Do You Want The Job -- Or Just The Paycheck?

Our local bookstore needs summer help. I know that because a sign in the front window encourages teens to apply for the opportunity to be "junior booksellers." 

Ellen Kullman, the chair and CEO of DuPont, periodically needs new people to serve on the board of her $35 billion company. I know that because she gave a speech yesterday at Stanford, talking about how to size up potential directors. In case anyone is curious, DuPont discloses in its proxy that it pays its directors $230,000 a year.

One job is at the bottom of the career ladder. The other is at the top. Yet if you want to get hired in either spot -- or anywhere that's well-run -- you'll encounter the same sensible screening standard each time. Do you really want to do the work? Or are you interested only in cashing the paycheck or adding the job title to your resume?

Let's start with the bookstore's approach, which is all about courting young people who already love literature. Everything in Books Inc.'s job notice plays up the chance simply to be in a bookstore for an extended period, doing something useful. To wit: "Help people find the books that will blow their minds, make displays, write reviews, and generally be your awesome, readerly, passionate self." 

Guess what? DuPont and Kullman subscribe to the same principles. In her Stanford talk, Kullman said the best director candidates stand out right away because of how painstakingly they've reviewed the company's 10-K filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We're talking about 106 pages of dense financial information and footnotes. No beach reads.

People who work through the minutiae of such documents ask smarter questions. They yearn to understand exactly how DuPont works. Another marker: candidates who want to go on plant tours. In short, candidates who embrace the hard work of decoding a complex multinational company can do a lot more in the boardroom than just offer their opinions. They can provide valuable guidance.

Playing up one's illustrious background can't guarantee a seat on DuPont's board. Wanting extra spending money isn't enough to propel a teenage job-seeker onto a retailer's payroll. No matter how lofty or humble the opportunity might be, there's nothing like actually wanting to do the work.

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DuPont's Ellen Kullman has lots of other savvy insights about boardroom issues.This Forbes article offers a fuller glimpse of her thinking: "Be Wary of the Jet-Lagged Director."