Career and Leadership

Using Your Professional Personality to Get a Job

We all want to be "who we are" and project our unique personality to the world. However, there are times when you may want to be more reserved and – professional. If you are looking for the perfect job your professional personality will help you snag it. You have many unique facades to your personality one of them is professional. You probably don't want to use it when you are just hanging out with your friends on a casual Friday night get together. Your professional façade should show the "you" for whom employers are frantically searching.

You begin this process with the rigorous and time consuming effort that goes into a truly phenomenal resume. There are many sites on the Internet that can help you with this essential professional you tool. Sometimes it is preferable to ask an experienced writer to create your resume. Choose wisely, this is not an inexpensive or inconsequential task.

In addition, why don't you take some time to objectively appraise the impact your email address may have on a boss or prospective employer. Remember, she may view your email address before you ever have the opportunity to charm with your great personality and phenomenal career skills. First impressions are exceptionally powerful.

When I worked in higher education, I saw numerous examples of inappropriate email addresses. We can certainly have fun with an email address and say something meaningful or funny about who we are with our email address. Though, I would not advise using that cute address for your career or for job hunting. Before you go to Gmail or AOL to get a new email address, give some serious thought to your professional self and how you want to be perceived. I have several email addresses that I use for various career objectives.

Have you given much thought to the message on your phone (both land and cell)? I have called job applicants and been exposed to horrendously bad music for several minutes before I could leave a message. What do you think this Machiavellian phone torture tells a prospective employer about the applicant? Unless he or she has the same taste in music and too much free time, the message does not encourage a favorable impression. In this tight job market we need a professional edge and we try to capture that edge in everything we do. This includes the little things we may not have considered such as phone messages and email addresses.

We at Personality One are cheering for you as you search for that perfect job. The following links may assist you with suggestions to help you stand out as an awesome professional when perspective employers communicate with you. Hang in there and Good Luck!

We at Personality One are not endorsing these sites. We are merely passing them on as places to begin your research.

Some Resources

How to Write a Resume.Org
Professional Emails and Voice Mails
Choose Email Addresses Wisely