Photo courtesy of great scence from "American Psycho"
A few weeks ago, while attending MediaPost’s Email Insider Summit in Park City, I found myself in a very interesting conversation with Loren McDonald (Silverpop) and Alex Williams (eROI). The topics of conversation swung from music to the naughty words of email marketing to how people define themselves. The last topic is what got me thinking and hence the forthcoming post.
Loren’s contention was that people define themselves by their occupation. Potentially more specifically by who their employer is at the time. Often, people are asked who they are and what they do, and the answer is inevitably oriented around the day job. “I’m with Ford,” or “I’m in computers–I’m with IBM.” (Okay, that last one might be a bit dated…)
Is it that way anymore? For the older generation, I say yes, it still is that way. But for the younger generation (namely those 26 (like me) or younger), is it? I’m not so sure.
I’m admittedly a bit of an old soul, but I most certainly don’t say I’m in higher education. I say I’m a writer, which is much more broad but covers the gamut of what I do both on and off the clock. I write about email marketing, fatherhood, and frankly whatever comes across my mind here, and then I spend my day job hours writing copy for web, email, print, and direct mail for WGU. Bottom line is I’m a writer.
I don’t think those of my generation say “I’m with Company A” anymore. I don’t think their day job defines them. And to be frank, I’m not sure day jobs should define a person unless the passion is there. (Or unless you’re a business owner.)
What’s the cause of this shift? I say the Internet and the access it has granted to people to find their passions in areas outside of what pays the bills (or possibly pay the bills eventually).
I know that my burgeoning passion for email marketing came not just from my limited exposure at work, but through Twitter, blogs, and conferences. The Internet made all that possible. But I also know that despite my love for email (and its increasing appeal to the seldom-yet-coming-into-use analytical side of my brain), it doesn’t define me.
Business cards used to define people. Do they now? Should they? I say no.
How do you define yourself?
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I wanted to embed a clip of the famous business card from American Psycho, but alas, all of the best versions have the embed function disabled. So instead of having you watch it in this post, you can watch it on YouTube here.
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
To make things easy, I usually say “I’m in marketing for a technology company you’ve never heard of… we’re “niche”…”
I think my parents, meanwhile, tell people “He’s doing very well. He does something with marketing and computers.”
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Jordan: Good call on being general. I try to tell people I’m a copywriter, and 9 times out of 10, the response is: “So you’re in law?” I guess unless you work in an ad agency setting, the concept of a copywriter (and the fact that “Copy” is in the name) eludes you.
That’s why I default to a writer… who happens to be in marketing… for an online university… at the moment.
Scott –
Interesting topic. Has me thinking (sometimes a good thing, sometimes not). The few times I’ve heard Chris Brogan speak, he introduces himself as “a typist.” That’s very much in line with your take (“a writer”) with a unique twist.
So, how do I define myself? I’m not sure. I guess I tend to do what most people do and tie it to my career (my passion?). I say, “I’m an email marketer” or “I help marketers with email.” But I guess that is kinda lame, right?
Adding that to my goal list for 2010. Figure out what the heck it is that I do…how I define myself. Thanks for making me mull this over.
DJ Waldow
@djwaldow
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DJ: Always glad to set your mind ablaze from my ideas. I’ve been thinking about this post since that conversation with Loren, and didn’t really have the words until now.
I say I’m a writer, but clearly that’s still occupation-oriented. Being a father doesn’t play into that. I wonder if I’ll define myself that way more and more as time goes on and the feeling sinks in more and more.
Scott,
Great post – sorry I missed it until now. Couple of points:
- I tell people I’m an evanglist for a marketing software company.
- I’m in agreement with you on the age difference. That was my point exactly – that for someone like myself that is almost 26 years into my career – your job/career tends to be how those around you categorize and define you. So “job” is the defining foundation. Added to the mix is marital status, number of kids, car you drive, where you live, etc.
- When you are in your 20s, your career is still relatively new, you may not have a spouse, family, etc. and so you probably tend to be defined more by your hobbies and interests.
Nearly 20 years ago I read a great book called “Making a Difference.” One of the ideas the author suggested I’ve never forgotten. She suggested the next time you are at a social function, etc – when someone asks you what you do, instead of saying “I’m a financial analyst for Wells Fargo Bank” – say “I love to go bike riding with my two daughters, see old Hitchcock movies with my wife, make home brew beer and race in triathalons.” The point being, instead of defining yourself by your job and role, define yourself but who you really are as a person and what you love to do. I think I only tried this approach once.
Loren
Loren,
I think your point about how in your 20s your career is still new, and therefore it doesn’t necessarily define you is an important one. Particularly now. Long gone are the days of loyal employees who work for the same company for 30+ years and retire. I seem to remember reading an article that said that the average number of jobs for college graduates in their first 10 years in the workforce was somewhere between 6 and 8. So obviously, a company won’t define someone if they keep switching jobs.
That said, I think it’s still difficult to separate (even for a youngster like me) the current job title and employer from the definition discussion. I think the answer these days for me is “This is my [day job] and I also do this, this, and this.”
It’d be interesting to see if that approach you mentioned worked. Sounds a lot like a personals ad, you know?
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