As I am going through the latest employment opportunities that my search agents have located, I received a call from my wife, reminding me that we have several recorded boxing matches that we have not watched. I checked through what we have recorded and found that, in fact, we have recorded about a half dozen boxing matches that we have not yet watched.

This brought forth a memory back from my days when I was employed as a Material Planner. We had finished a meeting early one day, and the Manufacturing Director asked what I was going to be doing over the weekend. “They have several good boxing matches on television”, I replied. As we have been very busy all week, I thought it would be a great time to kick back and catch those fights. The Director immediately responded, “I don’t understand why you and your wife enjoy boxing, Howard! It is a barbaric sport, people get hurt; there should be a law against it!” I took a second to think about it. I responded that there is a danger of getting injured with any sport, however I could not recall in recent history, where someone lost their life as a result of a properly sanctioned boxing match. Then, I asked the director what he planned to do over the weekend and he quickly responded: “Deer hunting.” That was the beginning of several years of spirited discussions over which was the least ethical pastime.

As I was recalling those days, I began to think how much the job hunt has been like a boxing match. Here are some similarities that I came up with:

1): In a boxing match, the crowd always wants to see competitors with a greater win percentage. In the employment market, prospective employers want to see candidates with a winning percentage of quantifiable achievements.

2): Just as a pugilist must train so that he is in top shape for an upcoming fight, a candidate for an open position needs to train himself so that he can perform at his best when he is interviewed. A fighter must make sure that he is in top physical shape, just as a prospective candidate for a job needs to be at the top of his mental game.

3): Fielding questions during a job interview isn’t that different from sparing with an opponent. Being faced with a question that you did not prepare for is not unlike being surprised by an unexpected left hook from your opponent. After all, is there a difference between the anguish a candidate feels when he answers an interviewers question incorrectly and the pain a fighter feels when he is hit by that unexpected punch?

4): Just as you have to pace yourself during an interview, a fighter has to pace himself, depending on the length of a boxing match. An interview can be like a four round boxing match. During an interview, you have a short period of time to impress the prospective employer. During a four round boxing match, a fighter has a short period of time to impress the judges and prove that he is the better fighter. Conversely, once you are employed, you can look at your work day the same way a fighter looks at a 12 round match, and you have to pace yourself differently.

5): In boxing, the best fighter does not necessarily win. The fighter who best impresses the judges is always the winner (except in the case of knock-outs). In job search, the best candidate does not necessarily land the position, however the candidate who is best at impressing his prospective employers will win the position. 6): A similar point: The strongest fighter does not always win, however the smartest fighter usually wins.

7): If at all possible, try to find out how many people are going to interview you. Plan on each interview lasting for about an hour. After all, if you are a boxer, you would want to know how many rounds the match will be.

8): Scoring winning points with those who interview you is not that different to a fighter scoring points with the judges. I am sure that the joy a fighter feels after he wins a match is similar to the joy a candidate feels when he has landed the position he has fought hard to obtain. Whether you know it or not, we have just completed eight rounds of boxing.

Whether you win or lose on your next interview, please remember one more similarity between job search and boxing: A good pugilist, after a lost fight, will review his work to see where he made mistakes, and work to correct them, so that he may win the next match. A good job seeker will review his performance, note his weak points as well as his strong points so that his next interview will land him or her the position he seeks.

Good Hunting to all, and Happy Holidays!

-Howard K. Young