Legacy

You are more empowered than ever before to take control of your professional life and succeed. You are also more empowered to screw it up.

I see a lot of tenured writers publishing articles about “personal brand.” They write about how it is important to be proper on social media sites. They write about the significance of networking. They write about resumes.

I think you should ignore them. They’re old.

As Generation X graduated college, corporations weren’t hiring people. They were hiring interchangeable parts. A personal brand meant having “voice” in a cover letter. In their time, jobs grew on trees. In ours, we’ve got to be competitive and learn how to stand out.

The employment game is changing faster than ever. Personally, I’m not going to take advice from those playing in their fourth quarter. We’re the free agents of the new economy, and it’s up to us to redefine what it means to be successful in today’s America.

Sometimes being successful will require more than just a personal brand. It might involve operating as your own public relations firm. That’s what Matthew Epstein did.

Epstein is a young product manager and digital strategist in California that wanted to work for Google. So, he created www.GooglePleaseHire.Me. “Google Please Hire Me” was a full advertising campaign featuring his candidacy. The site is designed to look like the Google interface with a full-length commercial, which is a four minute YouTube video with a clever script and professional-level production quality. It has more than a half-million views.

Epstein didn’t end up working for Google. However, he accepted an offer from a San Francisco start-up called SigFig. According to his blog, he also turned down offers from “two household-name tech companies.”

Graeme Anthony is a PR professional in England. Graeme created an interactive video resume that allows potential employers to navigate through different video clips featuring his skills and experience. The string of videos made BBC News and received international attention. Soon after, he noted on his YouTube channel that he had been hired.

The bar has been raised for job seekers everywhere. Throughout our careers as students we’ve been asked to get good grades, construct one-page resumes and attend career fairs. We’ve been assured this is the path to an accomplished career. However, it is obvious that success comes from doing the things we’re not asked to do.

The reason we are not regularly asked to do things that are creative and outstanding is this: Creativity and outstanding can’t be systematized. The traditional hiring process is very much a system, and it is the only possible way to handle thousands of applicants at a time. Unfortunately, it degrades each candidate to a single piece of paper in a tall stack on a recruiter’s desk. Is that how you want to be evaluated when your career and livelihood are on the line? I don’t think so.

In 1997, Tom Peters wrote an article in Fast Company called “The Brand Called You.” At that time, the mainstream media was focused on the rising stock market and fast-growing corporations. In 1996, corporate merger and acquisition activity had set all-time records.

Despite all that hype, Peters emphasized an arguably more important trend. He recognized a shift in how individuals — not businesses — would be able to better operate in the rapidly changing and growing economy. His point was that people were suddenly given the tools to become their own “brand.”

What was allowing this to happen? Peters cited the emerging Internet, and of course “that other killer app of the Net – email.” The Internet in 1997, while primitive, allowed professionals to open communication channels across the world and showcase portfolios and resumes to large audiences.

If Peters was excited in 1997 about the Internet affecting the job market, we should be ecstatic in 2011. Personal websites, YouTube channels and Twitter accounts are all highly effective ways to display how awesome you are.

But why is this so critical? Why is it important to stand out? To be concise, there are fewer jobs to go around.

Forbes published a report in 2009 stating that computers and technology are increasingly replacing “middle man” jobs. We are seeing that as a very consequential reality today. No longer can you coast through your schoolwork and grab a menial accounting job. QuickBooks does those jobs now. No longer can you take your pick of the abundant sales assistant jobs that used to exist. Salesforce.com does those jobs now.

Job market anxiety has reached peak levels. Any day of the week you can turn on the news and hear analysts talk about how bad our job market is. It’s hard to walk across campus without overhearing a conversation between graduating seniors that are nervous about their future.

So who’s getting hired? Matthew Epstein and Graeme Anthony are. People who can adequately and creatively advertise themselves are not only getting hired, companies are approaching them.

You don’t have professional video equipment or computer science experience? Don’t fret. Do a simple Google search on “infographic resumes.” Don’t let anyone tell you resumes have to be one page, Times New Roman, 12 point black font on white paper. Resumes can be designed, and those that are can be a huge asset to their owners.

The age of average is over. Average can’t compete in our new economy. You have to be good at what you do, and you have to be good at making people realize you’re good.

Jay Z said, “Remind yourself: Nobody built like you, you design yourself.”

Every generation is known for some sort of economic change. Will our legacy be excellence and innovation? Time will tell. In the meantime, let’s go make some money.