By Angelica Recierdo, The Annotated Muse

Just like in the business world, we need our own personal elevator pitch. In today’s day and age, the traditional résumé on cardstock and business card with Times New Roman font can be bland and unmemorable. The hippest of employers are hiring based on Vines and blog posts. At parties and networking events, can you stand to recite the usual spiel of “I’m from blank and I work in/study blank” one more time? I find that the most truths are in the “but” and “also,” the dreams and experiences we keep tucked behind a comfortable title or background. “I’m a nurse but also a writer.” “I’m from San Francisco but I grew up in Brooklyn.” How do we get to the stories – the substance of our lives?

In my attempt at re-imagining my elevator pitch, I thought of those skills we list and endorse each other for on LinkedIn. What would an honest skill set look like? Here is mine:  

RESOURCEFUL

• Cutting people in line
  • Looking like a “nice” girl and being 5’3” helps
• Cooking an egg five ways
  • Perfected by “Tasty” videos
• Packing no more than a carry-on bag
  • Confessions from a lazy traveler who doesn’t want to drag anything heavy

COOL/MISCELLANEOUS

• Flawless field hockey stroke
  • You have to get the ball air-bound into one of the top corners of the goal box
• Wins random things
  • Like a car in high school
• Choosing the coolest, most envied dish on the menu
  • Why order spaghetti with meat sauce if you can make it at home? Unless you’re in Italy, of course

CREATIVE

• Mismatching clothes and décor in ways that just fit
  • My wardrobe and interior design mantra is “boutique plus flea”
• Has rhythm
  • Sober
• Can caption anything
  • The future of writing jobs

EXTERNALLY-FACING

• Can strike up a conversation about anything with anyone
  • Nurses talk about intimate things with their patients
• Good at making people feel included
  • It’s a better time that way; I enjoy myself when others are enjoying themselves
• Has event-attending down to an art
  • I’m curious to a fault – from 3-D printing to Russian cuisine, why not take advantage of shared knowledge?

Yes, I’m an ENFP – Extraversion, Intuition, Feeling, Perception – and a Gemini. Is it that obvious? This could be a good exercise to learn about your skills and personality in a non-workplace context. First, I wrote down my random skill set. Second, I added a footnote, explaining why I have that skill. Third, I grouped them all based on a shared character trait I seemed to possess.

Anyone can slap some buzz words onto their resume, but to know the reasoning behind it, the real-life applications that you do every day when no one is watching in particular, is invaluable. Employers, friends and future significant others can appreciate a person who knows themself well and can share it in a candid and relatable way.