Tell me about yourself...?

Even though I keep a blog, which is essentially about me and what I get up to, I have to admit that writing about yourself on job application forms never gets any easier.

For the last two hours I've been filling out the "tell us about your personal qualities and why you're right for this job" section, and it's always the bit I loathe the most. Thankfully when applying for most journo jobs they only want you to send in your CV and a covering email, so when I'm facing a more formal application form I'm slightly thrown. No matter how many times I do it trying to sum up your personality on one sheet of A4 in a professional yet engaging way is bloody hard. I reckon it's tougher than any prospective feature you might be faced with, even if the brief of your feature might be to write about the sex life of a gnat................which after a quick Google search would actually prove tricky, but I bet it would still be easier than facing the 'about you' question.

I think what worries me the most when writing it is getting right the fine balance between making yourself sound indispensable, memorable and completely right for the job, but avoiding sounding like you're so far up your own arse you may choke on your own tongue. It's tricky. Today I tackled it from a removed position and imagined I wasn't me, but someone else writing about me, then went back and changed all the third person 'she's' to 'I am'. Hopefully it will have worked, but I'll look at it tomorrow with fresh eyes.

The job, in case you're interested, is for the position of Staff Writer on WI Life magazine. And yes, by 'WI' I do indeed mean the Women's Institute. Trust me, these last few jobs I've gone for have surprised me too - first for a gardening magazine (which I didn't get) and now the WI. I'm sure I'm still in my 20's right?

*Sigh* well at least that mission is done for now. Next job is learning how to retrieve my bike, which is currently stuck in SE London because my bike lock broke and now I have know idea how I'm going to get it back. Bolt cutters may be required....or someone who's fucking awesome at picking locks, and I promise I'll be there to confirm to the police that it is actually my bike and we're not just a couple of chancers trying to rob it.

Till tomorrow...

Rose C -x-