Armen Alchian Econ 490 Fall 2019: Opportunism
Opportunism
My experience with lack of opportunism has been seen with occupations, as well as other student activities that would lead to success. More specifically, there are a couple of jobs on campus that I, as well as my friends, wanted, but didn't take the steps necessary to obtain the position. My sophomore year, I really wanted to work at a bar on campus. This is mostly due to the social benefits and connections that could be received from having such a job, as well as a consistent source of funds from busy nights. Getting this job requires you to reach out to friends that work there, and have them help you secure it. However, my sophomore year I waited far too long to reach out to my friend, and by the time I did, all the spots were gone. I would have to say I wasn't acting very opportunistically at this time.
This year, I changed that. Another similar job opened up in which they were offering open interviews, and I went, and had a shift two days later. My buddies who were considering going to the interview never showed, and they were left jobless. Why? Laziness could be one thing, but also there is this idea that another, and possibly better job will open up later in the semester for them. This could be true, however as the semester goes on, they still have not attempted to receive another job. Good things may happen to those who wait, but in the job search, I've found this to be false.
Another example of me not taking advantage of an opportunity was with career fairs. Last year, I entirely skipped the business career fair, partly due to anxiety and partly due to lack of preparedness. I missed out on any opportunity to receive an internship from the companies that showed up. I did, however, attend the ASUS career fair later in the week, and quickly was thrown in multiple rounds of interviews for an internship in Chicago over the summer. There wasn't as many fitting companies at this career fair as there were at the business one, so I'd say I missed out on more career opportunities, even though I lucked out with a chance at the second one.
All these explanations amounted to the same thing, although they are different. Each one caused my friends or myself to miss various job opportunities. Something they do have in common, however, is that the fault belonged to us. Sure, if we had some other obligations at the same time as a walk-in interview, or a career fair, that's another thing. However, almost every time that I missed out on something like this, I tried to make it up later, to teach myself a lesson in a sense. Every time that I do capitalize on my opportunities, it is definitely worth it. How do I fix that? I need to take more initiative, and get over my anxiety at events such as these.
A couple of years ago, my final grade in a class was less than desirable. I knew that there was one assignment that I forgot to do that could put me over the edge, and that all I needed to do was ask. This is not a difficult task, and for some reason, I didn't send an email. I procrastinated, and by the time I finally sat down and was ready to ask for an extension, it was too late. In this example, I think laziness took over. I. need to recognize my incentives, and convince myself that they are worth it, and simply complete a task. Procrastinating has been a huge issue for me, and this is something I don't think I'll be able to afford in the real world.
On the procrastination part, you might enjoy reading this essay called Later. But I'm afraid that you missed the discussion in class on Thursday where in response to a query from a student, I did a look-up of opportunism at Dictionary.com. The first definition there talks about the sacrifice of ethical principles. In class I ended up translating that as acting opportunistically means you are screwing somebody else.
ReplyDeleteYour examples lacked the ethical dimension, so they are less relevant to us in our discussion of transaction costs and how to manage those costs. Managing your own tendency to procrastinate is surely an important issue, but it is of less concern in our class.
I think I understand what you are saying, but I am not entirely sure. I don't know, then, if I have had a situation where I have acted this way. If I was to act opportunistically, I would've maybe attended the interview for the bar job, although already making plans with someone during this time.
ReplyDeleteI watched a movie recently called 'Blinded by the Light.' It tells the story of a Pakistani teenager writing poetry as a way to escape the his racially aggressive hometown of Luton, England. His dad is very traditional, and they are very poor. As a result, his father expects his son (Javed, the teenager) to work and help pay the bills for the family. However, Javed falls in love with Bruce Sprinsteen's music, and spends his internship money on concert tickets. I believe that he is acting opportunistically at this moment, as the rest of his family is working as hard as possible to pay the bills, and he spends his money on a concert he really wants to see. Also, his writing gets him invited to a contest in New Jersey, however his father doesn't want him to go as he wants him to study Economics. He chooses to go, pursuing his own dreams but leaving his father and his family behind.