Tip of the Week – Stop being Schizo
I hear people tell me all the time “I have a wide variety of talents”, “I don’t fit into just one job title”, “Companies think I would get bored easily”, “Companies don’t know where to put me” or a wide variety of other sayings along that expression.
Anyone who has worked for a company for more than 5 years has had to take on many hats. Most of these hats do not belong to their job title. To add further confusion, many people are at a point where they don’t want to go back to do what they used to do. Instead they would like to use their talents or interests to do something different.
UNFORTUNATELY, companies don’t typically hire someone who is a jack (or jackie) of all trades. They have one particular role they are trying to fill and they want to find a person who can fit that one particular role.
I was helping a company hire a Customer Support position. I had found them what I thought was the perfect candidate. I sent over the candidate’s resume with all the proper information and credentials. Unfortunately, the hiring manager saw that this candidate had worked in real estate for a little while while they were also working in tech support. The hiring manager didn’t want anything to do with this candidate because he thought that the candidate did not exhibit the behavior of a TRUE Tech Support person. I did my best to convince the hiring manager otherwise but they would not hear of it. In hindsight, I should have taken the real estate part out of the resume. However, I thought it added color and flair. Instead, it just ended up causing confusion.
That hiring manager was a little bit extreme in his thinking. However, it’s not that far from the reality of what happens when someone goes through a giant stack of resumes. If you compare two resumes side by side and one of them ONLY talks about why they are a perfect fit for the role and the other resume refers to how they are a fit but also how they can be a fit for other things, the hiring manager will pick the first resume every single time. It’s less work. It’s less confusing. And you do not have to waste time figuring out how that person might fit in your organization. The only exception to this rule is when the Hiring Manager doesn’t really know what they want the role to be – in which case someone who can wear different hats is a benefit.
Then the question comes up – “What to do I do about Linked In” where anyone out there can read about me. My opinion – figure out what it is that you really WANT to do. Make sure that your profile reads that you are perfect for that role that you want. In the paragraph at the top you can explain your ideal role and also indicate that you are good at other things as well. Each job section should include why you are a fit for your “perfect” role and then have a subsection that indicates why you fit other roles as well.
When you are out networking, you should pick one hat to wear for each event that you are attending. Trying to explain the 100 roles that you previously filled just becomes tiresome for the person who is listening to you. It’s okay if one day you’re a Project Manager and the next day you are a Technical Sales guru. Just pick one person to be that day.
If you are STILL completely confused and don’t know where to even start to sort out your hats. Well, that’s where I suggest that you get involved with Austin Career Coaching (www.AustinCareerCoaching.com). That’s where we shine! We’ll help you figure out which hats to wear on which occassions and how to showcase each of your hats in the best light. I know that was a gratuitious plug for one of my other hats. However, I really don’t have time to explain the whole process in a blog. 
The Job Seeker Tip of the Week is published each week in the Job Seeker Newsletter.
