This week finds me in Provo, UT, where I am recruiting at my alma mater, BYU.
I flew in on Sunday and sat next to the most interesting guy. A Boston transplant living in LA, Bob looked like a white-haired Lou Ferrigno and cussed like a sailor. He has spent the last 15 years doing electrical and plumbing contract work in the mulit-million dollar homes of the Hollywood rich and famous. He had some really interesting stories, and as different as our personalities were, we really hit it off.
Bob called to his hotel to request a shuttle once we landed, and was surprised to hear that a hotel in Orem, UT didn't have an airport shuttle (it's a 45 mile drive). Being familiar with Utah, I wasn't the least bit surprised. My hotel was less than five miles from his, so I offered to drive him and we continued our interesting, colorful conversation for another hour as we drove to beautiful Utah Valley (the next valley south of Salt Lake, home to such metropolii as Provo, Orem, Lehi and Spanish Fork).
I always expect a little more out of BYU recruits and I can already feel that I'm going to be especially tough on anyone that tries to share a mission story as an answer to a behavioral interview question. While that's not at all common, it actually happened to me last year. I asked an interviewee to share a time that he took initiative and he responded with a story about how his mission companion and he fasted to find a family to teach, and it worked. Don't get me wrong, that's a great story, but how am I going to come back to Austin and convince our recruiting folks that this guy could fast and pray to resolve a customer issue, or find a unique way to complete a project? No way.
2 comments:
You drove from SLC to Provo with a random? Bad idea.
For the most part, I think BYU students are great, I think there is a small minority that are out of touch with reality. I remember they told us horror stories in the accounting department about kids who pulled stupid moves on their internships. Like for example, one dude put a Book of Mormon in everyone's mail slot on his last day. Sharing the gospel is good, yes, but often very inappropriate in a work setting.
Good thing you didn't make Bob mad ... would hate to see him turn all green and stuff. and burst out of the seatbelt.
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