Every year, 51 contestants from around the world compete for the chance to hear their name called as the next Miss USA.
After months of preparation, the big day arrives and only one woman gets to go home with the crown.
Miss Nebraska Sarah Rose Summers, a 23-year old certified child life specialist, won the crown on Monday, May 21st in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Her victory can serve as a great lesson for winning in your career. Here are 10 things every career goddess can learn from watching the Miss USA Pageant.
1. Communication Skills Are Important
Even if you are not on a big stage competing for a crown, people will judge your communication skills to determine your level of competence and confidence. Their assumptions may not always be true but perception matters in the career game.
2. Interview Can Make or Break You
When you compete in the Miss USA pageant, you’ll discover that interview is a high percentage of your overall score. Judges want to know if you are a good personality fit for the organization before they go further. This doesn’t change in your career. Managers and higher-ups want to know that they can connect with you first before they move on to the technical and job specific skills.
3. Your Success is Not Defined by Your Degree
Education doesn’t guarantee success. It’s just a tool that grants you access. You have to know how to use your educational accomplishments to get you where you want to go.
Summers graduated with bachelor’s degrees in strategic communication and child development. She also minored in business. She combined her versatile training to develop a winning formula for becoming Miss USA and create a career that aligns with her passion. If you want to win in your career, you have to know how you can use your degree to add value.
4. The Most Experienced is Not Always the Most Qualified
Have you ever wondered why you have been overlooked for promotions even though you may have more years of experience than other candidates? It’s not about the number of years you have but how the company quantifies the impact of the work you do.
Some pageant contestants start preparing to become Miss USA before they hit high school but they never make it to the big stage. Instead of focusing on years of experience, try to understand the expectations of the organization and why you are the best person for the job regardless of experience.
5. Leadership is Always in Style
Companies are always searching for their next pipeline of leaders so the company can continue to flourish. If you have no idea what skills to highlight during an interview, show them your leadership skills . Actions speak louder than words.
Sarah Rose Summers positioned herself as a leader when she had the audience applauding and supporting her response during the Q&A portion of the pageant.
She was asked: “You’re on your way to a march and someone hands you a blank sign and a marker. What do you put on your sign and why?”
I say, ‘ Speak your voice.’ I don’t know what march we’re on our way to in this hypothetical situation, but no matter where you’re going whatever type of march it is, you’re obviously on your way to that march because you care about that cause. So go speak to people when they have questions. Communicate with them. Listen to their views, also. That is one thing in the United States that we really need to focus on: listening to each other. – Sarah Rose Summers
6. You Don’t Have to Be Perfect
Perfection is not a requirement for success. No one expects you to fit a stereotype. You just have to be the best version of you.
So don’t try to research every one else in the position you aspire to have so you can copy them. Don’t memorize everything on a website so you can come up with the perfect answer. Don’t practice responses that you think someone wants to hear.
Being open about your strengths and areas of opportunities can work in your favor.
7. Authenticity Pays Off
Be who you are. Some people will like you and some will not. You can not please everyone but at least the core of who you are can not be questioned. People will respect you for owning every piece of you, including your faults.
You want to work in an environment where you are comfortable and respected for your authenticity. It’s a lot of working showing up every day pretending to be something you are not. You can never attract career success if you are not happy.
8. Pay Attention to Your Personal Brand
You may have in-demand skills, a highly coveted degree, and years of experience but still don’t get the opportunity you seek. There may not be anything wrong with you. Maybe there’s just something else in store for you.
This is when you need to pay attention to your personal brand. What do people think about you? What are your gifts? What can you do better than anyone else? Once you answer these personal branding questions, you may tap into a new opportunity that wasn’t on your radar before. And don’t forget, each experience you have is a stepping stone that can elevate your career if you allow it.
9. Understand What it Takes to Succeed
Do your research. You may think a company is looking for one thing when in reality they are looking for something else.
Assess where the organization is now and find out where they are trying to go. Then, determine if this analysis aligns with your dreams and aspirations. Contestants in the Miss USA pageant make sure they understand the organization inside and out by interviewing previous winners, researching the website, and gaining access to coaches who know what it takes to succeed. You have to be willing to do this in your career if you really want to succeed.
10. Find Your Dream Team
Rarely, if ever, do you hear any pageant contestant say that she made it on the big stage without the help of others. Pageant contestants have a team of other people helping them to win. There are a team of makeup artists, hair stylists, speaking coaches, pageant consultants, wardrobe advisors, branding professionals, and supporters who believe in their dreams just as much as they do.
You NEED this in your career. Find a mentor [11 industry experts reveal tips that will help you attract your dream mentor] who can guide you on your journey. Find a sponsor who can use their social capital to help you get to the next level in your career. Surround yourself with a network of peers who want to win, too!
Are you ready to profit from pageantry? Join me for the next online course!
Contact me if you need assistance with any of the following:
- LinkedIn Strategy: Transforming Your Profile from Invisible to Irresistible
- Pageant Essays: Developing Your Unique Brand Story and Uncovering Your Why
- Biography: Creating a Bio that Leaves People Wanting to Know More
- Interview: Getting Comfortable Answering Any Question on the Spot
- Public Speaking: Mesmerizing Your Audience With Your Words
- Resume: Customizing Your Resume for the Job of Your Dreams
- Sponsorship Packet: Getting Investors Who Believe In Your Mission & Vision
Hi! I’m Charlene Rhinehart. I worked in Corporate America for 10 years, won the pageant of Ms. Corporate America 2015, and traveled around the world to explore the width of my potential. When I returned, I created Wealthy Women Daily to help women finance their dreams. I’m on a mission to help more women build a stock portfolio that’s bigger than their shoe collection. Join the movement!
