Personality: The New College Degree

     As a young adult awaiting transfer to a CSU, I am learning what skills and knowledge are important in the working world now and attempting to master them.

     Many orientations, lectures and brochures later, I have noticed that personality is very important nowadays – more so than I initially believed. I learned that a vast majority of jobs today are given as a result of networking.

     Networking and personality are not necessarily related, but I see networking as the “personality” of any field outside the creative or entertainment industries. Personality seems just as important – if not more – than actual work experience and degrees. Is this fair? I believe it is fair – to an extent.

     Good communication skills and active networking can give job seekers significant advantage, whether better qualification or a valuable connection or both. Standing out in employers’ minds is essential in this highly populated and busy society. It’s not just what we know that is important – it’s what we do with what we know. This is where personality and drive enter the criteria of an ideal worker.

     Preference of an extroverted personality is nothing new. In a TED Talk titled “The Power of Introverts,” speaker Susan Cain explains that at one point, this was needed for survival. Cain says that the beginning of the 20th century marked the beginning of what historians call a “culture of personality.” She explains that “we [the U.S.] had evolved from an agricultural economy to a world of big business. And so suddenly people are moving from small towns to the cities, and instead of working alongside people they’ve known all their lives, now they are having to prove themselves in a crowd of strangers. So quite understandably, qualities like magnetism and charisma suddenly come to seem really important.”

     The emphasis on personality over credentials becomes unfair, however, when many public figures today make a fortune based solely on their personalities. It is especially unfair when these personalities do not come across as intelligent, well-meaning or thoughtful.

     In fact, the worse the behavior, the more the reward. This is how one Jersey Shore cast member, Deena Cortese, reportedly received a raise. A source close to Cortese revealed to www.radaronline.com that “with all the drama that Deena has been bringing to the show, including kissing a girl and even getting arrested, her salary is definitely going up thanks to that.”

     Many in the entertainment industry nowadays are entrepreneurs. An entrepreneur is defined as “a person who organizes and manages any enterprise, especially a business, usually with considerable initiative and risk.” Recent reality TV stars who fit this description include Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi, the Kardashians and Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson.

     Reality TV has allowed them, among several others, to turn their personalities into profitable businesses. Depending on how “successful” someone is at this, gauged by the public interest they receive, high profits can be earned. In 2011, the astounding salaries of each Jersey Shore cast member were revealed. According to www.mtv.tv/news, some of the cast earned a minimum of $100,000 per episode for season four. There were 13 episodes including the reunion special, so this adds up to a 1.3 million dollar salary. This figure, only for one of the six seasons the show ran for, is more than the annual wage of most medical professions. An estimate from Mary 2012 by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on www.bls.gov, states that surgeons in California earn $209,880 annually.

     Something is wrong with this picture.

     I admit, I have watched my fair share of reality TV. What kept – and sometimes still keeps – me guiltily tuning in was seeing the outrageous situations and behaviors of reality stars unfold. It is a little mindless escape.

     But as I learn reality star’s high salaries and examine my fellow college student’s and my own struggles to enter the professional world the traditional way, I am disgusted by this imbalance. If it weren’t for occasional morbid curiosity and the “if you can’t beat em, join em” feeling, I would stop watching all reality TV shows.

     It seems that distasteful and unintelligent behavior is given high salary, while education and work experience is overlooked due to the importance of personality in the working world.