I have been interviewing people for a job this week. It is a job in the library, and to be honest, I am not sure I really care all that much who is hired. But, I have noticed one thing: I really don't like it when people are visibly trying to seem more impressive than they are. I much prefer the understated approach. I suppose this is because I make rather quick judgments about how smart someone is, and when someone is overselling himself, I think I unconsciously interpret it as a sign of not being terribly bright. Why do people try so hard to seem impressive? I think it is insecurity.
My advice to job candidates for any job: Just be yourself. You really only want a job which wants to hire you, not some fake projection of you. And if you aren't really good enough to get a particular job without trying to pretend you are something other than what you are, then look for a different job which wants to hire someone exactly like you. That strikes me as pretty obvious advice, but I find few people either follow that approach or are terribly happy when I say such things.
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ReplyDeleteHaha, just found out about your blog 5 minutes ago... I can't even believe I'm reading my prof's blog. I for some reasons have read those people's resumes and hm I don't think much about who's hired, either. But about the 2nd part of the entry, maybe you like the market to decide which job is appropriate for whom according to their abilities, but tons of people get more than what they are worth of. Why don't you think people simply send job apps in the hope that they can take advantage of market imperfection?
ReplyDeleteHopefully I don't fall into the stupid kind 5 seconds after you read this (just kidding).