Picture this: you are seventeen years old, it is your junior year in high school, and you have just met with the college counselor for some advice on college applications. What question did you rehearse answering? I assume it had something to do with an idol; someone you look up to or would love to have a cup of coffee with. As a sophomore in college, I am well prepared to answer the age-old interview question: who is your professional role-model? However, just because every applicant is prepared to answer this question, just as every hiring manager is prepared to ask it, does not mean the answer has to be generic.
Hiring staff members are looking for someone who fits their needs, yes, but authenticity can be just as impressive as a perfectly tailored resume. That is why I have not changed my answer, which is Helen Suzman, by the way, since my junior year in high school. I know what half of your are thinking: that is the most generic answer there is. I also know what the other half of you are thinking: who in the world is Helen Suzman?
Helen Suzman was a representative for the Progressive Party in the South African Parliament for 36 years, starting in 1953 (although she did not join the PP until 1959). Yes, it is a little predictable that a female politics student looks up to a female politician, but let us dig a little deeper.
Suzman was the definition of a boss woman. As the only progressive member of Parliament for 13 years in a row, Suzman avidly opposed and challenged her male colleagues, all of whom supported the apartheid. She was taunted, excluded, and insulted by the rest of Parliament, but Suzman did not step down. In fact, not only could she take it, but she could dish it. When asked by a minister why she embarrassed South Africa with her questions, her response was that it was not her questions, but his answers, that were the embarrassment.
If there is anything that I respect, it is a strong woman with wit. Some people would call a woman’s wit “attitude,” but I beg to differ. A woman who throws a remark right back at the man who undermines and underestimates her is not a sassy woman. Helen Suzman had a commitment to human rights, even when every single member of Parliament besides herself did not, and she would not be silenced. A woman who uses her wit to silence the people who try to silence her is a pretty cool gal, in my book. So yeah, I would get coffee with Helen Suzman.
My point is that as long as you know yourself, and know who you admire, it does not really matter how generic your answer to this question is. There is nothing wrong with looking up to Beyonce, or Michelle Obama, or Abraham Lincoln. Of course, setting up a mock interview with your career center and really working on how to answer this question is always helpful. Anyone who knows me knows that my middle school teachers, and even the dean of students at my high school, would call me head-strong. Some would say that is just another term for stubborn, but I never saw it that way. I know what I want to do, know what I believe in, and am passionate about my goals as a young professional. Therefore, my professional idol is a head-strong woman who proudly never backed down, and that is who I plan to become.
