A friend in the radio business once gave me a tip that still influences the way I write my column, give presentations and yes, make appearances on radio shows.
She told me, “Listeners aren’t huddled together around the radio. They’re individuals listening in their cars, at home, at work … they don’t think of themselves as ‘the listening audience.’ So don’t say, ‘You all’ or ‘As you all know.’ Speak to each person individually.”
I knew she was right the minute she said it. As a listener and reader and workshop participant myself, my engagement with any material skyrockets when I feel I’m being personally addressed. The minute the speaker slips into “you all” language, the impact diminishes.
This lesson came to mind recently as I presented classes on navigating age issues in job search. One of the dominant concerns of these participants — who are usually over the age of 50 — is mitigating the negative impact age might have on their job prospects.
As we made our way through the conversations, it was interesting to note an approach that seems almost integral to job search these days: a sense of “The Employer” or “Employers Today,” as if everyone in that category would have the same response to a candidate.
It’s not difficult to conclude that online search processes — surely the most dehumanizing hiring protocols since the mandatory drug test — are primary culprits in this picture.
This could seem like a quirk of the current environment if it weren’t for a second symptom that I observed in the classes. When we were talking about the impact of age on an employer’s hiring decision, it was nearly impossible not to frame the points in comparative language. Instead of saying “Employers might value a mature worker’s work ethic,” the conversation sounded like this: “Older workers are more reliable than younger workers.”
Disregarding whether it’s fair or even logical to compare an entire class of workers to another based only on their relative ages (no, it’s not), my real issue with this habit of thinking is the implication that The Employer would want to hear candidates describe themselves in relation to someone else.
In truth, the hiring decision will be made by one individual or a committee made up of individuals, who will be asking one person to join their team, based on what they believe that person can do for them.
Since we know both anecdotally and statistically that most hires are made outside of a competitive process — that is, managers hire people through networking rather than online — the best strategy a candidate can use is one that emphasizes his or her relevant strengths. Not those strengths as they compare to someone else the manager may or may not be speaking with.
As a job seeker, making this shift from “you all” to just “you” means two things. First, you can be liberated from trying to be better than everyone else when you contact managers.
And second, instead of trying to describe everything you can do, you only need to discuss what this manager needs done. When you make it personal to the individual across the table, you increase the impact of your message.
Here’s how this might sound. When the manager says, “Describe your experience with project management,” give a quick, one-sentence summary and an example that is relevant to that manager’s situation, followed by a question to stimulate further conversation.
“You’ll see from my resume that I have 12 years of experience managing projects in different contexts. For example, I led a team responsible for migrating 100 users from a legacy software system to a new product, which I understand is very similar to a process you’re about to undertake. Is that a project I’d be working on if you brought me on board?”
Play with this idea in your own job search and see what you think. If you can make the situation personal in each encounter with an employer, I believe you’ll have richer conversations and stand out for your own strengths, not for your comparative qualities.
