UT Shield

The Drivers Exercise

Figuring out what matters to YOU in YOUR career

Next Steps – Students

So you’ve just completed the Drivers Exercise.  Now what? Here are some recommended “next steps” to make this more meaningful!

Step 1 – Start some conversations

Think of 2 or 3 friends, co-workers, or family members to share this with. Ask them to visit DriversExercise.com and take the exercise.  Afterward, talk about your experiences. This discussion is an extremely beneficial part of the exercise that pushes you to really examine why you selected certain drivers while gaining an appreciation of how other people’s drivers can align/differ based on your own life experiences. As part of this discussion:

  • Both of you discuss what your top drivers were and why?  Note how they align and differ.
  • Discuss whether each of your goals are in line with your top personal drivers. If they don’t align, what actions can you take to bring them in line with your drivers?
  • Discuss how you think your personal drivers may evolve over time
Students Having a Discussion

Step 2 – Seek the right advisors/mentors for you.

Meet with a Career Advisor at the UT Vick’s Center

All UT students, regardless of major, are eligible to receive 1-on-1 career counseling through the Vick’s Center located in JES A115.

You can schedule a 1-on-1 appointment online, call the center at 512-232-8400, or stop by the office. A career counseling appointment can be up to 45 minutes and again is available to all UT students.

Drop-ins are welcoming is M-F 1-3 p.m. in JES A115 for a brief, 15-20 minute slot.

Two tips on seeking the right kind of mentorship

  1. Make sure your mentors understand your drivers.  While they don’t have to share your drivers, it’s critical for a mentor to know what is important to you before giving advice.  If a mentor doesn’t know what you value or worse, disregards it all together, it’s likely that they’ll give you advice that relates more to their own values.  Example: A student is in the midst of their internship and grabs a coffee to seek general advice.  Their manager, a new parent, is highly stressed balance work and life. Their advice is to put life before work. While that may make sense for the manager based on their situation, the student who is unmarried and not a parent isn’t sure they care as much about work/life balance.       Click here for detail on how this exercise can improve your mentorship
  2. Seek a diversity of experience – Beware only talking to one group for advice (e.g. Seeking advice on a student Facebook group could be fruitful but not comprehensive).  If you only talk to upper-division students, you miss out on the relatable/experienced advice a recent graduate can give you.  While recent grads will know a lot, they lack the experience of people in their 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. The key takeaway: Don’t only seek one group’s advice.  Capture all sorts to gain a complete perspective.

Step 3 – Set a reminder to retake the exercise

Your drivers are not set in stone or fixed. They are based on your own personal life experience, which means they can absolutely change as you reach new milestones and your personal situation changes. That means you should plan to do this exercise at least once a year and also when you are approaching a significant milestone or life change.  For example:

  • After an internship – While doing this exercise to find the right internship can be helpful, many students have found the best insights when repeating it after the internship when they have a better context and experience.
  • When comparing full-time offers – Use this framework to assess your drivers and then compare jobs based on which means your drivers more.  Here’s a real student example on how to do this.
  • When you’re unhappy in a job – While the feeling of being unhappy can be clear, it may not be clear why you’re unhappy.  Many who find themselves unhappy may prematurely conclude that they need to start looking for a new job but it’s possible your dissatisfaction stems from lack of getting your drivers.  Perhaps working with your leadership to voice your interests and values could be the solution.  Instead of jumping ship, perhaps a change of schedule, role, responsibility, team, or better growth opportunities could help you be more satisfied, depending on your drivers.
  • Even when you’re happy in your job!?! – As we said, it never hurts to do this exercise annually, even if the results confirm you’re in the right place that aligns with your drivers.  At least you’ll be confident you’re in the best place for you.

Step 4 – Hear others’ stories and experiences

Take a second and see what others have gained and reported from their own experience using this exercise. Also, check out the diversity of responses on the Results/Insights page.   You may be surprised to see the variety of what people report as their main drivers.

             

Thanks again for taking the time to do this reflection and share it with others.  I hope it has been helpful and I appreciate your time!

Hook’em!

Clint Tuttle, Senior Lecturer
The University of Texas at Austin | McCombs School of Business, Management Information Systems
www.mccombs.utexas.edu

 

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