Savvy job hunters probably have a prepared answer for it but if I was a recruiter I wouldn't put much value on a prepared answer, designed to look good. I think I would find out more if I asked a person what they like to read or what their favourite TV show is. I would certainly make some snap judgements (rightly or not) based on food choices.
Of course, job interviews are not the only place where a catchy profile or condensed biography are used, loads of bloggers have an identity statement: some witty, some factual.
I never wrote one because I thought that anyone reading here often enough would know what they needed to and nobody else mattered much but I have, over the years, wondered how to describe myself.
Today I read a profile saying "Home schooling, Jesus loving mama" and didn't care to look much further. Even though I was once attracted to the idea of home schooling and identify as Christian, "home schooling, Jesus loving" is just too....too... Christian right? Bible belt? wholesome?
Then there is Ursula, defining herself right up front in her blog's title "Bitch on the Blog" and immediately attractive for taking the piss out of herself.
There are a lot of bloggers who describe themselves by their relationships and while I love relationships, (some of them) I always think it's good to define a person by their self: what do you like to do? how do you relate to the world? what would define you if you were alone in the world?
Next time I face the "tell us about yourself" question I probably still won't have an answer but I will know what I don't want to say.
Not a question I find easy either. And mostly, I would rather fly under the radar anyway. I find others MUCH more interesting than I am.
ReplyDeleteAn interesting thought provoking post. Thank you.
I'm sure you are more interesting than you think!
DeleteMine was: I am permanently perplexed.
ReplyDeleteI still am!
To be honest, I'm not fond of the question... it's like trying to find a strap line that encapsulates a whole personality.
Sx
That would be a hazardous answer in a job interview!
DeleteA great test of their humour, though
I am a retired old curmudgeon living off his son's earnings now and prior to that lived off his old man's earnings. Still managing quite well to keep body and soul together.
ReplyDeleteRamana, your spelling is bad, that should be "retired old C-O-M-E-D-I-A-N"
DeleteI am underwhelmed and overfed
ReplyDeleteI'm hearin ya!!
DeleteMe? You talking to me? I am a Moonpie eatin' RC Cola drinking crankcase venting engine of thought. I was born on a mountain, raised in a cave. A bear was my pappy and a lion my mammy and when I growl the world trembles.
ReplyDeleteSo uh why do you ask?
Trying to avoid growling crankcases?
DeleteI do love the Moonpie eatin' RC cola drinkin' description, but then I grew up eating and drinking those. (Confession: I really like the banana Moonpies with the new salted caramel coming in a strong 2nd )
DeleteI guess if that's the question at a job interview, what they really mean is, tell us how you're the perfect person for this job and how you have all the relevant skills and attitudes.
ReplyDeleteI guess my instant self-summary would be "Full of awkward hang-ups but always making the most of life and refusing to wallow in self-pity or inadequacy."
Nick,
Delete"Tell us how you're perfect for the role" generally comes later. I think it is meant as an ice breaker but it doesn't really work.
I just thought of mine "more interesting than you think"
It's quite a while since I've seen what used to be (and may still be) known as meme posts. When I started blogging around the same time as you they seemed very common. I rarely got involved I have to admit.
ReplyDeleteHi Graham,
DeleteThere were also the awards that would be issued to all and sundry and posted in the sidebar!
I'd forgotten about those. I declared myself an award free zone back in the day but YP recently awarded me his annual Laughing Horse award. I accepted it graciously but didn't display it.
Deletei am curious but only for the nature
ReplyDelete“Tell us about Yourself…..”
ReplyDeleteWell, first off, you need to know that I like to slap the shit out of people who say such stupid things and then sit back with smug condescension as if daring me to please them.
“Even though I was once attracted to the idea of home schooling and identify as Christian, ‘home schooling, Jesus loving" is just too....too... Christian right? Bible belt? wholesome?’”
I would assume that the emphasis wouldn’t be on learning difficult subjects but on learning Old Testament views of life and the universe and calling it science.
Snow,
ReplyDeleteI just thought it was a poor ice breaker but you are so very right: smug condescension daring us to please them. On the knocker, my friend.
I know one Christian homeschooler who has produced well rounded critical thinkers and I know one other who has produced arrogant, rude, barely literate misfits. i try to judge homeschooling by the first family :)
“I just thought it was a poor ice breaker but you are so very right: smug condescension daring us to please them.”
ReplyDeleteThat’s how it strikes me. Open-ended questions are meant to test the applicant’s ability to figure out what it is that he or she is expected to say.. The interviewer sometimes go on to ask what the applicant’s faults are, but one would have be an idiot to tell them, so the “right” answer would be to say that you’re overconscientious, tend to make your job the most important thing in your life, etc. It’s such a degrading game to play that I’m just glad that I don’t have to go through it anymore because it really does piss me off that that’s the best employers can do.
When I was asked my faults I said "i'm human" and smiled. He didnt think it was funny
DeleteHmm. I'm so glad I don't have to try to impress anyone anymore. I won't bother describing myself, just say that the tag line for my blog Cheerful Monk was "Happiness as a Spiritual Practice." The first time I used that phrase someone wrote, "What have you been smoking? That's the dumbest thing I ever heard in my life!" So I kept it, for myself at least.
ReplyDeleteNo one else seems to be interested in that subject so I've since changed my tag line to Life as a Shared Adventure. That works, too.
Well maybe my motto does say something about me: "Stay curious and open to life. No matter what happens keep learning and growing. Find what you love and find a way to share it with others." It's enough to keep me busy.
happiness is a spiritual practice! someone was just annoyed that they were being asked to take responsibility for their own state of happiness.
DeleteGood to have you here, CM
“someone was just annoyed that they were being asked to take responsibility for their own state of happiness.”
DeletePeople who are happy generally credit themselves for their happiness, but how do they know they deserve such credit?
Interesting question. I'm way too many things to fit in one box. :D
ReplyDelete