One of the questions I ask counselors interviewing for jobs at Collegewise: If and when you leave your current job, what will you be leaving behind as a legacy?
While some of my other questions look for more information about what they’ve accomplished in their current job, their answers to this particular one tell me what they did that impacted the entire office, school, or college, something that will live on after they leave.
Some examples from counselors we’ve hired:
- Creating a training program for rookie admissions officers
- Redesigning the campus tour program
- Initiating new recruiting events to attract under-resourced students
- Creating the Thursday Night Pizza tradition during admissions season
- Designing an admissions workshop series for high school juniors and seniors
Best of all, each of those things showed no sign of disappearing even after this particular applicant moved on.
It’s hard to leave a legacy if you’re just going through the motions, doing what’s asked of you and nothing more. Leaving a legacy means that you think beyond your daily to-do list and do things that fundamentally improve the experience of your co-workers and your students/customers.
Students, imagine how appealing you’d be to the right colleges if you could describe the legacy you’ll be leaving behind in high school.
What are you doing today that will leave a legacy tomorrow?