FIRST PLACE
A few words with JS:
What do you do for a living? I am primarily a copywriter/advertising creative and a voice over actor in San Francisco.
Has your sense of humor ever helped you on the job? Any examples? I’m pretty sure that my sense of humor has been the main thing I’ve had going for me for most of my life. When I was a young teenager, a bunch of thugs surrounded me with chains and knives and I got them laughing and they wound up leaving me alone. I’d like to think that much of my writing/ copywriting takes advantage of humor and in fact, when I was much, much younger, I did a stint as a stand-up comic. For a very short while (emphasis on short), I would get stage time ahead of Robin Williams. As a voice talent and a writer, I think I am somewhat recognized for my humorous approach.
Ever used humor in a job search? I don’t think there’s ever been a time where I haven’t at least tried to ease some tension or get the other person to smile. That goes for when I’ve been looking for work and also the one doing the hiring/evaluating.
What’s your best advice for jobseekers? I think that job interviews and even exploratory calls and inquiries can be very tense for all the parties involved. I think that anybody who can get another person to smile and feel good, even for just a moment is going to do better than the person who pushes their resume over their personality.
What do you find funny and not funny about job search? Well, if you think about my life, always looking for my next gig, then every voice over audition I do, submission from an RFP or inquiry I follow up on is like a job interview. My whole life is a job search. Given the fact that so much of my time is involved in searching for jobs, I’ve come to embrace it. It’s just part of the journey.
Find out more about JS on his website, jsgilbert.com
SECOND PLACE
