being candid, getting a job and hemingway

 

“The writer’s job is to tell the truth.” – Ernest Hemingwaytruth speak

 

Ok.

I am probably one of the last people who should be giving resume writing advice.

I abhor puffery, embrace honesty & truth, delight in candor and tend to believe the best of what a person has to offer can never be found in a resume.

 

I was cleaning out a folder and I pulled out a cover letter and resume from a young creative person seeking a job in an advertising agency.

I kept it because … well … it was memorable <and, yes, I believe we did interview the author at the agency I was at>.

 

Here is what I kept.

 

<cover letter on one page in front of resume … and examples of some work>

 

—————————

 

 

when it comes to my work

                i’m a failure.

my pen is used for cross outs.

my trashcan holds wadded up papers.

my delete key is used more often than all the others.

combined.

 

but my failure rate is consistent.

and I’ve learned that all I have to do is fail more often;

get the strikeouts out of the way

 

so I can get to the successes sooner.

 

 

as far as the agency/client relationship goes

                     i’m a pessimist.

agencies lose clients because they are optimistic.

new business is won and the agency exhales.

their hard work paid off; their goal achieved.

now comes the honeymoon period.

 

meanwhile, the client mind is filled with doubt.

did they make the right decision?

will the agency live up to the presentation?

if not, divorces are easy to get.

 

the agency’s optimism in how they view their relationship with their client is what sometimes costs them that relationship.

a stout dose of pessimism toward the new business relationship would keep the agency nervous and working hard.

 

like they did for the pitch.

 

 

i think about advertising and

                   i’m full of contempt.

watch tv. the advertising bar is set pretty low. at first this was encouraging. i could definitely compete in an area where most everyone is inept.

 

then i read my first communication arts publication. i had no idea advertising could be a visual riddle, or an essay comparing two things that never shared a sentence together. i was inspired.

 

but I can’t watch tv anymore. my iq drops with each irrelevant analogy. every gimmick. i can actually feel the points disappearing. a local car salesman sucks up to 5 iq points at one time. anything representing a baby, dog or gorilla drains even more. i am now disgusted.

 

most ads look like bad sequels of other ads. and I hate that. but they outnumber us. and it seems they’re not going anywhere. unless we start killing them off.

 

——————————

 

Well.

I believed this was a great way to position yourself as candid and with an opinion <plus I love the fact the author didn’t use any caps>.

 

I love the fact the only bolded words are “I’m” and “failure, pessimist, contempt.”

 

I love the candor, brutal <but ambitious> opinion and brevity of thought.

 

I love the risk taking contrarianism … will someone only remember failure, pessimist, contempt?

 

 

Anyway.

The resume cover.

 

Will it piss some people off? Sure.

Will some people think it is disrespectful? Possibly.

Will many people be taken aback <because they were responsible for some of the ‘ineptness’ the author was referring to>? Absolutely.

 

resume hemingwayGoing back to Hemingway … I find that being candid can often destroy you in the business world:

 

“The best people possess a feeling for beauty, the courage to take risks, the discipline to tell the truth, the capacity for sacrifice. Ironically, their virtues make them vulnerable; they are often wounded, sometimes destroyed.”-  Ernest Hemingway

 

I am not suggesting being naïve … yet … I sometimes wonder if we are rewarding the correct things.

 

We tell people to ‘be positive’ when discussing themselves <because people like to work with positive people>.

 

We tell people to focus on results <but remember:  “Never confuse movement with action.” – Ernest Hemingway>.

 

 

But we don’t seem to tell people that attitude matters … character matters … and candor matters.

 

Yeah.

I know.

I would suck at giving instructions for interviewing and writing resumes.

 

But at least I can quote Hemingway.

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Written by Bruce