You’re in a job search. You’ve got big tasks to do. Customizing your resume. Crafting interview stories. Preparing a pitch. Figuring out where and how to network. Talking about yourself, with pride and enthusiasm.
With every task, you’re trying to show you’re a fit.
You’re trying to fit in.
A client of mine said – she is trying to pass for normal. Like a creature contorting itself into a cage. She doesn’t think in bullets. She isn’t comfortable bragging. She doesn’t use metrics to talk about her successes. She isn’t a STAR story. And, if she’s really honest, she doesn’t feel like a star all that often these days. The job search has her feeling a bit less sparkly and confident.
I once wrote a blog post called – Resumes for Real People. I must have been lying because resumes are not written for real people. More and more, they are not written by people at all. Resumes are written to get through a screen, most likely powered by a computer-generated formula. Our resumes are about as far from human as the machine we write them on. They are a gaming tool. We work to match up keywords. The writing requires a formula. STAR stories and metrics, phrases that show our skills and how they lead to great results.
We need to speak the screen’s language. It’s not normal. For sure, it doesn’t feel authentic.
Like it or not, resumes are a tool and we do need to learn to play the game. S,o there is the contortionist part of a job search.
There are chances to be human in a job search and I think we need to put our hearts and best energy into those tasks. As a job seeker, my philosophy was – my resume is dry but I am juicy. I am going to write the most persuasive cover letter that I can (which in the field of development is an essential skill). I am going to be articulate and engaging as I do outreach and network and interview.
I put effort into finding my voice.
And – this is key – I learned the career vocabulary of the organizations and roles that I was pursuing. I talked their talk. I knew my audience. When in Rome, I spoke Italian. LOL. The point is that I showed that I understood their mission, values, and vision. When it came to language and culture, I could fit in. But not in a contorted uncomfortable way. In a way that felt okay to me. I could apply my skills and be myself in the role. I could also show that I understood who they were and what was important to them.
There was no chafing for me because the values matched mine.
Before you start squeezing into your next job, how about looking at what actually fits you and what is uncomfortable and false? If it’s the language of resume and STAR stories, then practice telling the stories so you can find language that is true to you and speaks to the organization as well. Remember that the resume may never feel like you. Then, look at the language and culture of the organization you’re pursuing. Can you talk their talk with ease? Do you feel compatible? Are you trying to pass or are you being genuine? If you can adapt and talk their language, you may be a natural fit.