Would you hire this person? | Aquent Australia

Sydney Williams, the global director of brand marketing at GE, recreated her resume detailing her broader life skills. This is what she wrote:

I do everything you do, but I do it with one hand. Literally. I hold onto what’s important with all the strength I have in one hand, while juggling the 1M daily tasks of life in the other. I ruthlessly prioritize. Every day, I grow stronger and more efficient as a result.

I think ten steps ahead. Each day is a 50+ piece Jenga puzzle that I manage with skill, strategy and luck.

I maintain positivity, while my patience is pushed to the limit. My team has meltdowns, emotions run high, new challenges arise daily. I lead with compassion, listen to debate and encourage resolution through compromise.

I adapt. I take whatever life throws at me and adapt to be the leader that’s needed—typically on little sleep, with little time. Past roles include but are not limited to: teacher, chef, nurse, barber, garbage woman, builder, driver, hostage negotiator, seamstress, engineer, translator, swim instructor, therapist, stylist.

I lead with empathy. My team comes first and foremost. I work for them.

I fight ferociously on behalf of them.

I communicate powerfully and prolifically. I focus on clear, results-oriented communication to drive change.

I prioritise integrity and honesty. Anything less is unacceptable.

I am in a constant search for a better way. You can find me iterating on everything from process improvements to product development to communication tools. Creativity is fundamental to my job.

I value collaboration. Teamwork is key to my success. I forge and foster relationships between diverse groups of people in order to support, elevate and maintain life among my team.

I do it all with very little “Thank You” and wake up each morning to do it again because of my capacity to find the joy and love in my work.

Impressive stuff! I bet if you saw this CV it would hit the top of your consideration list. But how and where did Sydney Williams develop these amazing life skills?

At home, as a new Mum of two boys aged under 3. Which sums up why mums are ideal employees for just about any position. But here’s the reality.

A report by the Australia Institute estimates there are almost 400,000 Australian stay-at-home mums aged between 25 and 44 who want to go back to work but can’t get a job because nobody will hire them. Yep, that’s right, nobody wants to hire a Mum. And that thinking, I reckon, really does need to change.

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About the author

I am The Brand Guy. I create strategies, communication campaigns and workshop experiences for Branding & Marketing, Change Management, Employee Engagement and L&D projects. I also co-run a Brand Strategy & Communication Company in Sydney, called Brandcraft. After working in multi-national ad agencies on brands such as Coca-Cola and Microsoft, I pioneered a new way to do branding where everything you DO and SAY as a business must be driven by and aligned to your brand strategy – especially your people and culture. I call this your Brand on the Inside, and it all starts with your people. I also deliver keynote talks and run workshops on BIG YOU, Branding, Change & Innovation, Peak Performance, Sales and Customer Service in the Change Management space - for corporate clients as well as at conferences and seminars.