Often it is not as simple as turning on the “authenticity switch” or turning off the “performance switch.”

Like Shrek, we are also onions (remember “Ogres are like onions. Onions have layers. Ogres have layers. We both have layers”). We may need to peel away several layers of mask and performance to reveal our core selves.

So how do you peel away those layers?

A few thoughts:

Becoming more conscious of how you feel. Can you tell the difference between when you feel more versus less authentic? How would you describe those two different states? What is different about how one feels versus the other?

Setting clear intentions. It helps to get clear on what you want and then when you enter a particular situation to set a clear intention to do that. For example, simply saying to yourself  “I am going to be authentic at this party”  helps you to make a commitment to yourself and makes it more likely that this is how you will be able to behave. (thank you Leigh Anne a wonderful coach and colleague for thoughts she has shared with me on setting intentions).

Starting small and safe. It can be a lot easier (and less risky) to inch towards more authenticity with people who you already trust and feel safe with.

Those are just three simple strategies for increasing our authenticity – what are things that you have done to peel away the layers and be more authentic?

Seems it is not so uncommon for the truth to be stretched on resumes.

And it may be particulary popular right now, as people like Dave Dineson, of BackCheck, a company that other companies hire to conduct employment pre-screening, are reported to believe that this dishonesty increases when the economy sours. Desperate times induce desperate measures.

But these desperate measures can so easily backfire. Companies can do background checks and have several ways of verifying actual work history and educational credentials. Even things that aren’t so formally documented, things like responsibilities in a past job, can be checked during interviews (it can be hard to dupe experienced interviewers once they start zeroing in on an area that seems suspicious). And references can be called for verification as well.

I bet some people probably think it is a risk worth taking, and have gotten job offers and not been found out.

But getting “found out” about dishonestly is only part of the problem with this practice. However desperate you are feeling, does it help to feel like you’ve been dishonest on your resume? Job search is a time when you need the most confidence you can muster – and sacrificing your integrity isn’t usually a confidence-booster.

The most interesting part of this article for me was how it got me wondering about what we are defining as honesty or dishonesty.

A few types of dishonesty on resumes that we can probably all agree on:

-       Fabricating a degree or other academic credential

-       Indicating that a degree was received, when you’re actually still a few, or even just one, credit short

-       Making up work experience

-       Making work experience sound bigger and better – for example saying you have supervised 10 people, when it was only a couple

However, I was surprised to read this “Older candidates sometimes leave out the early portion of their careers because they don’t want to show their age or have a resume that appears too stale or lengthy, Mr. Davis said” (Mr Davis is a recruitment consultant).

This is dishonest?

Isn’t it accepted/assumed that resumes are targeted? And targeted usually means you pick and choose what to say based on what you believe to be most relevant. This is why “camp counsellor,” “catering assistant,” and “gas jockey” no longer appear on my resume.

I’m not trying to pull the wool over anyone’s eyes and I’m not worried that the dates will emphasize my age (not that that is yet a concern as I am still just mid-career). Older stuff can be just not relevant.

And, even if it is relevant, is there room to list everything? In addition to my high school jobs, I leave off early “professional” related jobs as well because I’ve done more interesting, more recent, and more senior roles since. Is it dishonest to emphasize the most recent parts of your work history?

And why is this comment directed at older workers? Yes, they can be concerned about revealing their age, but might they have other good reasons for leaving off the early parts of their career history? I get the feeling that leaving off early jobs may not be seen as dishonest when I do this, but may be seen as dishonest for older workers (there may be some subtle discrimination happening here).

What do you think? Is it dishonest to leave off the early portion of your work history?

I started my series of posts on authenticity by looking at our definitions of authenticity. I shared that the core of my own definition is that authenticity is that powerful feeling of being real, and its corollary - the absence of wearing a mask.

With more reflection, I’ve realized that there is another important component of authenticity to me, a component that is critical if we want to not just feel authentic, but make authentic connections with other people.

That other component of authenticity is a genuine openness to others.

Often, part of our motivation for being more authentic (both in job searching an in life in general) is the ability to have better and deeper connections with other people. These more meaningful connections happen when we are being more of our authentic selves.

But there is more to an authentic deep connection than just revealing ourselves – there is also the need to be open to seeing and appreciating the other person. How we treat the authentic self that others share with us is vital to making that connection. If we are not open, but are closed, judgemental, dismissive, and/or lacking in compassion, not only may we injure that possibly fragile self that has been shared with us, we certainly will not be building the trust and comfort that is necessary for a close connection.

Sometimes the discussion about authenticity can feel a bit self-serving. It is all about how to be ourselves so that we feel better. And while that’s important, we are not islands. I’m wondering more and more about what kind of responsibility we each have for how we treat not just our own authentic selves, but also how we treat other people’s authentic selves.

What do you think? How is being open to others related to authenticity?

I’ve also been personally reflecting a lot on authenticity (as I’ve finished up writing the text of a new book, Authentic Networking and continue on Interviews as Authentic Conversations) and I think there is a lot to explore about the concept and practice of authenticity, so I’ve decided my theme for my next few posts will be authenticity.

A recent conversation in a LinkedIn group for career services professionals asked members
“How do you define authenticity?” and this got me thinking.

I’ve looked up definitions in dictionaries and they use words like “undisputed credibility” and “genuiness” but I find them lacking. They might be defining the concept, but they don’t capture the complexity and the power of the experience of authenticity.

To me, authenticity has two parts – one is the presence of something, the other the absence.

First, I feel authentic when there is the presence of feeling real. I wish I had better words to describe it, but I recognize it when I feel it. There is a rightness to it, a comfort, and sometimes a fragility.

Secondly I feel authentic when I feel the absence of a mask, or manufactured self. There is a freedom with this, and sometimes it also feels a bit exposed.

These two pieces speak to the core of my own definition and experience of authenticity.

How would you define and describe your experience of authenticity?

What We Talk About When We Talk About Personal Branding: The Polish Experience in Transitioning to a Market Economy

Here in America and the rest of the developed, Western world, personal branding as an individual marketing tool has become essentially commonplace. We don’t even question it anymore. We don’t think about its philosophical, psychological, or social ramifications, which is why I was pleasantly surprised to find this blog, one that actually offers an alternative method to successful job seeking.

So what happens when a society that does not even understand the concept of personal branding finds itself suddenly immersed in it? This, I think, is a fascinating question, and one that cultural anthropologist Elizabeth Dunn answers in her book “Privatizing Poland: Baby Food, Big Business, and the Remaking of Labor.” The book chronicles Dunn’s field research in a Gerber baby food plant that was established in Poland shortly after its transition to a market economy from a socialist state.

From her experiences with talking to executives, managers, factory workers, middle men, and workers’ family members, Dunn takes an incredible nosedive straight into the tensions that exist between a capitalist and socialist society. While political ideology is a matter to be left to the politicians, and something I don’t care to discuss,  I find it most interesting that Polish employees who wished to achieve management positions in the company had to completely remake who they saw themselves as people, in order to conform to neoliberal, marketing ideas. They had to find ways to sell themselves, to exhibit what hiring managers called “flexibility.”

In one part of the book, Dunn investigates interviews that American recruiters conducted with Polish job candidates for middle management positions. Dunn explains how the buzzword “flexibility” figured heavily in recruiters’ criteria for hiring. The perfect manager, the Americans surmised, would have little job experience (since experience under the old statist system was a liability), and would demonstrate intangible qualities like “self-confidence,” “sophistication,” and “initiative.”

These qualities all seem like part of the typical, business-speak lexicon to us, but to the newly initiated Polish workforce, these words were a revelation. As a result, during the interview process, these Polish, according to Dunn, “used changes in dress, personal possessions, and personal space to display their supposed transformations from a socialist being…to a capitalist being…By signaling this inner transformation, managers hoped to demonstrate that they had the ‘right attitude’ and were ready and willing to learn new Western management ideas.” (Dunn 71).

More tellingly, sometimes Polish managers misunderstood the image they were supposed to portray, to an extent that is in some way hilarious, but also sad. One Polish manager, in an attempt to impress the higher-ups, hired strippers for a company party, accidentally wore striped ties with checkered suits, and constantly made inappropriate jokes. Eventually he hired a personal stylist from New York City to help him overcome his many faux pas (73).

The rest of Dunn’s book is definitely worth the read, even if only to get a deeper insight into how Western management practices, as well as consumer marketing strategies, had such a surprisingly wide-ranging effect in all aspects of a post-socialist society.

But in terms of current management practices in the Western world, how do we, as people (we are, after all, people before we are anything else, whether we are employees, employers, or consumers) reconcile the rather depersonalizing effects—most dramatically demonstrated in Dunn’s book—of business techniques that we ourselves created? And not only that, but how do we combat these techniques when they are so deeply entrenched in the way things are run?

For starters, Cathy Keates’ blog and book are promising forays into the different ways job seekers can overcome a system that is slightly absurd, while still working within the system. I, for one, believe that sincerity really will get you far, even though there is an expectation that job seekers must proffer some sort of quasi-phony sales pitch.

 And you know why? Hiring managers and recruiters are people, too, and even though they may have set criteria to look for when hiring, communicating your real self will be refreshing. It will establish a connection with a potential employer that no “technique” can. It is my most sincere hope that the future of job search is headed in this direction, if only to extract and expand what little humanity is left in the world of business.

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This guest post is contributed by Angela Martin, who writes on the topics of Career Salaries.  She welcomes your comments at her email Id:  angela.martin77@gmail.com. 

While in the past I’ve referred to the pain of branding ourselves in our job searches (branding is for cows isn’t it? And honestly I hate to think of cows being branded! Ouch!),  I just saw a fantastic  new article called Brand You? (see pages 16-17) specifically about branding and social networking.

Interestingly, this recent article was published in the same magazine as the previous Brand You article, but note the new punctuation.

That question mark in the title is important. Brand You? isn’t more promotion for the branding approach, but instead it asks whether, regardless of all the hype about branding,  it is actually useful and healthy to be a brand.

The article points out many interesting concerns about branding – the whiff of manipulation, the trace of insincerity and lack of honesty, and the hint of self-interest over interest in others.

Consider this thought from a digital literacy consultant who is quoted in the article “I think employers are less interested in your personal ‘brand’ … than what kinds of contributions you are making to your field, to others, to the world. What do you bring to an organization besides your carefully constructed self?”

What indeed. It is not our constructed brands that connect us with people and opportunities, it is ourselves – our interests, our questions, our curiosity, our real characters. The “constructed self” can actually get in the way of making a connection with an employer. If they can’t get to the real you behind the brand and access who you really are, it will be difficult for the two of you to form a real connection.

With the constant chatter about personal branding, it can be hard to not jump on the bandwagon and get branded. But some caution may be useful here. Will branding yourself help you to connect with people, or will it get in the way?

I love to see more dialogue and criticism of these sales and branding approaches starting to happen and spread. Brand me? No thanks.

I regularly hear from job seekers that they want to be genuine and authentic when they are job searching, but find that the ways in which some employers set up the interview process leaves them feeling like they have to put on perfectly polished persona and do their best salesperson routines.

So, when I saw a blog posting about “Humane Interviews” from Jessa Chupik, a career coach who is a former recruiter, I was really excited.

She describes an interview panel who, instead of intimidating candidates, or being distant or overly formal, were welcoming, warm, and genuine. By being genuine themselves, they let the candidates know that they were important, and that the interview was not a gruesome exam, but a pleasant conversation for learning more about them.

This “humane” approach seems to have created an environment that helped interview candidates be more genuine – and I can only guess that it must have been a pleasant and effective way for both parties to get to know each other better, and assess whether there was a good fit.

Humane Interviews – love that idea!

Have you had experiences with “humane” interviews? Did they allow you to feel more comfortable and authentic?

That said, I like to think of Valentine’s Day as a chance to pause and reflect on who and what we love. In this spirit, I bring you thoughts on how to send “a Valentine to your career” with some Q & A with Christine Fader, aka “CareerCupid”.

Cathy: Christine, your book CareerCupid is about how “landing and loving your dream job” is like finding your “dream guy.” How are these similar?

Christine:  What got me connecting the two was realizing how much the processes have in common and when talking to clients and friends, I also kept seeing and hearing one theme:  YEARNING.  Just as we sometimes yearn for a wonderful romantic relationship, we also often yearn for a great career.  We spend so much time at work that, while not required, it can be more pleasant if you actually like what you do.  I use the analogy of romance because in both romantic relationships and careers, there’s some dating involved, sometimes euphoria or dejection, and through it all, there’s the importance of figuring out who you are and what you’re really looking for.  But in every romance and career, it often takes a bit of trial and error before we find the “right” (or right for right now) longer-term partner.  It’s also important to remember that while planning can help, happiness—career or relationship—isn’t always achieved simply because you controlled everything.  Just like in relationships, it also sometimes involves serendipity, timing and being open to finding something completely unexpected that you never thought you’d like. 

Cathy: It’s a neat idea to think about our career exploration as similar to the process of ‘looking for romance.’ If someone is not currently working, what kinds of things might you suggest they be doing to explore career options?

Christine:  Not working is a great time to explore a new career path using tools from the dating world known as “speed dating”, “one-night stands” and “transition guys”.  Career speed dating is another way of talking about networking and it is especially excellent for people who are not working because we sometimes tend to “cocoon” and become less visible when we’re between jobs.  In speed dating, you seek out opportunities to meet people and explore information about work that is mutually interesting.  Use keywords around your interests to find people online, in phone books, in magazines and newspaper articles.  Remember, you’re dating at this point, not job searching.  Sometimes this “speed dating” will lead to an offer of a “career one-night stand” which is where a person invites you to follow them around for part of a day so you can really see what the work is like.  If you think this work is interesting, you might want to move on to “transition guy” which is another way of describing volunteer, short-term or contract work.  This allows you to try out the new work for a short time without making a long-term commitment.  All of these dating tools can help you recognize, appreciate and decide to commit to a dream job when it comes along.

Cathy: What if we’re in a career right now that we are not in love with – what can we do?

Christine: Many people are doing work that’s “okay” but not “wonderful”.  If you get to the point where your current work has lost its sparkle and you’re unhappy about that, consider the following tips:

1)  Collaborate with others on a project – because you’re sharing the load, you often get to choose the bits you find more fun and are skilled at

2)  Take time off – sometimes we forget to give ourselves permission to take vacation or even short-term unpaid leaves to re-charge. 

3)  Get some rest – try scaling back in some areas of your life that you don’t really enjoy.  Use this time to relax, rejuvenate and re-charge in ways that remind you that your work life is not your whole life

4)  Recommit to the work – sometimes work slides down our priority list when other things keep us busy.  Revisit your priorities and shuffle things if needed.   Approach this like a second honeymoon.

5)  Decide if career divorce is your only option – if, after trying all the other suggestions, your job can’t be saved, turn to career dating to start exploring new options.  Be sure to do this outside of working hours so that you aren’t “cheating” on your current job.  You may find new and exciting opportunities.  Or, you may gain a new appreciation for the work you’re currently doing.

Cathy: And what about if we are in a career that we DO like – what can we be thinking about this Valentine’s Day?

Christine: My best advice?  Schedule a career “date night”.  Just like in romantic relationships, it’s easy to forget that you need to actively take care of your career relationship so that it stays happy.  A career date night will look different for everyone but might include one or some of the following ideas: 

1)  Find a mentor in (or outside) your field and meet that person once a month for dinner or coffee to trade inspiration and advice

2)  Continue your education in the field by attending courses, seminars, or conferences.  Listen to speakers to get you re-inspired and re-focused on what you do.  This will not only build your knowledge but help you stay current and will also re-vitalize your work energy

3)  Organize a regular social gathering of colleagues where you can blow off steam and appreciate each other as people

4)  Cross-pollinate with similar organizations or work.  Invite them to learn about what you do.  Peek into what they do.  See where you dove-tail.

5)  Volunteer or work at one-time events to help you gain appreciation for what you do and to tap into more interests and skills you may want to fold into your work in the future.

Cathy: Those are great suggestions - I love the idea of a career “date night.” Now onto my most important question - what are you doing for Valentine’s Day?

Christine:  As you may have gathered by my book and company name, I’m pretty gushy on a daily basis – no holiday required.  Still, I never turn down a good excuse to be grateful for all the romance—personal and career— that I have been lucky enough to find.  I think I’ll start Valentine’s Day this year by breaking in the new heart and flower-shaped pancake moulds I got for Christmas!  Raspberry pancakes sound romantic, dontcha think?

Cathy: Raspberry pancakes sound delicious! Christine, thanks for your Valentine’s career advice!

I am going to be doing a “meet the author” thing from 3-3:30pm on Monday January 25^th. I’ll be in the exhibitor hall (exactly which table I’m not sure but there will be signage).  

Communicating through the blog is one thing, but having a chance to meet in person quite another. Hope to see you there!