Beyond Work is our line of resources for people and community leaders looking for something new and innovative outside, be it a new job, career change, or personal development outside of work.
We’re continuing our series of highlighting other authors and articles that speak to authenticity. This week, I’m sharing thoughts by Nicole Matos:
The best advice I can give you as a job candidate is to be genuine, honest, even vulnerable. In a world of hucksters and blowhards, believe it or not, authenticity sells. – Authenticity and the Job Interview by Nicole Matos
Here is a great read on Authenticity and the Job Interview.
While we are contemplating authenticity, how does this relate to the job seeker, and in particular, his or her resume? This week I’ve spent some time reviewing resume assignments for our facilitating career development course. It’s amazing how many formats and takes there are on the traditional resume. As a job seeker, your resume is the key to getting your foot in the door. So, how do you present the best possible version of yourself in two pages or less, and how can you ensure it is authentic?
Resumes are tricky. I always recommend having a master resume that you can adjust based on the position for which you are seeking. I encourage clients and participants of our course to seek out the employers’ point of view when applying for a job and crafting a resume. What sets you apart from other candidates is your authenticity. So, how can you accomplish this?
Is your resume authentic? Check out the Point Blog for more resume tips and ideas.
Guest blog written by: Kayla Riggs
“What screws us up most in life is the picture in our head of how it’s supposed to be.”
At 32 I was in a place to reevaluate my career, my wants, my life. I am a wife and a mother of two. I have been working in the traditional sense since I was 15. I worked during college, while taking a full course load. I got a job immediately following graduation. I worked up until the day I delivered my babies and took 7 weeks of maternity leave with both. That’s what was expected. I’m a people-pleaser by nature.
I always did what I believed was expected of me. I measured success by a job title and working fulltime. I always chose to work not-for-profit, even if that meant I didn’t make as much as I would in the private sector. I thought that way I’d be making a difference, I’d be giving back somehow. But I always felt there was something missing. Something was never right.
Then suddenly there I was, in a place that made me stop. It was time for me to rediscover myself. It was time for me to be real with myself. What did I want? Did I want to be a stay-at-home mom? Did I want to work part-time? Did I want to find another full-time job? I had no clue. I had already had my “dream job” early in my career but now what was my dream?
My husband has always been supportive, and he told me to do what I felt was right for me. But what was that? I believe sometimes in life we get so caught up in what is expected, in what we believe is how the world measures success that we never decide what we believe is success in our own eyes.
Now, here I am, seven months later, post rediscovery, and I am truly happy. This season in my life I believe success looks like the ability to take my kids to school and to pick them up in the afternoons. It looks like me currently working as an independent contractor. It looks like the ability to also work for a not-for-profit that I believe in because its success impacts my family, indirectly. It looks like me creating a home office. It looks like the ability to attend my children’s school functions. It looks like dinner on the table and not eating out as much. It is the ability to have control of my schedule and say what does and does not work for me or for my family.
Success now looks very different to me and for me. It took me getting real with myself, maybe for the first time in my life. I am finally being authentically me!
Will success look the same five years from now or even this time next year? Right now, I’m not sure. The only thing I do know is that I refuse to be anything but real.
What does success look like to you?
Whatever you measure success by, make sure it is real and it is you!
This past weekend the pastor from my former church in Virginia stepped down from his position due to health issues. As I watched the Indoctrination Ceremony to install the new pastor online, I was overwhelmed by my pastor’s grace and gratitude. I was inspired by his authenticity regarding his circumstances.
As he spoke of his need to step down, he also spoke of his calling to step up into a supporting role for the new pastor, someone that has been a part of the church and supported him for many years. He spoke of saying “no”, so that he could say “yes” to God’s new calling for him.
We are taught at a very young age that no carries a negative meaning and has negative results. But as William Ury outlines in his book The Power of the Positive No, if done right, saying no can have a positive impact and is necessary in order to get to the right yes.
So how can you create a positive no?
By taking the negative out of no, you keep the door open for a future yes.
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Are you living in gratitude today? Take a couple of minutes to think about what you are grateful for.
#authenticity