Self-Definition
One of the things I have hated since coming here to New York has been trying to sell myself to people. I find it very difficult to try and define myself in a few short words or sentences or even a piece of paper, as in a resume.
When somebody I've just met asks me to describe myself or tell them something about myself, I struggle, because I have to consider how much this person is actually trying to get to know me, or if he/she is just scanning me for some major flaw or insufficiency or singular defining characteristic he/she can relate to. Once people find that flaw/insufficiency/singular defining characteristic, it is difficult for them to put that out of mind.
I am of the mind that a person shouldn't be defined by their college degree or their career choice. Certainly that is not the case for most people, but it seems like so many people are really satisfied by who they are being defined by what they do. They love their jobs, and those jobs are what/who they are. Those people want you to be like them, in a way, which is very difficult for me because I scarcely know what it is that I want to do, much less be defined by it.
It's natural for people to do that. It's natural for people to want to pinpoint other people as such and such, and speculate about them and judge them silently. That is a natural phenomenon. I don't think we, as people, can get away from it any more. For crying out loud, careers have been made on the gossip and hearsay of others.
But it is important to realize that while one person may find a singular activity that deeply satisfies their needs to make money and occupy time, for others, like yours truly, it is not so easy. The things that occupy my time don't necessarily make me any money. Vice-versa, the ways in which I make money don't necessarily make the best use of my time. In fact, I would say it is completely inappropriate.
You can't put this on a resume, though:
Special Skills: Finds humor in the smallest of details.
or
Is the Shit.
Nobody is going to hire me for that. So I have to put buzz-words on my resume, like multi-tasker and self-motivated.
Sometimes in my quest to multi-task, I hit a snag, leaving me hopelessly crippled to single-task. This is a small example, but it still works. Today, while sending a multi-recipient text message (two-fold multi-tasking), I got the bright idea to leave a note for my roommates on the white board. I halted myself when I realized the message I wanted to leave contained information, including a phone number, that was held in my phone, currently being used by my other hand. Thus, I had to finish the text message before I could leave the note.
Self-motivation is what leads me to doing this. I never wrote a journal as a kid. Maybe I never thought to write because I never had an audience. Now I write for myself, but it's as if the whole world can look under my bed and read my journal at any time.
Perhaps my self-definition can only be revealed as I slowly figure it out. Perhaps my career path is a parallel of that. If I do not know who/what I am, how could anybody who's interviewing me possibly know in thirty minutes or less. That's why the interview is part of the process, so a human resources-type doesn't waste the company's precious time getting to know the wrong people. I respect that, I'm still just waiting to be that right person.
One thing is for sure, though. I certainly don't think a company has the right to picky about spelling or punctuation on a resume when they themselves cannot get their own job listing correctly worded on an already sketchy Craigslist website.
Somehow I don't think the duties for a receptionist position at a Fashion PR firm should include serving as a lesion between the office and the insurance contact, computer technician, cleaning company, etc. (le·sion [lee-zhuhn] –noun: 1. an injury; hurt; wound).
Clearly this company should hire me for no other reason than to proofread their publicly-viewed job listings. I would have no problem acting as a liaison between their company and the English language. We'll have to see what they say about that after they read my resume.
When somebody I've just met asks me to describe myself or tell them something about myself, I struggle, because I have to consider how much this person is actually trying to get to know me, or if he/she is just scanning me for some major flaw or insufficiency or singular defining characteristic he/she can relate to. Once people find that flaw/insufficiency/singular defining characteristic, it is difficult for them to put that out of mind.
I am of the mind that a person shouldn't be defined by their college degree or their career choice. Certainly that is not the case for most people, but it seems like so many people are really satisfied by who they are being defined by what they do. They love their jobs, and those jobs are what/who they are. Those people want you to be like them, in a way, which is very difficult for me because I scarcely know what it is that I want to do, much less be defined by it.
It's natural for people to do that. It's natural for people to want to pinpoint other people as such and such, and speculate about them and judge them silently. That is a natural phenomenon. I don't think we, as people, can get away from it any more. For crying out loud, careers have been made on the gossip and hearsay of others.
But it is important to realize that while one person may find a singular activity that deeply satisfies their needs to make money and occupy time, for others, like yours truly, it is not so easy. The things that occupy my time don't necessarily make me any money. Vice-versa, the ways in which I make money don't necessarily make the best use of my time. In fact, I would say it is completely inappropriate.
You can't put this on a resume, though:
Special Skills: Finds humor in the smallest of details.
or
Is the Shit.
Nobody is going to hire me for that. So I have to put buzz-words on my resume, like multi-tasker and self-motivated.
Sometimes in my quest to multi-task, I hit a snag, leaving me hopelessly crippled to single-task. This is a small example, but it still works. Today, while sending a multi-recipient text message (two-fold multi-tasking), I got the bright idea to leave a note for my roommates on the white board. I halted myself when I realized the message I wanted to leave contained information, including a phone number, that was held in my phone, currently being used by my other hand. Thus, I had to finish the text message before I could leave the note.
Self-motivation is what leads me to doing this. I never wrote a journal as a kid. Maybe I never thought to write because I never had an audience. Now I write for myself, but it's as if the whole world can look under my bed and read my journal at any time.
Perhaps my self-definition can only be revealed as I slowly figure it out. Perhaps my career path is a parallel of that. If I do not know who/what I am, how could anybody who's interviewing me possibly know in thirty minutes or less. That's why the interview is part of the process, so a human resources-type doesn't waste the company's precious time getting to know the wrong people. I respect that, I'm still just waiting to be that right person.
One thing is for sure, though. I certainly don't think a company has the right to picky about spelling or punctuation on a resume when they themselves cannot get their own job listing correctly worded on an already sketchy Craigslist website.
Somehow I don't think the duties for a receptionist position at a Fashion PR firm should include serving as a lesion between the office and the insurance contact, computer technician, cleaning company, etc. (le·sion [lee-zhuhn] –noun: 1. an injury; hurt; wound).
ʒənClearly this company should hire me for no other reason than to proofread their publicly-viewed job listings. I would have no problem acting as a liaison between their company and the English language. We'll have to see what they say about that after they read my resume.
posted by Leland J. Fischer at 3:21 PM
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