“What Do You Do?” How to Answer the Question
Let’s start this article off with you putting yourself in the mindset of being at a social gathering. The process of making a new acquaintance tends to follow a particular pattern. An introduction is followed by cordial chit chat, as conversationalists size each other up, before the inevitable question – “what do you do?”.
What do you say? I ask this question because, throughout a working lifetime, it’s one we are asked hundreds of times and the answer you give will often influence how you are perceived from that point forward.
Before I continue, I will also add that there are some people who won’t even wait for you to ask the question and will be quick to tell you what they do. In America that’s often par for the course. In Europe on the other hand, there is usually more of a diplomatic dance for fear of coming across as being too pushy.
When asked “what do you?”, it will come as no surprise that some people are very good at providing the answer and some are not. Of course, the dynamics on the day may influence a fumbled response – we all have days when we feel on top of the world, and others when we don’t.
In my experience, the people who handle the question best are those who project an inner confidence in their answer. It’s as if they have summarised their achievements into a script they are comfortable with. These achievements aren’t listed, but are laid down with a purposefulness, so that they provide a decent picture without undervaluing or overvaluing they do.
More than anything, they are authentic in how they come across. The rise of the personal brand has brought out many ‘experts’ with their advice about how to get your best qualities and achievements noticed. As many of these are American, as with my earlier point, they tend to be a little more brash and direct in their approach.
The question of ‘what do you do’ is also relevant in the workplace. Through our various interactions – internally between colleagues, seniors and juniors and externally with clients – having a clear sense of what we do is important and how we project that shapes how others relate to us.
Narrative is the key that turns the cogs of perception. How you want to be perceived depends very much on how you portray yourself to other people. So start with asking yourself how you would want your peers to describe you.
My advice on developing this sense of narrative is to treat it like compiling a CV. The act of listing your achievements is very good for crystallising a sense of achievement. It’s also
useful to think about adjectives that describe the skills you have; organisational, trustworthy, dependable, tenacious, meticulous, diplomatic, leaderly (not sure if that is an actual word) for example. Project what it is that you do best.
On this point, too many people assume they need to be a leader. Don’t forget, successful teams are made up of many components. If you are not a natural leader, then that’s fine – just excel in whatever role you do best and make that part of your personal narrative.
And…. Practice. As the Christmas party season looms, we are approaching a good time of year to try out some conversational sparring. Take some time to think about what you will say if asked what you do. It may sound obvious but you would be surprised about how many people when asked the question will reply with expressions such as ‘not rocket science’, ‘pretty dull stuff’ or ‘er…’ and stare into space.
