Imagine writing a resume for President Obama. You’d list titles, like President of the United States, Illinois senator, Nobel prize winner, Harvard Review editor, etc, but that’s all you’d have. Earning awards and titles IS his list of accomplishments. In other words, you couldn’t explain WHY he earned anything.
President Obama reminds me of a movie set. I have to wonder if there’s anything behind the facade.
“Earning awards and titles IS his list of accomplishments. “
That’s priceless.
In a friendly debate with a close friend of mine in 2009, I asked him, "Imagine you are interviewing Obama for a job, any job." I have interviewed a lot of people over the years.
There are a lot of people that can put some pretty creative titles, accolades and accomplishments on a resume. Columbia? Harvard? Not bad. But I never stopped there in an interview.
What did you study? Were you published? What was your final thesis about?
What jobs have you had? How did you pay for college? Have you ever had to fire anyone?
What is the most unethical situation you have found yourself involved in? Was it illegal? What did you do?
What do you think your most important accomplishment is? What accomplishment are you most proud of?
Tell me about your character. What are your values? What are your priorities? What do you think is the difference between values and priorities? I would throw him out of the interview after the 25th Uhm, ahh, hmmm....and I have. I once ended an interview with, "George, what do you really want to do in life? Because from where I am sitting, it doesn't seem to involve work." (graduating college student)