I decided to watch Jason Shen’s Ted Talk, Looking for a job? Highlight your ability, not your experience, because I though I thought this topic would be really helpful, and it was. As we progress into our college years and move forward in our lives, a lot of us are going to search for a job, and who’s going to be faced with all of these new faces? Companies. Companies are handling so many new faces at once that it can be challenging to distinguish individuals. Jason helps us overcome this challenge by identifying three ideas to consider when hiring.

His first idea was to expand your search. He explains how we shouldn’t just only consider people who attended ivy leagues or prestigious organizations, and instead we should expand our search. By doing this, and I think this is a super important learning point, companies can develop a diverse work area, and new ideas are able to be passed around.

Jason’s second idea is that companies should hire for performance. Instead of just looking over someone’s resume and recognizing their credentials, companies should see the person in action. Whether that be by asking them to analyze a sheet or asking for their ideas on a new product, it’s a good way to see if the individual is well suited for the job.

Lastly, Jason suggests that companies need to get the bigger picture. Jason makes a really great point by suggesting that we don’t truly know an individual within a short period of time, and we are quick to make flawed judgements. Jason hopes that companies will leave the door open for all people, and I think that’s a really special message.

As a current student, I was on the other side of wall for this Ted Talk, but it was still super helpful. In a few short years, I will be searching for a job, and while I might not be the person hiring, Jason’s Ted Talk helped me understand approaches companies can take when hiring, and he also gave me a lot of confidence knowing that there’s not one specific type of person suited for a job.

Not only did I really enjoy the content of Jason’s speech, but I also enjoyed how his presentation was given. It was extremely simple, he didn’t sway, he made eye contact all across the audience, and he used good hand gestures. He did a lot of the little things that added up to make this presentation really good.

I definitely feel like I learned that speeches are a lot more personal, and presentations contain more information. While Jason incorporated some personal stories, he overall shared a lot of information. His slides and the information that was given helped to distinguish his talk between a speech and a presentation.

I really enjoyed this Ted Talk, and I recommend it for everyone!