{"id":305907,"date":"2021-07-22T16:55:19","date_gmt":"2021-07-22T13:55:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/be-yourself-and-dont-tell-jokes\/"},"modified":"2021-07-22T16:55:19","modified_gmt":"2021-07-22T13:55:19","slug":"be-yourself-and-dont-tell-jokes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/be-yourself-and-dont-tell-jokes\/","title":{"rendered":"#Be yourself\u2026 and don\u2019t tell jokes?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Be yourself\u2026 and don\u2019t tell jokes?<\/strong>&#8221;<br \/>\n<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image?fit=796%2C417&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn0.tnwcdn.com%2Fwp-content%2Fblogs.dir%2F1%2Ffiles%2F2021%2F07%2Fboris-clown-career-gq.jpg&amp;signature=96cc94f7f964f456b7eb8b5ea87728f7\" \/><\/p>\n<div><span><em>Boris is the wise ol\u2019 CEO of TNW who writes a weekly column on everything about being an entrepreneur in tech \u2014 from managing stress to embracing awkwardness. You can get his musings straight to your inbox by signing up for his <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>letter!<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Once upon a time, I was hired by a company and given the title \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/general\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"General\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">general<\/a> manager\u2019 of a business unit. I was 30, had started two companies before, but had never felt like a manager or knew what was expected from a manager.<\/p>\n<p>So what did I do? I panicked.<\/p>\n<p>I started looking around me to see what the other managers were doing. I noticed they carried leather-bound notebooks and wore suits\u2026 so I bought a suit and a notebook.<\/p>\n<p>I basically tried to emulate the other managers as much as possible, but I felt awful and insecure every step of the way because none of it felt natural to me.<\/p>\n<p>One day I broke down and confessed to my own manager that I had no idea what I was doing.<\/p>\n<p>He smiled and said \u201cBoris, we already have 10,000 managers here. We don\u2019t need another one that looks and acts like the ones we already have. We hired you for your unique skills and personality. So stop trying to act like a manager and just be yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>You can imagine the immense relief I felt when I heard him say that and how much better I felt about myself.<\/p>\n<p>But why am I going on about this? Well, I was reminded of this time in my life when I saw this tweet:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">If you can make me laugh during an interview, there is a 9\/10 chance I\u2019ll rate you \u201cStrong Hire\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/fast.wistia.net\/embed\/iframe\/xo23fcyip6?videoFoam=true&amp;autoplay=true&amp;silentAutoPlay=true\" title=\"Bumper 06 Video\" allow=\"autoplay; fullscreen\" allowtransparency=\"true\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wistia_embed\" name=\"wistia_embed\" allowfullscreen=\"\" msallowfullscreen=\"\" width=\"100%\" height=\"100%\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Today a candidate found a picture of me from last Halloween, zoomed in on my face, used it as their Zoom background.<\/p>\n<p>I was speechless. It was hilarious.<\/p>\n<p>Rating? Strong hire!<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Doug Ludlow (@dougludlow) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dougludlow\/status\/1414681721996398608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 12, 2021<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>My first thought was \u201cyes, that\u2019s brilliant!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>If you have someone <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>lying for a job, and the chemistry is so good you can have a laugh together from the start, I\u2019d definitely consider that a good sign!<\/p>\n<p>\u2026but then I also thought about all the bad presentations I\u2019ve seen in my life.<\/p>\n<p>We\u2019ve all seen presentations where the person has clearly read somewhere that <em>\u2018you should always start with a joke.\u2019<\/em> So despite it not being natural to them, they take their shot at standup comedy and fail miserably \u2014 making the whole thing excruciatingly awkward.<\/p>\n<p>Starting a presentation with a joke \u2014 or making a joke during a job interview \u2014 are incredibly scary and risky things to attempt, and I would never give this as general advice to anyone.<\/p>\n<p>But what would be my general advice? Do what makes you feel at ease.<br \/><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"giphy-embed\" src=\"https:\/\/giphy.com\/embed\/xCDtB5tJEtto4\" width=\"480\" height=\"320\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>A friend and colleague of mine of ten years recently announced she\u2019s leaving my company. After I overcame my disappointment we started chatting about how she had applied for her new job. Turns out, she didn\u2019t\u2026?<\/p>\n<p><center\/>Halfway through the meeting she had with the company, the interviewer said \u201cWe\u2019re going to make you an offer\u201d at which point she suddenly realized \u201cOh shit, this is a job interview!\u201d<\/p>\n<p>I laughed out loud at the story, as it seemed so naive and absentminded \u2014 but I also quickly realized that this probably helped her land the job.<\/p>\n<p>She must\u2019ve looked confident and come across as a person who\u2019s easy to get along with during the interview. And that\u2019s because she IS confident and easy to get along with.<\/p>\n<p>I understand this advice is much more complex than just saying \u2018start with a joke\u2019 \u2014 but that\u2019s just how it is. You are unique and I hope you\u2019ll find a company or team that recognizes your uniqueness. And if they don\u2019t, then the job probably isn\u2019t right for you.<\/p>\n<p>But also, always start your presentation with a joke.<\/p>\n<p><em>Can\u2019t get enough of Boris? Check out his older stories here, and sign up for his newsletter here.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Technology category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/news\/career-advice-be-yourself-joke\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Be yourself\u2026 and don\u2019t tell jokes?&#8221; Boris is the wise ol\u2019 CEO of TNW who writes a weekly column on everything about being an entrepreneur in tech \u2014 from managing stress to embracing awkwardness. You can get his musings straight to your inbox by signing up for his newsletter! Once upon a time, I was&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":305908,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/img-cdn.tnwcdn.com\/image\/growth-quarters?filter_last=1&fit=1280,640&url=https:\/\/cdn0.tnwcdn.com\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/1\/files\/2021\/07\/boris-clown-career-gq.jpg&signature=533e7a73d58c3d7ee3dbec033851eb5a","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-305907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305907\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/305908"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}