I am all for making the world a more casual and relaxed place; however, I do fear that we are becoming overly casual and overly relaxed. I don’t believe people are delineating the difference between casual conversation and when that sort of speaking and writing isn’t appropriate.
Take the current bastardization (pretty sure that isn’t a word, but I am going with it) of the English language being supported by Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging. Saying what is on your mind in as few words or characters is a skill is these mediums. Great. But people need to realize that this skill needs to have an on/off switch. Your résumé shouldn’t look like you wrote it via text message or with the same language you use for a Facebook update. This seems obvious, but as someone that sees hundreds of résumés a week, I promise you this isn’t.
The same goes with how we speak. There is casual conversation, there is professional conversation, and formal conversation. When you are speaking to people of importance perhaps you should limit the ‘ums,’ ‘likes,’ and curse words, maybe? Again, you think this would be obvious, but the stupidity and unawareness of people is amazing. Just the other day I was speaking with a job candidate and he told me he ‘…would work his balls off for me.’ REALLY!? You think that is a good quality? Sure, you might be trying to explain to me that you are a hard worker. Super. All I see is that you lack the awareness needed to succeed at life. Same goes with cursing. In almost 6 months of working in the world of talent acquisition I am shocked by the lack of awareness of job seekers when it comes to cursing.
And as the written and spoken language sink into the abyss, people’s ability to dress appropriately for the situation is also lacking. Often I see companies promoting more comfortable dress codes for employees, presumably to promote a more comfortable working environment. But, like so much in our culture, if you give an inch a mile is taken. Business casual soon leads to tennis shoes and sweatshirts. Which is fine if your company/organization goes for it, but suddenly people are asking if they need to wear a tie for the job interview because they can’t differentiate casual Friday and a job interview.
A piece of advice: learn that casualness is something that must have an on/off switch. Learn how to speak. Learn how to write. Be aware of which situations are professional, which are formal, and which are casual. Then adapt your language and demeanor to FIT that situation. Don’t go with the ‘this is who I am, this is how I speak like it or not’ strategy. That leads to chronic unemployment and underemployment. Strive for more and you might be surprised where you can get in this world.
