Get Real!

I just finished ranting on my own blog about a loaf of bread. I know! Who gets angry about a loaf of bread? But this loaf was a liar. Here's an excerpt from my post:

I finally settled on a loaf wrapped in brown paper. The packaging was designed to say 'earthy' and 'healthy' and 'organic.' That brown paper made me feel good about my choice because it looked as though it would be better for the environment than the plastic wrappers on the other loaves.  

But when I opened the brown paper wrapping this morning, I found more wrapping inside and this inner wrap was made of the same clear plastic as all the other loaves on the shelf. That plastic wrapper showed the brown paper up for the fake that it is. The bread company isn't trying to protect the enviornment - they're just trying to make me think they are.

What does this have to do with your job search?

Like Bille Sucher, I'm a sucker for American Idol. A few weeks ago, country singer Kenny Rogers spent some time coaching the young singers. At one point, answering a question about the secret of singing success, he said that all performers are really three people. The person they think they are, the person the audience thinks they are and the person they really are. He said it was important to make sure all three were as close as humanly possible. We'll skip over the irony of the fact that Kenny seems to have completely remade his face and just focus on the wisdom of what he said, because he got to the root of the problem with my bread. It wasn't really what it was pretending to be and once I found out the truth, I felt deceived.

It's very easy to inflate your resume. It's easy to make claims that no one can check on, or to exaggerate accomplishments, or to lie about your education. But in the end, you will be most successful if you can identify and communicate what's authentically great about you.