A student speaks about advice from a career accelerator

"The true character of a person is how he or she treats people they don't need."

These were the first words quoted by Ron Godfrey of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business when he came to my business communication class as a guest speaker. Someone passing by the classroom would have heard him lecturing about employment, what to put on a resume and how to present oneself at a job interview. However, I heard him speak about how we can become successful in the classroom, at the workplace and in every aspect of our lives.

"Your resume is the most important part of you getting a job."

As a college student, I have heard this several times; however, instead of hearing what I should put on a resume, I heard how we as students can go about finding our strengths, weaknesses and what things make us who we are. Mr. Godfrey told each of us to "Brand yourself; bleed onto the paper." He said that many of those who are in charge of hiring employees will ask the receptionists and the custodians how interviewees treated them. They are looking for employees with the utmost integrity. This is great advice for someone competing for a job but better advice for someone to live by everyday of his or her life.

"Hey, I need to talk to you about a couple of things." To which Mr. Godfrey would reply, "What's the second thing?"

Some people talk a lot and say very little. This was not the case when Mr. Godfrey came to my class and spoke about employment and career acceleration. It was as if not a single word was wasted in his lecture. Using his years of experience in the business world, he was able to teach me things I can do to have a better chance at landing a job; but with wisdom (and sometimes needing to read between the lines), he taught me ways I can become a more successful person.

Adam Thompson