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Companies Grow, Too
By: Katherine Davis, BGS Communications Associate
It would be hard to imagine the CEO of a Fortune 500 company or even the owner of a small local hardware store say he or she would prefer sales remain stagnant rather than grow over the next fiscal year. Economic growth is one significant determinant of a successful business. Still, there are other ways in which companies grow, and, many times, such growth stems from the workforce itself.
Nehemiah Stone (BGS 2007, California State University, Sacramento), Principal at Benningfield Group, Inc., an energy  consulting and software development firm based in Folsom, Calif., has been hiring for over 30 years. He believes that all too often employers and job candidates are not forward enough in their thinking.
"The initial contract is just the very beginning of the process," Stone explained. "Employees are assets to an employer, and if you're not investing in your assets, you will fall behind."
Even after hiring ideal candidates and seeing those new employees work well at their jobs, many companies might not see themselves grow, whether in terms of sales, size, industry or something else. Stone sees such development as being two-sided.
"Just as much as I expect applicants to think through where they're going, I expect the firm I work for to think about where it wants to go and help its employees get there," said Stone. "If we seriously want to hire those who will become leaders in the future, we need to aid them and guide them in that direction. That's the beginning."
He mentioned that, during interviews, a potential candidate receives an "immediate dark X" if he or she has no knowledge of the company.
"If [he or she] asks, 'What do you guys do?' that's not the type of person we want," said Stone. "If you don't know what we are, how can you help us? If you're not thinking about your own growth, you won't be able to help us grow."
Emily Mitchell (BGS 2011, Babson College), a children's book publisher who's currently in the middle of a post-MBA job search, found that rethinking her approach to applying and resume-building helped her significantly in finding more appropriate places to apply as well as knowing, personally, what she'd most like to do.
"A friend of mine reminded me that, while I'm looking at job postings or searching for jobs, I need to ask, 'What is the business's problem here, and how can I solve it?' That's really the kernel that made me start thinking how to better craft my resumes and cover letters."
Mitchell believes showing this desire to help the company improve begins with asking one's self first, and then making sure to prove that to the potential employer.
"Applicants need to slow down and be more thoughtful about what they are doing," said Mitchell. "I have done this, and because of it, I've been able to better tailor my applications to really fit what companies need."
Stone's recommendations certainly agree with Mitchell's process of self-assessment. He thinks this should take place before any type of job search.
"Before anything else, figure out where you're going in your life or where you want to go."
He mentions the importance of candidates finding what they can bring value to in a particular workplace and then presenting themselves honestly.
"Otherwise, you don't have a right wasting an employer's time."
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