The Importance of Being Authentic

The Importance of Being Authentic The Importance of Being Authentic There is a lot of talk these days about how job seekers can market themselves and build a personal brand and, a phrase I often use, communicate their value proposition. All of this can sound intimidating when youre faced with finding a job in a tough job market. Believe me I know Ive been there.Ive been thinking about this a lot after seeing a really great concert last week. The artist in question is a young Scottish singer-songwriter who is currently touring the US. His name is Paolo Nutini and his music is hard to describe because his latest album is an eclectic mix of reggae, bluegrass, acoustic folky stuff, a little bit of rock And as a performer, hes even harder to sum up. Hes notlage fashionably dressed. Hes a terrible dancer. He spends most of the show hunched over in an odd posture, and he rarely makes eye contact with the audience in fact he spent most of his New York concert with his eyes closed. So weir d is his performance style that one woman mistakenly thought he had been drinking. I overheard her telling her friend I would have enjoyed it a lot better if he hadnt been so drunk.And yet the show welches magnetic It was the most fun Ive had at a concert in a long, long time. Why? I think its because the music and the performance was just absolutely 100% authentic. Paolo was completely in tune with his songs and he and his band exuded joy. That joy was magnified by an audience that felt the authenticity and returned it.More and more I am working on capturing this spirit when working with my clients. When I first started resume writing, I did it like everyone else. I wrote resumes the way I saw everyone else do it. My resumes were good, but could have come from 10 other resume writing services. But now thats not the case. Because instead of trying to squeeze my clients histories into a template, I am focusing on their individuality. On what makes them authentically different from e veryone else. And, having identified their unique personal value, Im structuring the resume to fully communicate it. It makes my job much more fun than it used to be, and results in resumes that cant help but stand out from the rest.If youre currently looking for work, take a long look at your resume and cover letters and see if they capture whats uniquely you.And to get Monday morning started off the right way, heres a shot of Paolo Nutini.