New Student Edition 2006 - The Michigan Daily --7E

MICHIGAN SPORTS KNOWLEDGE
Want a job? Know your Michigan
sports history before the interviews

My roommate - the one make or break her interview, it pro-
of us who doesn't have voked her to study football in the
season tick-_same way that she stud-
ets to the Big House ies financial strategy or
- has suddenly taken investment options.
an interest in football. Until my roommate
She was eager to let brought this to my atten-
me change the chan- tion, I hadn't realized
nel from a "Law and that asking about sports
Order" rerun to the in interviews was com-
Northwestern game mon practice in the
last Saturday, and world of business. In the
even inquired aboutr# world of sports journal-
some of the game's MEGAN ism, you can obviously
intricacies. anticipate questions
So, what prompt- KOLODGY regarding athletics. Not
ed the newfound knowing the answer
curiosity? might very well indicate
It's not a genuine attraction to that you're not the right person for
intense gridiron action, or even the job. But in business and science,
an attempt to make herself more it seems a little peculiar that not
desirable tomen around campus. understanding football could set a
Well, the latter isn't quite negative tone for the conversation.
accurate. On the other hand, if you know
She wants to woo men, alright - the ins and outs of Michigan sports,
men with last names like Morgan, you could be paving the path to your
Stanley, Goldman, Ernst, Young dream job.
and McKinsey. Her goal is to be the For Business senior Jeff Cohen,
newest member of their respective this has, more often than not, been
corporate families. the experience.
. That's right, this roommate's "In the last year, I've probably
propensity for football springs from had about 35 interviews," Cohen
her desire for post-graduate employ- said. "And I'd say I talked about
ment at a high-falutin' firm. Her lack sports in close to half of those."
of knowledge about the Wolverines This already-employed student
has burned her before. In various has found that his ability to talk at
interviews, the employers have tried length - even endlessly - about
to break the ice by bringing up the Michigan sports has put him at a
weekend's game. But instead of put- competitive advantage for multiple
ting my roommate at ease, she froze positions.
up. Although this probably did not "There have been interviews

where we've only talked about
sports briefly, and not received
second- or final-round interviews,"
Cohen said. "But for the most part,
when I've been asked to talk exten-
sively about it, it's been beneficial."
In the horrendously stressful pro-
cess of applying to medical school,
senior Malid Sharifpour found that
being well-versed in Michigan foot-
ball helped show the institutions
that he got outof the library and into
the student community every once
in awhile.
"We talked about football for
15 minutes of my 20-minute inter-
view," Sharifpour said. "When I told
the interviewer I went to the Univer-
sity of Michigan, he just couldn't
stop talking about football."
But Cohen and others understand
the flipside. Because the worlds of
both business and sports are male-
dominated, athletics can seem an
obvious icebreaker or conversation
starter in an interview situation.
This assumption has the potential
to put those who know less about
football - be they women, inter-
national students or men who sim-
ply aren't interested - on thin ice
before the actual interview even
begins.
If a person is in a bind, and can't
think of who caught that game-win-
ning touchdown or doesn't know
why the Big Ten logo has an 11 out-
lined in the middle, the consensus
advice is to change the subject.
"It's not incumbent on the inter-
viewer to make the candidate feel at

ease;' Cohen said. "Rather, it's the
interviewee's job to find common
ground."
While this is certainly true, one
has to wonder what other interests
are as ubiquitous at this University
as football. Is there another conver-
sation starter that can hold a candle
to, "So, what did you think of the
game this weekend?" The inter-
viewers are on the right track if they
think asking about it might uncover
a shared interest. And if you can't
scramble to find this all-important
common ground, might you not
have honed your ability to think on
your feet?
It's tough to say. But consider-
ing the multitude of stories I have
heard concerning job interviews, it
appears as if these questions are not
going to stop. So, while it might not
be fair or entirely reasonable, I'd say
it was advisable to develop at least
a passing acquaintance with sports,
and perhaps watch a highlight reel
the morning of your interview. And
who knows - maybe you'll end up
actually liking what you see.
If you decide not to develop
your sports knowledge simply for
the sake of your job prospects, you
might be safe. But remember this
advice: "It can be like pulling teeth
if you and your interviewer don't
have anything in common," Cohen
said. "If you can't find anything,
you're probably in trouble."
- This column originally
ran Nov. 1, 2005.

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