As the fall hiring season picks up in the golf industry, leaders and professionals from all backgrounds continue to explore career pathways.
Being a viable candidate, to some degree, has never been easier given the lack of qualified applicants for open positions across many sectors, including the golf industry. Companies are focused on attracting qualified candidates who will stay and serve for not just their role, but the broader goal of the organization.
There is still uncertainty around the job market. The Great Resignation’s trickle down effects from the COVID-19 pandemic is still in play. Will things come back to normal? Who truly knows. But employees are empowered now, more than ever, to take control of their careers. Top candidates have carte blanche in choosing where they want to work.
Thoughtful career planning will ensure you come out of this — whether in your current employment or future — standing on top.
Whether from a Business Owner, Board of Governors, General Manager, CEO or a committee, we have consistently heard these three traits as being pivotal to what stands out about candidates.
- Self-awareness
- Humility
- Team Builder
A polished resume and cover letter, portfolio of work and presentation skills are all part of the package to landing your dream job. Today, we’re going to focus on the most important step in your career strategy — self-awareness. Without this, you may continue to live a life not fully fulfilled, coming up short on career aspirations and spinning in circles.
Who you are.
You have to get clear on who you are, which isn’t the same as what you do. If you could look back at your life’s work, and those pivotal moments, how would you describe yourself? What problems do you solve? What are you passionate about? What would your friends say about you, your family, your closest peers, your archrivals, your employees?
Do you have a set of core values which serve as guiding principles and show up in your daily life?
Brain dump all the words that resonate with you and you would be most proud to represent. List out your top 15. Break it down to the 10 that you are really passionate about, and then down to your top 3-5.
This may seem “rah rah” to some, but getting focused on who you are is a critical step in landing your dream job and preventing you from taking the wrong job.
If you need help there is a list of assessments which can provide an objective viewpoint. We utilize The Predictive Index, so feel free to shoot me a message to learn more. But also explore these options:
- DISC
- Strengthsfinder 2.0
- Predictive Index
- Meyers-Briggs
- Enneagram
- RightPath
These assessments may reveal some personality blindspots that are contributing to falling short in your job search quests.
Benchmark
Benchmark your skills and take inventory of your traits. There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach, but it’s important to document your successes in agronomics, communication, staff training/development, business, project management, leadership, environmental stewardship, water management, etc.
It’s also important to take stock of the soft skills you have — empathy, overcoming adversity, time management, delegation, coaching and many more.
Take the time to write these out and keep an ongoing database of your strengths, skills and accomplishments to pull from.
Feedback
Whether starting out in your career or a savvy leader, you can benefit from a fresh perspective. Identify three people who may have some expertise about business opportunities or career paths. Consider surrounding yourself with those who have more positive, encouraging voices and limit the less positive voices.
It has been said that you become the average of the five people you spend the most time with on a daily basis — family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, and others you interact with. This may also include virtual connections or voices you listen to via podcasts or social media platforms.
Here are some questions to ask to gain feedback.
- What topics do people come to you organically for advice about?
- What is a one word problem you solve?
- How do you overcome problems?
- What do people ask you a lot about?
- What are three things I’m good at?
- What do I underestimate about myself?
Research & Network
What is your dream job? Have you actually listed this out and put it on paper? Visualizing the scenario is a great step that often no one takes.
If your goal is to be the Superintendent at Three Jack National, then it would behoove you to align yourself with those closely associated with Three Jack National.
Job boards, referrals, social media and your internal network are great resources to learn about career opportunities.
If you don’t have a connection, go to LinkedIn and send an invite to mutual connections that may have previously worked at the facility, or better yet the existing hiring manager. Given the state of labor, I don’t know a hiring manager who wouldn’t take a direct message, email or phone call to talk about career opportunities at their facility.
As you make your way through the conference and education circuit this winter, be prepared with business cards to network. Don’t miss an opportunity to meet someone who may have potential influence for your next job. It is a small industry and it’s getting smaller by the day.
Visualize
Career success means different things to different people at various stages of life. Change is a constant in life. You change, the world changes. You get to choose your direction.
What causes are you drawn to? What needs in the world do you feel most passionate about? Do you have skills which align with your passions that could make an impact?
Think about 6-12 months from now and imagine what you would want your life to look like if you could never fail. Let go of what someone else wants for you or what you think society wants for you, or what the industry wants for you.
Consider not just business success, but your relationships and wellness. Losing one affects the others.
Accountability
Nobody starts a process with the intention of fizzling out after a few weeks. But the reality is that sometimes life gets in the way, and without having something in place to keep us accountable, we can start to drift.
There have been various stages in my career that I didn’t have the right accountability to keep honest to my goals. Instead, I often overlooked experience and wisdom from those who walked the path before me. When you have accountability to someone other than yourself, it’s harder to let things slide.
Whatever doesn’t get scheduled, doesn’t get done, so it’s time to take what you can do right now and put it on your calendar.
Your first focus must be THIS week, maybe even TODAY! Here is a simple 3-step process you can easily repeat to gain momentum and pursue your goals.
- Choose what you can do next to achieve each goal? What is holding you back? What can you do, learn, or discover to push past?
- Schedule when you will do it. Get specific on a day and time. Put it on your calendar.
- Act on it.
About The Author
Tyler Bloom is the founder of Tyler Bloom Consulting. A former golf course superintendent and turf professional, Tyler’s love of all things golf began at the age of six when he stepped onto the course for the first time.
Tyler has an Executive Certificate in Talent Acquisition from Cornell University and a degree in Turfgrass Science from Penn State University. With 20 years of experience in the golf and turfgrass industry, Tyler has worked directly with reputable club leaders at some of the most prestigious clubs to place over 100 professionals in executive and management level positions throughout the United States.
Are you ready to build a top-performing team that drives results? Our proven framework, methodologies, and implementation is based on our personal track record of developing world-class teams. In addition to talent acquisition, we provide leadership development and ongoing consultative services for the golf course and club industry. Our team has personally coached and mentored dozens of future golf course superintendents across the United States.