Can You Picture Your Job?

I recently read a piece on Boston.com by Paul Hellman that I thought was clever. The problem it pointed out was that for most occupations, when someone asks what you do, your answer is gibberish to them. A handful of jobs are known to most of the population – for example a doctor, a policeman, or an attorney. If you haven’t encountered someone in that position, you’ve likely seen someone play one on TV!

But what if you’re a lab technician, an arborist, or a billing specialist? Does your title or your verbal description sound too complicated? Will the person you’re talking with remember what you do?

Take the saying “a picture paints a thousand words” to heart and try to paint a picture of your job in words. Instead of giving your title of industrial engineer or explaining how you optimize complex processes or integrated systems as your audience’s eyes glaze over, try painting a visual picture.

“I am like a TV repairman, but instead of coming in and fixing your TV so that it works better, I come in and fix something a company is doing that can be done better, faster, cheaper…”

Or instead of putting your companion to sleep explaining that you teach people how to speak in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain (zzzz), how about explaining that you are a teacher of self confidence, showing people how to stand in front of crowds like Martin Luther King, Jr., Susan B. Anthony, and Abraham Lincoln to share their passion. (public speaking consultant)

If you describe your occupational therapist role as Wikipedia quotes… to work with a client to help them achieve a fulfilled and satisfied state in life through the use of purposeful activity or interventions designed to achieve functional outcomes which promote health, prevent injury, or disability and which develop, improve, sustain, or restore the highest possible level of independence… you’ll lose them almost immediately after your lips start moving. Illustrating your profession as a human mirror, showing patients over and over how to move their hands, fingers, and other parts to accomplish daily tasks, will surely keep that analogy in their head.

Sure, these descriptions are simplified, but that’s the point. You’re not training someone to do your job; you just want them to remember you study something in a microscope vs. balance departmental budgets.

For me, I’m in project management. I’ve tried to visually explain my job as “an orchestra conductor like Keith Lockhart, leading a team of professionals like musicians with individual areas of expertise, ensuring each knows what each other is doing and when, so that together, they create a successful symphony.”

Try it! How would you verbally create a visual image of your job?