Do you ever wonder what your CV tells a prospective employer about you? Most of us do, we try to present ourselves in the best light possible, even if we have to have a little creative in the process. What about job adverts though? Could they be giving away more than they intend to about an organization and it"s culture? Could there be golden nuggets or cryptic clues hidden among those drab "Wanted" ads just waiting to give your CV or application form the competitive edge that you"ve after?
Business psychologists Merrill and Reid created the "Social Style" model in the 1960s, a psychometric instrument that attempts to predict styles of behavior. Originally intended as a questionnaire for use in sales and management roles, the Social Style model gives us food for thought by identifying 4 distinctive social styles. So what do the four styles look like? and where would you place yourself in amongst them?
The Driving Style: Very much in control of your own emotions, strong wanted and wanting to forge ahead with the task at hand, preferably right away.
The Expressive Style: Flamboyant creatures, creative with ideas and input, you love to be recognized for a job well done and adore being the center of attention.
The Amiable Style: Easy going folk, you like to create and keep harmony, supporting others, considering their well being at all times. You"re born mediators and frequently put others first.
The Analytical Style: Detailed people, serious and task focused, the people you go to when you need to get your figures right. If you"re an analyst you like the tried and tested approach with no nasty surprises.
Adapted since the 1960s, Merrill and Reid"s work on Social Styles is used broadly in work settings to get people thinking about their own style, the style of their teams and how the two can best be utilized for maximum effect and impact. But what about inanimate objects? Objects that can not answer a psychometric questionnaire with a definite "Yay" or "Nay"? Objects such as employment adverts. Might they be trying to tell us something?
This thought occurred to me while working on a "Killer CVs" workshop with practitioners from Careers South West in Cornwall. With no regard for scientific process, reliability or validity, I rushed out that very same evening to purchase the local "Cornwall Herald" in order to test my hypothesis. Eager to see if my theory would hold up to further scrutiny I sat down and began to analyze the employment adverts. What characteristics could be assigned to adverts that might begin to tell us something of the organization behind it?
Using the Social Style model as a framework, surprisingly the ads were easily categorized
The Driving Style Ad: An ad that"s straight to the point, uses specific deadlines (deadlines that are not too far away, blink and you might miss them they"re so near). These ads had an absence of "touchy feely" language and lacking information about the team or what a great, friendly place the company was to work for. "Let"s get moving" was the mantra of the Driver ad (think "American Express", "Reuters" or "Wal-Mart").
The Expressive Style Ad: Something a little out of the ordinary, standing out from the other ads, screaming "Look at me! Look at me! " distancing itself from the herd with its originality, creativity and verve. This ad wants you to know that the company is different and successful with it (think "Ben & Jerry"s", "Google" or "Innocent Smoothies").
The Amiable Ad: A pink and fluffy ad, ready with a nice cuppa if you do not make the grade. This ad gives you everything you need to know about how much they"ll look after you when you join them, how friendly the team is and how you"ll love being part of their organizational family (think "The Body Shop" or "The Cooperative Bank ")
The Analytical Ad: All you"ll ever need to know about how the job is completed, what the process is, where the company sits nationally and how successful it is. This ad will give you an exacting prediction of where you can expect to be after 1 year, 2 years or 10 as well as your chances of promotion are with them (Think "Mercedes Benz" or "Microsoft")
Professor Edgar Schein in his influential work "Organisational Culture & Leadership" identified 3 levels in every organization"s culture;
Artefacts: the things that we see when we walk into an organization right down to the furniture, the uniform, the jokes and the building.
Espoused Values: Everything that the company says it stands for, its policies, its mission statement, the things it values, holds dear to its heart and strides for as an organization.
Assumptions: hard to recognize, hard to spot, even when you"re in the thick of an organization rather than just passing through. The things that we learn subtly by osmosis about how things are done, what"s welcomed and what"s not. An organization"s assumptions do not necessarily match its espoused values. When things do not seem quite right, this is often why.
So what do Schein and "Organizational Culture and Leadership" have to do with your CV and Social Styles? Organizations and companies are living things, made up of real people, they take on a culture all of their own and it"s that culture that is reflected in those ads you"re looking at. Employment ads will tell you volumes about an organization"s "artefacts" and "espoused values", who they"re looking for and what they value. Dig even deeper and you"ll learn to spot what the social style of the organization is and tailor your CV or application form to their. Research broadly indicates that as human beings we like and prefer people who are "just like us", people who we believe we have an affinity with. Armed with your smarts from Merrill and Reid and Schein you can paint a picture that lets that company know "I"m one of you. I"m just what you"re looking for "and you"ll have a head start when completing your CV or application.
Job Adverts & Psychology - It"s a Question of Style
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