It's that time during the fall semester when everyone is printing piles of their resumes, pressing their best suits, and preparing their most eloquent elevator pitches about how they are THE talent to recruit: career fair season. Ohio State's annual Fall Career Fair is slowly creeping upon us. While that impending dread of not succeeding post-college is brewing within us, it's essential to understand that success isn't based on just intelligence, but also grit.
Angela Lee Duckworth's talk titled "Grit: The power of passion and perseverance" explores how IQ isn't cutting it in terms of success. Duckworth advocates for a thought movement and the growth mindset, which is a "belief that the ability to learn isn't fixed, that it can change with your effort." This mindset is rooted in the belief that failure is not a permanent condition; instead, failure is an opportunity to learn and excel at what you previously failed.
Dr. Angela Lee Duckworth is a psychologist who's had experience in both the management consulting and teaching arenas. Something she noticed throughout her career was that the people who succeeded weren't the most intelligent, but she said they had the most grit. Grit is about tackling your long-term goals with the utmost passion and perseverance. It's about understanding your weaknesses and working twice as hard to make your goals a reality. Possessing talent isn't what makes you "gritty," it's your perseverance to grow until you achieve your goals.
Dr. Duckworth described people with grit perfectly when she said people with grit live life "like it's a marathon and not a sprint." This is the perfect mindset to have during the recruitment season! According to Dr. Duckworth's research, grit is a significant predictor of success. Possessing talent isn't what makes you "gritty," it's your perseverance to grow until you achieve your goals.
Walk into the career fair with the mindset that the companies you are seeking are looking for not only intelligence but also grit. Talk to all of the recruiters with the mindset that failure isn't a permanent condition. Understand that no matter what happens during the entire recruiting season, you were able to learn and grow from that time. Believe that you are now closer to making your dreams a reality with the lessons you learned during the recruiting season.
The Fall Career Fair isn't something to fear! Put yourself out there, show your grit, and leave with valuable lessons!