The ultimate job search solution: Sell yourself! ;-)

This week I read a few articles along the lines of "how the hell are you Millenials ever going to find meaningful jobs given this recession and your crappy attitudes about the modern workplace?" They didn't say it in so many words...but you get the idea.

The answer was similar in each of the three articles I read. Sell it sista'. Each of these articles talked about branding yourself, the principles of which are:

• Centering any materials you produce for your job search (resume, cover letter, portfolio, even follow-up phone calls) around a "brand" that you create for yourself. Everything, even personal and professional references, should reinforce the "brand."
• The "brand" should be something the company you're applying with wants to buy. This means that the "brand" doesn't actually have to be 100% who you actually are. It should be something you can deliver, but doesn't have to completely reflect your natural disposition.
• The "brand" should also be evident in how you apply. For example, if your brand is about being tech-savvy, perhaps a resume posted on YouTube is appropriate, or you could use one of those fancy smart phone barcode squares as a link to your professional website. You get the idea. 

Okay. I can see how this is important. Yes, you want to center what you can offer a company around their needs, and yes, you want to be consistent and creative with your application materials. However, in each article these suggestions were given after a list of incompetencies that Millenials struggle with. This list always includes:

• Millenials can't accept criticism from higher ups gracefully. 
• Millenials can't communicate as effectively as their older counterparts. 
• Millenials are "job jumpers."
• Millenials have a hard time conforming to established processes without becoming frustrated.

Well geez. Aren't we just little disagreeable balls of frustration and dissatisfaction. Overall, I think this "branding" idea is a fancy new way to talk about something that everyone does when applying for a job. You make yourself look awesome. You do essentially make a sales pitch where you are the best fit for the company and convince them to invest in you. However, each of these articles seemed to imply that Millenials need to create a brand that's going to cover up all of the above problems that don't conform so well to the modern workplace. Kind of like McDonald's did after the whole Supersize Me fiasco. Go to their website. Their brand is all about social responsibility, nutrition and creating a better world. Well done, McDonald's.

I guess I'm a little bit of a punk. I don't think that all of us twenty-somethings really need to conform. I see the problems listed above as symptoms of a working world that's becoming less relevant to today's young adults, and will be even more less relevant to tomorrow's workers if it doesn't change. This might just be my typical Millenial sense of entitlement coming out, but I don't see us settling for a work environment that seems like a silly thing of the past. I see us, as we become more present and involved in the working world, transforming how things are run. We'll see how that turns out with a bunch of arrogant, entitled "job jumpers" who can't communicate or get anything done according to protocol, at the helm. I jest, of course. 

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...and you could always post this link somewhere, or tell a friend while you're at it. Happy Sunday!