Micro-resume: selling yourself in 140 characters

[shootingstar]

--in 1 tweet.

I hope this dumb fad just dies out. I don't know how in the heck to squeeze in an accurate representation of self in 1 tweet. (Was this 140 characters?) I could have done it age 23, when so green and innocent. :)
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/the-hot-button/a-one-page-resum-forget-it-try-selling-yourself-in-140-characters/article2035581/

[bmccasland]

Might work for a chimney sweep, but what would one tweet for a job as an accountant, project manager, engineer, where there's more to the job than a license and years of experience in that particular field?

But then what do I know, I've never tweeted anything, nor to a subscribe to any tweets. The tweets I like all come with feathers. :rolleyes:

[ultraviolet]

As someone who gets almost all of my work through social networking of one kind or another, I don't necessarily think this is a "dumb fad." In my field, if you aren't participating in the community and putting your thoughts and ideas out into the world for others to see, comment on, and even argue with, you will quite simply be overlooked for the truly interesting work.

That said, other than posting if/when I have windows of time available for new projects, I've never tried to craft a "micro-resume." So for fun, I just wrote one. This is a modification of what is posted as the bio/user info on the Twitter account I use for professional purposes. (Which is not the same as the accounts I use for personal tweets or for totally anonymous whiny/angsty tweets.)

Here it is, in 125 characters:
Information Architect. Relentless Researcher. User Experience Nerd. Marketing Cynic. Making experiences suck less since 1998.

Edited to add: The point of this kind of thing wouldn't be as the primary communication method of your professional history and qualifications. It's to get the attention of a recruiter, hiring manager, or decision maker. It's just another communication channel, and for some fields, participating isn't optional if you want to keep working.

[shootingstar]

I liked everything except
Making experiences suck less since 1998.

. I know I should use this language just so Generation X-Y is supposed to view me more hip or current. But it's just not my style. I guess I might use my cycling habit/ lifestyle schtick, right? :p I'm quite certain already that is why some folks perceive me as "younger".

But would "suck" make me a more effective, communicative manager with the other generations?

Maybe it's easy to lob a $1 million budget proposal to senior managers up through the chain.

There's long-term currency and value how one presents oneself to the world. And some people never forget. Never.

[jessmarimba]

Eh. I don't really see the point of Twitter. And it's certainly not relevant at all to my field.

And as whatever generation I'm supposed to be, a manager using "suck" doesn't make them hip or cool, just less adult. :)

[lph]

I liked everything except . I know I should use this language just so Generation X-Y is supposed to view me more hip or current. But it's just not my style.

I think the point is to sell who you are, not imitate a style you're not. I thought it was funny, and to the point. But I speak like that, so it appeals to me.

I can't see myself applying for a job with a tweet any day yet. But I enjoy writing challenges, and if I wanted a job that required an attentiongetter like that I'd have fun with it. Reminds me of the thread we had here with six-word novels.

[ultraviolet]

You shouldn't use any language that doesn't represent who you are. I'm not sure why anyone thinks they need to dress themselves up to appeal to a group of people they wouldn't want to work with anyway.

In my circles, I'm known for my frank talk and cynical attitudes. It's almost a brand. I took a part of my personality that I actually have no ability to suppress, and put it to work for me. If a company is doing something that their customer base would describe as "sucky," I tell them that. I don't coat it over with more polite language, because that doesn't drive home the point that they need to get in order to make the sometimes painful decision to change. If the words need to be more colorful than that, I also have no problem with going there.

That style doesn't work for everyone, and here's the important bit: I'm perfectly fine with that! I only want to work with the kinds of companies that want to work with me. I have plenty of work, so I don't need to go after projects that are a better fit for other people.

[shootingstar]

You shouldn't use any language that doesn't represent who you are. I'm not sure why anyone thinks they need to dress themselves up to appeal to a group of people they wouldn't want to work with anyway.

In my circles, I'm known for my frank talk and cynical attitudes. It's almost a brand. I took a part of my personality that I actually have no ability to suppress, and put it to work for me. If a company is doing something that their customer base would describe as "sucky," I tell them that. I don't coat it over with more polite language, because that doesn't drive home the point that they need to get in order to make the sometimes painful decision to change. If the words need to be more colorful than that, I also have no problem with going there.

That style doesn't work for everyone, and here's the important bit: I'm perfectly fine with that! I only want to work with the kinds of companies that want to work with me. I have plenty of work, so I don't need to go after projects that are a better fit for other people.


Great..more power to you.

Let us know if the language/ brand /attitude wears well when you're 50+, 60+, 70+ yrs. old. You're right: One is retired by then.
I have yet to hear a flower power generation folk (I guess that's boomer or nearly boomer. I dunno.) still use "groovy" regularily/often or even at all.

[Pax]

Great..more power to you.

Let us know if the language/ brand /attitude wears well when you're 50+, 60+, 70+ yrs. old. You're right: One is retired by then.
I have yet to hear a flower power generation folk (I guess that's boomer or nearly boomer. I dunno.) still use "groovy" regularily/often or even at all.

Umm, I do. But then again it suits me... I've been told if I were any more laid back I'd be in a coma. ;)

I also say "suck" in communications at work, mostly because I don't change my language to fit different occasions. My chances of success in corporate America are zero I'm guessing. :D

[Crankin]

I might say suck with a colleague, in private. Once I got to know my clients better, depending on who it was, maybe. Not in a team meeting, ever. Not when I was a teacher, either.
I had a few clients who swore incessantly this past year. It wore even me down. The f word becomes meaningless. This is coming from me, who used to be called Tilly toilet mouth. I cleaned up my act when my kids got old enough to understand and then relented a little when they became older.
Good thing that I am not in a field that requires social networking. I do use Facebook, but minimally, and thankfully, medical professionals have privacy rules to adhere to. I don't even like to send an email about a client to another therapist, but some people do. So, no need to share my thoughts with anyone.
I'm known as pretty frank, also, but I guess, in a slightly different way. I don't believe in sugar coating, but different rules for different professions, I suppose.
I could not describe myself in 140 characters, after 30 years of teaching, going back to school, and looking for a job now.

[Geonz]

Suck is such an interesting term... people of younger generations tend not to consider its derivation when using it, and the derivation isn't as to-be-gasped-at as it would for 50+ folks.

I talk to communicate, so I'm constantly modifying how I phrase things -- I don't use others' voices, but I do try to be mindful of my audience. It's not to suck up to 'em, so to speak :) -- but to communicate better.

My tweet to sell myself would be a link. Fewer than 140 characters; if you want to know me, you have to get past the surface. I'm afraid I *do* have trouble presenting an accurate first impression because I never quite know which facet of me is coming around on the guitar...

[Irulan]

Take twitter out of the discussion and think about how to sell yourself in one or two sentences. My professional organization has us do this all the time. It teaches you to represent yourself succinctly - especially if you have a non-mainstream niche or specialty. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this and it's certainly not dumb. It's a very good excercise even if you just talk to people about what you do.

[emily_in_nc]

Take twitter out of the discussion and think about how to sell yourself in one or two sentences. My professional organization has us do this all the time. It teaches you to represent yourself succinctly - especially if you have a non-mainstream niche or specialty. There's absolutely nothing wrong with this and it's certainly not dumb. It's a very good excercise even if you just talk to people about what you do.

Well said!

[Trek420]

How about this: My current job sucks, yet is so demanding, challenging, technical and exacting that it prepares me for anything you need me to do ... in Seattle

[ultraviolet]

As far as Twitter goes, I think it's important to keep in mind that it presents a very specific context. The chances that recruiters are going to ask an E.R. nurse to "sell" themselves in 140 characters for a job are pretty slim.

The jobs that are going to be promoted in that particular way are going to be for people who don't just play in that space, but who have spent a lot of time thinking about and experimenting with how it can be used for things beyond personal communication. The original article that was linked used social media and community manager roles as the examples. Of course those people should be able to craft something attention-catching in 140 characters or less, because that's going to be part of their responsibilities if they get the job! They would also need to not be the kind of people who would think it a "dumb" idea.


Great..more power to you.

Let us know if the language/ brand /attitude wears well when you're 50+, 60+, 70+ yrs. old. You're right: One is retired by then.
I have yet to hear a flower power generation folk (I guess that's boomer or nearly boomer. I dunno.) still use "groovy" regularily/often or even at all.

I'm not sure where you're getting the bit about retirement ages from, but I never said any such thing. Since I didn't say that, and you don't know anything about me or what I think about retirement, I'm left to assume that you are projecting your own ideas about how others perceive age onto me. Thanks, but the condescension is unnecessary and I don't need anyone else's baggage to carry.

I can point to people in my own profession in the 50+ age group that use similar language. There probably aren't many in the 60+ group, but that's mostly a function of the newness of my field. Actually, I'm at a professional conference right now where far more brazen language than the usage of the word "suck" has been used in various presentations and workshops...verbally and on screen, and by people older than myself. So, at least in my professional circles, language isn't a function of age. In fact, I would say that the younger people that I've worked with have been the ones who are most careful about their language. It's only after some amount of experience and success that most of my peers seem to feel able to speak freely...or that after some number of years of fighting the battles that we fight, and seeing the ridiculousness that we see, we get fed up enough with it that we no longer care to sugarcoat anything.

I can also think of more than one former co-worker and several management sorts who did use words like "groovy" and other language that would have been categorized as slang for their generation. I worked at an extremely conservative company for several years, and my boss there happened to have long hair, an earring, had a lot of "crunchy granola" tendencies and considered himself a bohemian...all of this while getting dressed in a suit and tie every day to come to the office. None of those things stood in the way of promotions or increased responsibilities within the organization, despite the fact that they were well outside the norm for the company. Maybe I've just worked for more open-minded companies than most. *shrug* Who knows?

What I do know is that we shouldn't create sweeping judgments just because something doesn't fit into our own particular experience of the world. The world is a more interesting place than that.

[shootingstar]

My current job sucks, yet is so demanding, challenging, technical and exacting that it prepares me for anything you need me to do ... in Seattle


I like that Trek!

Ultraviolet: I was raised by a mother who swore alot..in Chinese. It's not pretty. That's all I have to say.

I also report to a manager who does use sh*t often. She has 12 people reporting to her. She hasn't used s*ck yet. Probably just not part of her vocab.

She and I are....librarians by training. But that's not our jobs for the organization that we were work for.....we have both moved into business analsysis and entreprise-wide content management systems.

So ....we do fit the norm? :D Yea, sure some llibrarians with a profile in the world, do use "suck" ....just for effect in their speeches/presentations, just to break the stereotype.

You mentioned you were a direct person in style. I have been assessed as a manager in other organizations...as shooting from the hip, abit too directly. Some of MY sarcasm, irony was totally misinterpreted and worked against me.

Maybe that's why I can tolerate certain management styles if I understand what happens on the job that causes present manager's frustration and anger. The manager does tend to be direct, ironic and saracastic...which really only shows continuous anger, etc. Not good, not healthy. (I suggested to her, carefully, maybe exercise to de-stress. She told me she lives right by a bike path.)

I have learned my lesson. So "suck" away. :p

But then other things have happened in my personal life, which probably have tempered my style a great deal ..things that have nothing to do with work but have made me realize it's just easier...to be myself, and for work, the very best of me on the job.

[Trek420]

... we shouldn't create sweeping judgments just because something doesn't fit into our own particular experience of the world. The world is a more interesting place than that.

+1. Those in the job market right now whether unemployed, underemployed, relocating can (depending on industry, company) face subtle or not so subtle discrimination based on age. I'm using all the tricks to give my resume a digital face lift. Don't even mention the land line, nobody uses one, only the cell. The previous 2 careers; souse chef, art director? Don't directly mention them, just the skills. It's too far back. College yes ... don't say when.

In the old days (here Trek shakes her cane "you kids get off my lawn! I'm trying to figure out how to fax my resume") one never mentioned "hobbies". Now since sadly I'm more active than coworkers half my age yeah, sure; I bike, hike, do martial arts. :cool:

Posting to Twitter seems another digital hurdle to prove I'm "with it". Ooops, old jargon makes me seem "old". Gotta watch the buzz words too.

[shootingstar]

In the old days (here Trek shakes her cane "you kids get off my lawn! I'm trying to figure out how to fax my resume") one never mentioned "hobbies". Now since sadly I'm more active than coworkers half my age yeah, sure; I bike, hike, do martial arts.

Posting to Twitter seems another digital hurdle to prove I'm "with it". Ooops, old jargon makes me seem "old". Gotta watch the buzz words too.


Instead of resorting to s*ck, Trek, I have mentioned my hobbies (art, cycling, etc.) in my resume and I included some of my blogs so employers know that I can actually create stuff with social media and it is another skill set (with all that writing, marketing stuff).

yea, some employers did read my blog stuff. It becomes social lubricant in job interviews. That's why I choose not write too jargony /inflammatory blog articles ...because employer can trace me.

Did it make a difference for why I was chosen (after 18 months of unemployment)? I know the sort of skill sets the dept. wanted, but also the "fit" was probably helpful. Several other staff in the same dept., are physically active too. So skills, experience and workplace "fit" is important. So the hobby stuff sometimes is part of that "fit" to gauge the real personality of the person beyond the facade of the interview personnae that the person presents during the job interview.

The director for the division, under the umbrella of the bigger business unit where I am, is a mountain biker.

Believe me in your 40's and up, to be physically active, IS important than the s*ck /hip language.

[emily_in_nc]

How about this: My current job sucks, yet is so demanding, challenging, technical and exacting that it prepares me for anything you need me to do ... in Seattle

I love it! :D

[Crankin]

Well, not only do certain things not fit into my place in the world, they also do not fit into my profession. Or the one I was in before. In my new world, I am considered computer literate, which is a joke. In the two places I interned, there was more than one clinician (usually male) who could not do email or type. Hand written notes are the norm. Some people (not all my age) are looking for other things to do before 2014, the advent of digital medical records. So, in human services/healthcare, one does not have to know anything about social networking because we don't want our clients to know anything about us.
I am in the same boat as Trek. My resume has been sufficiently doctored to only show my jobs since 1992; not even my first job in Massachusetts. It may look like I was someone who is in her early 40's and/or was a stay at home mom. Dates have been left off of my BA and first MA degree. Age is definitely a plus in my new field. I talked to the director of career services at my university and asked her about this point blank. She verified the above about older is a plus in my field, and also said that my demeanor, obvious fitness, and my resume information about being a bike trip leader are huge plusses, not just for an older person, but for anyone. I do feel uncomfortable about putting hobbies there, as it seems "personal", but if it helps a hiring person see me as a whole person, I guess it's OK.
I don't think I use "old" jargon and no one pegs me as "old." Having to swear in order to seem hip seems, well, just silly. My kids, who are in their 20's don't swear at work. Even the Marine, who well, doesn't swear like a Marine anymore. I know that "suck" does not have the connotation it had in 1969, but I kind of see it like when people use the word "putz." They think it means "idiot," until I tell them the real meaning in Yiddish.
I'll probably never, ever use Twitter and neither do my kids. I am on Facebook and perhaps, will join Linked In. My son in the Marines is very anti Facebook. DH, who is in the software field and manages over 200 people, all younger, does not Twitter and although he has a Facebook page, thinks it's evil.