family – there’s only one sure path to follow: First, repeatedly ask yourself where do you want to be careerwise and familywise in five years. Next, judge how to best get there. Finally, commit immediately to whatever level of preparation is necessary to realize these goals.

Vince Lombardi often reminded us that, “Only the well-prepared will be in position to take advantage of unexpected opportunity when it presents itself.” Enough said. GCN