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Personality Sold Separately
May 13, 2009 | Tagged blogging, job hunting, personality, social media, tips | Leave a Comment
Many times when graduates are applying for jobs, their skills and accomplishments are extremely similar to a majority of other candidates. In such cases, organizations look for something that makes one candidate stand out more than the others; this extra something may be an internship with a prestigious organization, or community involvement for something they’re passionate about. Being that most applicants in today’s market are bound to have something unique and noteworthy on their resume, there has to be another variable to the employment equation. And there is. It’s called personality, and I’m not talking about the difference between an introvert and an extrovert.
The definition I’m referring to is “a distinction or excellence of personal and social traits; a person of importance, prominence, renown or notoriety.” And, believe it or not, others mostly perceive your personality based off of informal interactions, such as Facebook and Twitter, more so than professional accomplishments, like promotions or job titles. No matter how many movies he starred in, Ashton Kutcher was not a personality the world could understand and relate to until he built his massive Twitter following. With the ease and convenience of social networking sites, building a personality has become simple for anyone to do, but also calls for much more caution given the unforgiving nature of the Internet. Once something is sent into cyberspace, you better be ready to face up to the consequences.
The best way to develop your personality is to blog. Sure it’s a trend and everyone is doing it. But there’s a good reason for it; people love to hear what other people have to say, and thus, people love blogs. Not only can a blog share your story with the World Wide Web, but it can showcase your rock star writing abilities to your future employer. What you write about on a consistent basis can also give great insight to what kind of team member you will make, so employers love to see the personal side of potential employees. This is also a good reason to keep your blog professional and appropriate. Beyond being a great tool for marketing your personality, blogging is also a great skill to have in today’s ever-changing media landscape. With more and more journalists losing their jobs due to the economic downturn, you want to be as knowledgeable as possible about the new possibilities for media and communication.
The most tell-tale sign of your personality is what others say about you, so only give them good things to say by being genuine and sincere. Always strive to be the person everyone will nominate for employee of the month.
Even if you don’t have time to blog or overhaul your social media habits, you do have time to be a good person. Not only is it good for yourself tomorrow, but it’s good for the world today.
- Krystle Perez