Personal marketing-ugh!

[herbgeek]

I am job hunting, and updating my resume on Dice, as well as my profile on Linked In. I know I need to do it, but I really hate the marketing of ME. I just don't like talking about myself, and my accomplishments. I always feel I could have done better (even when I did the best I could at the time).

At the same time, I'm skeptical of other's promotions. I know one individual, who works in marketing, who over rates her own contributions. But I must admit, she's got a very successful spin going on. She's also been big in the social marketing aspect of herself, and even on Facebook, everything she does is the best and every body loves her.

I want to come up with a happy medium between not talking about myself at all (which won't help me land a job) on one end, and exaggerated and constant marketing on the other end (which would make me not like myself).

I think my resume does a pretty good job of promoting me, but I'm sharing that with people who likely have an interest. I have a harder time just putting myself out there in social marketing arenas, or in chatting with new acquaintances.

Anyone have any tips or stories to share? I know I probably need to change my mindset from talking about your accomplishments = bragging.

[iris lily]

As a hiring manager I can tell you that I want to know 1) will you come to work regularly and 2) When you are at work, will you do what you are suppposed to do?

Your post makes me think you are far too caught up in things that don't matter.

[treehugger]

I agree that talking about oneself in a "marketing" manner can feel uncomfortable and awkward, but I disagree that it's unimportant to do so when looking for a job. After all, talking about yourself in a job interview, to a prospective employer, is actually the "easy" part.

But the opportunity to interview for a job doesn't just happen, and networking, basically telling everyone you know and everyone you meet that you are looking for a job, is what really makes things happen. The key to networking is doing so in a way that feels authentic to you.

Two things that helped me a bunch the last time I was laid off:

1) Taking a job search strategies 2-day seminar at the local community college. This helped me improve my resume (which I converted to experience/function instead of chronological and this made so much sense for me), beef up my confidence level, and really focus my searching.

2) Develop a 15-second "elevator pitch" about myself. Plan out (and practice! so it becomes natural) what to say when the conversation comes around to, "What are you up to?" or "What do you do?" The more people you tell that you are looking and what you are looking for, the more chances you have to talking to the right person who can give you a lead.

Good luck!

Kara

[kitten]

This is interesting, because my therapist and I were just talking about this yesterday. I have a job - it's a public facing position that requires inhabiting a certain role and playing it to the hilt, in order to stay visible and viable in my field. I feel self-conscious about this, because my personal wish has always been to be real, to reject the phony, to embody authenticity, etc. What has happened around that, though, is that I tend to collapse in hard times - when the job gets tough, when I'm caught between our customers (for lack of a better word) and management, or when I'm in a personality conflict with a co-worker. I haven't really had a strategy for dealing with worst-case scenarios...And unemployment has to be the worst of the worst :)

Long way of saying - your situation is similar to mine, in that you're having to inhabit the role of someone who feels great about yourself. So play the part and talk yourself up. Draw attention to your achievements. You're in competition with others in a tough economy (we all are), so it's vital to be able to identify what's different about what you do, and why it's better than what someone else is doing. This can feel weirdly aggressive, and it sort of is. But think of it as a game. It can be fun! (That's what I'm finding out, and I'm the most introverted dork you'll ever see)

And when you take off the mask and night and chill with your friends, you can go back to being you! You will always be there :)

[HKPassey]

As a hiring manager I can tell you that I want to know 1) will you come to work regularly and 2) When you are at work, will you do what you are suppposed to do?

Your post makes me think you are far too caught up in things that don't matter.

And out of curiosity, how does that play out when you have 25 or 50 candidates where the answer to both questions appears to be "yes"? How do you make your choice then? As a job hunter, it would be helpful to know.

With something like 75% of hiring managers saying that they do a social media background check when hiring, I think herbgeek has some good points. For myself, I look at my LinkedIn profile as a place I can extend my resume and give hiring managers a more complete look at what I bring to the table, things that might not work into a formal resume so well but still say important things about my qualifications. The competition is fierce, especially if you've got anything going against you (age - er, excuse me, "experience" - extended unemployment, credit problems), and like it or not the idea of marketing "brand you" is here to stay for the foreseeable future. If you don't leverage social media at least a little bit, you're in danger of being dismissed as a dinosaur, branded as "old" whether you are or not.

Several interviewers in my own job search have been ecstatic (seriously, no exaggeration) to see my LinkedIn URL on my resume.

!Splat!

[HKPassey]

I am job hunting, and updating my resume on Dice, as well as my profile on Linked In. I know I need to do it, but I really hate the marketing of ME. I just don't like talking about myself, and my accomplishments. I always feel I could have done better (even when I did the best I could at the time).

At the same time, I'm skeptical of other's promotions. I know one individual, who works in marketing, who over rates her own contributions. But I must admit, she's got a very successful spin going on. She's also been big in the social marketing aspect of herself, and even on Facebook, everything she does is the best and every body loves her.

I want to come up with a happy medium between not talking about myself at all (which won't help me land a job) on one end, and exaggerated and constant marketing on the other end (which would make me not like myself).

I think my resume does a pretty good job of promoting me, but I'm sharing that with people who likely have an interest. I have a harder time just putting myself out there in social marketing arenas, or in chatting with new acquaintances.

Anyone have any tips or stories to share? I know I probably need to change my mindset from talking about your accomplishments = bragging.

If you're in an industry where Dice is an option, I doubt you have any choice but to do some social marketing. I really relate to your dilemma, though. I hate the idea that I have to be continually marketing "ME." I think the overrating chick sounds like a nightmare to work with, although that's far from uncommon (even on traditional resumes, they tell you to figure that the vast majority of applicants are padding their accomplishments. Sheesh.) The advice on having an Elevator Speech is sound, and if you work from a good template it can actually be not too intimidating. As for expressing/marketing your accomplishments, you might visit resumesthatresumecareers.com for some ideas. I know the author personally, and he's the real deal. Some of his advice might help with that nagging ghost of "I could have done better," too. (Boy, do I know that one well!)

Some of the social media marketing doesn't even have to be that much of a contortion: it can be as simple as finding a couple of groups on LinkedIn that you have an interest in, and participating there much like here. You don't have to say a thing about yourself or your accomplishments, just participate.

Good luck. I just sent in application number 700 Tuesday. Sigh.

[iris lily]

And out of curiosity, how does that play out when you have 25 or 50 candidates where the answer to both questions appears to be "yes"? How do you make your choice then? As a job hunter, it would be helpful to know.

With something like 75% of hiring managers saying that they do a social media background check when hiring, I think herbgeek has some good points. For myself, I look at my LinkedIn profile as a place I can extend my resume and give hiring managers a more complete look at what I bring to the table, things that might not work into a formal resume so well but still say important things about my qualifications. The competition is fierce, especially if you've got anything going against you (age - er, excuse me, "experience" - extended unemployment, credit problems), and like it or not the idea of marketing "brand you" is here to stay for the foreseeable future. If you don't leverage social media at least a little bit, you're in danger of being dismissed as a dinosaur, branded as "old" whether you are or not.

Several interviewers in my own job search have been ecstatic (seriously, no exaggeration) to see my LinkedIn URL on my resume.

!Splat!

You are right, IF ONLY I could predict in advance exactly what attendance would be I'd be a genius. So I have to settle for questions about work they've done and assess their interest and aptitude for the job I have open. Make an educated guess, in other words.

But I don't check social media sites for candidates strengths, I don't have any interest in that.

[ApatheticNoMore]

Can't really help you, I think social media is beyond asinine. It is good to have some realistic idea of where you stand as far the competition in your field. I mean a realistic assessment might be that many (most if you are really good) people employed at your job are worse than you, and well they are EMPLOYED. (If most everyone is better than you in your field, consider switching fields ;)) Therefore you have value to add. Not a brag, just being realistic to yourself about your value instead of putting yourself down. This is of course no guarantee you will get hired and you might have to brag more for that.


If you're in an industry where Dice is an option, I doubt you have any choice but to do some social marketing.

Are you talking tech jobs? I really tend to doubt that. It mostly seems to be recruiter mediated and they might use LinkedIn but definitely not exclusively.

[lhamo]

One nice thing about linked in is that you can ask people who have worked with you or who you have worked for to post "reviews" of your work. I'm not sure how seriously employers take those, but it is one place where you can have others sing your praises if you are uncomfortable singing them yourself.

Do you have any kind of documentation from your previous job noting/commenting on your accomplishments -- what is sometimes called a "yay, me!" file (I think that comes from Martha Beck). That is another place you can look for something more objective -- you can say "praised by a top volume client as "the most effective project manager/account manager/whatever we ever worked with at XYZ Corp" or whatever comment they actually made. (Note: Another thing that really helps with building a supportive network is to give that kind of feedback regularly to people you work with both inside and outside your place of employment.)

Another thing to think about -- who do you have in your professional circles who you know are on "team herbgeek", the people who will come to bat for you and really help you out. CAn you ask them for objective feedback. Sometimes having people you know verify that you are representing yourself accurately as they see you can help you feel more comfortable with singing your own praises.

I don't think you need to go over the top, like the social media climber lady seems to have done. She will probably fall hard at some point. People eventually figure it out when someone is all shadow, no substance. You have accomplished things -- you should feel good about them. You have skills -- you should let people know what they are. Don't be embarassed about it, no reason to be. But don't try to be somebody you are not. Kitten, shout out to you here. I am betting your self-effacing personality is something people are drawn to in you. I don't think you necessarily need to lose that. Martha Beck is a great role model, as is Pam Slim. they are both pretty good at the whole "here I am, flaws and all, love me or leave me, and here's what I think" approach and it works for them -- at least with me! I love people who admit they aren't perfect. they are usually great colleagues. So your therapist may be right that you need to create some kind of new mental structure for dealing with your new role, but I don't think it means trying to be someone you are not.

lhamo