When I was a little girl, I used to love to show off. If I did well in something, I wanted everyone to know just how great I was. That new drawing stuck to the fridge – the one that Michelangelo would probably claim as his own? Yep, that was me. What about the participation award for tee-ball in the glass cabinet, next to the “Pre-School Water Confidence Attendance” certificate? Claimed.
But as we get older, this dynamite sense of self-assurance dwindles.
As children, we had this whole ‘self-assessment’ thing down pat. With limited external ideas influencing our understanding of ‘self’, it’s easy to focus on the positive things that we are achieving. Kids seem to have the instinctive ability to internally identify what it is that makes them unique and special, and then proudly mouth off about it to anyone who will listen.
As adults, however, we seem to have forgotten this key idea that could be the difference between winning the job we want and settling for the job we get.
When I first enrolled in university as a Communications and Media undergraduate, I realised that I would need something to distinguish myself in this saturated field. Jane Richardson (2000:58) states that the degree consists of 70% women, and that one in three communications graduates fails to find full-time work. Straight off, the fact that I am female is working against my individuality.
Richardson’s title sums it up perfectly – a degree in Communications and Media is:
‘Popular, but no meal ticket.’
So when it came to choosing a major, I instead chose two: Journalism and Advertising & Marketing. Two is better than one, right? Luckily for me, both majors are extremely complementary, and I feel that having both will help me to find work as an organisational writer in the public relations and marketing industry, as opposed to holding a degree in only one of these individual fields.
So what exactly is Self-Assessment?
Hicks-Mitchell (2007:50) discusses the idea of Self-Assessment as the way that, as an individual, we internally define ourselves. She goes on to explain that self-assessment:
“Means looking inside yourself and focusing on you – not in a self-centered way, but in a way that allows you to learn more about the person staring back at you in the mirror.” (2007:51)
Ultimately, self-assessment involves looking within ourselves in order to identify both key strengths and weaknesses. By identifying both strengths and weaknesses, an individual can promote their unique attributes to a prospective employer, whilst working on any weaknesses that may inhibit future employability.
Bruce Marshall (2011) reiterated this idea during his presentation, stating that:
“The recruitment process involves a judgment being made about YOU, so think about the outcome you want.”
Why is it important?
When it comes to job interviews, the whole thing is about marketing yourself. Marshall (2011) suggests marketing yourself through networking and developing your personal ‘brand’ in order to convey to a prospective employer the attributes that make you the right person for the job.
But how do you do this?
Even as a marketing student, I struggle to understand the idea of marketing myself. Don’t get me wrong, I understand the theory behind it: what am I good at, how can I benefit an organisation, what do I bring to the table.
But the actual communication between sender and receiver can become distorted through the act of promoting oneself.
In a recent class, we were asked to tell the class something interesting about ourselves. Everyone was too self-conscious or concerned with being perceived as pretentious or conceited to speak up – or worse, couldn’t think of a single interesting aspect of themselves to share. Imagine doing this in an interview, with a bunch of strangers staring at you thinking, “who is this pretentious Git?”
Drucker (2005:100) concedes that:
“Most people think they know what they are good at. They are usually wrong. More often, people know what they are not good at – and even then more people are wrong than right.”
Perhaps both Drucker and Hicks-Mitchell have an important lesson for me: my own weaknesses lie within my inability to self-assess and express my personal value.
It may be time for me to start seeing the world like a child again: what makes me wonderful and who needs to hear about it?
REFERENCES
Drucker, P F 2005, ‘Managing Oneself’, Harvard Business Review, Volume 83, Issue 1, pp.100-109.
Hicks-Mitchell, D 2007, ‘Self-assessment: Know Yourself! Harnessing the power within’, Black Collegian, Volume 38, Issue 1, pp.50-53.
Marshall, B 2011, The Role of Psychology in the Recruitment Process, lecture, ARTS301, Arts Internship/International Studies in Practice, University of Wollongong, delivered 11 August.
Editorial Advice and Input (by email and blog comments) provided by:
Gabrielle Brown
Lewis Isaacs
Nicola Rushton
Najla NoureddinFaker
Jenna Thirtle
Cheers for the feedback team!
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