I just read my friend Amanda "Chett" Matchett's blog about being authentic [here's the link if you'd like to check it out for yourself: http://chett.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/be-authentic-online-especially-on-facebook/] and I'd like to respond to it. So perhaps you should check it out so you know what I'm rambling on about.
I totally agree with what Chett is saying, about the homogenizing that goes on for potential applicants in real world situations. I'd be a hypocrite to say I'm not conforming in some ways by starting this blog and guaranteeing there's nothing incriminating for potential future employers to find about me on the interwebs. It's something that is ingrained in us through the fear-mongering of the people in Career Centers and positions of authority in our lives: if there is something on Facebook or anywhere else online that you wouldn't want your grandma/mom/whoever to see, it's probably something you wouldn't want an employer to see either.
It is important to retain your individuality in a world of complex chaos, but it's hard to stand your ground when the possibility of employment hangs in the balance. But I would say that pictures of drunk debauchery don't exactly scream individuality either. It's critical to stay true to yourself even in the face of scary employers, but there are other ways to go about doing that.
And it's especially intimidating to do so when everyone with any authority on the matter is saying the complete opposite and those in the position to give you a job or not are all looking for the same cookie-cutter image.
But Chett brings up another valid point: If you modify yourself to get a job, then that job is probably not one that's going to be satisfying. If they don't want you for who you are, then that company is probably not one you'd want to work for in the long run anyway.
So to end, I leave you with the existential words of Slug: Stay gold, Pony Boy. Stay true, outspoken.
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