Editorial
careers
Beware!
Don’t nuke the fridge!
it’s a perilous path to professional perfection. Tom Harrison, Head of employer
relations at QS Careers and Global-Workplace takes a sideways glance at trying to
impress your future employer.
f you haven’t yet seen the movie ‘Indiana
I
Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal First impressions count
Skull’ you might want to skip to the This is a fact. When you get behind
next section of this article because I’m the scenes a little bit a lot of recruiters
about to spoil it for you. will tell you they have a gut instinct
If you have seen it, you’ll know that our about a candidate’s potential fit for a
once-credible hero manages to escape the role within minutes or even seconds
rather nasty effects of a nuclear bomb going of meeting them. Some will tell you
off by…hiding in a refrigerator. they can get a very good impression
Yes, you read it right. And, no, they of an applicant just from their
don’t teach that in Survival 1.0. resume and cover letter – and we’re
This remarkable scene has so enraged not talking about the content here;
dedicated Indie-watchers that they have we’re talking about style.
created a new turn of phrase from it. To One MBA recruiter at a major
‘nuke the fridge’ means ‘to abandon past multinational told me; “I get
standards of quality.’ In other words, to hundreds of applications for my
undermine all the good work that has gone management programs and some of
before. If you don’t believe me, Google it. the emails are so badly presented I
You have probably spent a lot of time don’t even open the resumes
and energy building your career to get to attached”.
your current position. Sure, you have Your application is your first
probably taken a wrong turn here or there impression – so make it count. If
but the overall line on the graph has been you’re ‘too busy’ firing off hundreds
upward, right? of applications to worry about the
You’re now considering studying for, presentation, think again – “One of
or have recently graduated with, an MBA the most common mistakes is to
or other Masters degree because your career send a generic cover letter telling
needs to move to the next level up. This is me all about the candidate but
smart, but…Beware! Don’t nuke the referring to ‘your company’ rather
fridge! than naming it. I immediately
The career path is a treacherous one know the candidate hasn’t done
and there are many potential pot-holes any research and that’s simply not
along the way. Let’s see how we can avoid good enough’, continues our
any nasty sprained ankles. anonymous insider.
36 TopMBA CAreer Guide
www.topmba.com
MBA_FALL_08_pp_002-065.indd 36 11/8/08 18:21:24
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