The Only Thing on Your Resume that Matters to a Smart Person

 

I finished writing a long, in-depth entry about the discussion that ensued from yesterday’s TechCrunch post.
Then I deleted it.
I deleted it because a lot of people just weren’t getting the point. So, instead of going all in-depth and being overly meticulous (as is my habit), I figured I’d just come right out with the goods.

What really matters

Intelligent people really don’t care what’s on your resume. In fact, intelligent people don’t really give a damn about formal interviews, resumes, or anything of that sort. Sure, your portfolio matters, but even that’s secondary to the number one, be all, end all factor. It’s the one thing that matters above all else to any truly smart person with whom you’ll ever do business. What is it?

It’s you. It’s everything about your character. It’s every emotion you represent. It’s the reflection of your passions on your character. It’s how you represent yourself—verbally, physically, mentally, and socially.
It’s you.
Really good, really smart people actively seek out those with whom they share an intrinsic kinship. The capitalists among them are constantly on the lookout for those who stand head and shoulders above the crowd not only because of everything they represent now, but also because of everything that they could represent.
Just like Major League Baseball scouts judge talent on the basis of perceived potential, intelligent people rate others with the future in mind. They only basis they have for determining your future worth is your current character.

What really matters for YOU

No matter who you are or what you’re doing, people are going to try to classify you, to try and lump you into some kind of quantifiable group. While I think it sucks, the fact is, it’s human nature. We use devices like this to help us understand things; otherwise, we’d spend all our time running around, trying to catch up with all the anomalies and inconsistencies.
You want to go further? You want to catch the attention of the other intelligent people out there who will listen to you and appreciate you because of who you are? You want to step outside the classification that successfully stifles about 99.9% of our ridiculous corporate culture?

TODAY'S LIFEGUIDER SAYS:

It's Not My Fault!

When is the last time you spoke those words? We associate this phrase most of the time with children; however, many teens and even adults are guilty of committing this same sin. We love to blame others even when we know for a fact that it is our fault. Our first reaction is to point our finger AWAY from ourselves and TOWARD someone else! This is a product of our society which has become an environment filled with people who do not take personal accountability for their own actions. We find all kinds of excuses for why we are the way we are or do the things we do. One of the greatest recipients of this blame is our parents. Parents get the blame for everything a child does. Although in some cases this may be true, God has something to say about blaming others and personal responsibility. Ezekiel 18 gives us an account of such accusations. The Israelites were justifying and rationalizing away their own personal responsibility by using a popular proverb at that time, “The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge.” They were basically saying that their fathers had acted and all they were doing was reacting to what they did. “We are this way because of our fathers’ sins.” I love God’s answer to their scheming and false opinion. God says, “As I live, saith the Lord GOD, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.” God stops that lie dead in its tracks. We may be influenced by others; however, when it comes down to it, each one of us will answer to God for our self! We see this in Romans 14:12 where it says, So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. We need to rise up and start to take responsibility for our own actions and quit blaming them on everyone else. From this point on, determine that you will take responsibility for your actions. God will be pleased with your attitude and actions when you do! We need to learn to say: It’s my fault Lord, and I’m sorry!

CATCH THE NEW SCOOP

To my followers,

This month I wanted to talk about authorial voice, as it is something very important for writers to have and develop.

At last year's ACFW Conference, when agents and editors were asked what they look for in the writers who query them, a lot of them said, "Strong voice." This was usually met with a mixture of nods, rolling eyes, and looks of confusion. The confused-looking people were either too shy or embarrassed to ask the real question on their minds, "What in the world is voice?"

You know that's a good question by the diverse array of answers to it. Here's how I'd define it: A writer's voice is the unique style they use to tell a story. It's the difference between James Patterson and Stephen King, Cornelia Funke and Donita K. Paul, Louis L'Amour and Zane Grey, John Flanagan and Rick Riordan. Each of those authors writes fiction, but if you read all their books you'd be able to tell them apart after reading only a page or two of their future works.

Whether you know it or not, everything you write—whether it's a tweet, a Facebook update, or a paper for school—is written in your own individual way. Writer's voice is like your personality or your thumbprint. No one in the world has the same thumbprint as you, and no one has the same voice.

But what exactly is style or voice? It's made up of things like syntax, diction, punctuation, character development, and dialogue. It's the distinct flare you write with. Some writers are funny. Some are dark. Some love sweeping descriptions of setting. Some enjoy scaring the willies out of their readers.

When you're first starting out, you're probably going to copy the style of your favorite authors. But that's okay! The first story I ever wrote was basically LOTR fan fiction (which, I hope, will never see the light of day). Your voice needs time to develop, because it's formed by each and every experience you go through. The way to develop voice is by reading and writing as often as you can. Find out what you like and what you don't like. You might try imitating one of the masters, just to study how voice works.

Anyway, I hope this helps. :)