Selling Your Self in the United States

Abstract

In the contemporary U.S. workplace, corporate personhood is increasingly becoming the metaphor structuring how job seekers are supposed to present themselves as employable. If one takes oneself to be a business, one should also take oneself to be an entity that requires a brand. Some ethnographic questions arise when job seekers try to embody corporate personhood. How does one transform oneself into a brand? What are the obstacles that a person encounters adopting a form of corporate personhood? How does one foster relationships or networks that will lead to a job, not just a circulation of one's brand identity? Based on research in Indiana and northern California, this article explores the conundrums of marketing oneself as a desirable employee on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, email, and so on. I address the reasons why the increased use of social media contributes to popularizing a notion of self‐branding. I also discuss the quandaries people face when using social media to create this self‐brand. In sum, this article investigates the obstacles people face when they try to embody a form of corporate personhood across media, a form of self putatively based on the individual, but one that has been transformed into a corporate form that people can not easily inhabit.

Business, Transnationalism, and Patrimony

“…The comparisons I present here also highlight what similar studies suggest, but often leave implicit: professionalism and entrepreneurialism are becoming increasingly intertwined (Dumont 2015;Gershon 2014Gershon , 2017Kelly 2006;Win 2014). As Ilana Gershon (2014;2017) explains, for most of the twentieth century, white-collar professionals leased their labor to corporate employers on a long-term basis in exchange for benefits and salaries; however, these professionals must now market themselves as their own businesses and enter short-term, mutually beneficial relationships with other corporations.…”

“…As Ilana Gershon (2014;2017) explains, for most of the twentieth century, white-collar professionals leased their labor to corporate employers on a long-term basis in exchange for benefits and salaries; however, these professionals must now market themselves as their own businesses and enter short-term, mutually beneficial relationships with other corporations. Thus, formal sector professionals must take on the risks and responsibilities which were once the domain of entrepreneurs (Kelly 2006).…”

“…Under neoliberalism, therefore, citizens are no longer individuals whose rights are guaranteed by the state; they are instead selfreliant businesses / consumers with stakes in the corporate nation (Comaroff and Comaroff 2009;Gershon 2014;C. Gordon 1991).…”

“…Social media platforms are not only increasingly necessary for contemporary entrepreneurial activity, but they are also well-suited for creating a transnational, entrepreneurial self because, as Ilana Gershon (2014Gershon ( , 2017 argues, they accommodate multiple authors through a dialogical participant structure. Analyzing social media therefore helps elucidate how online personae are collaboratively authored.…”

Social Media and Social Work: The Challenges of a New Ethical Space

“…Social media enhances their capacity for career building by promoting themselves as employable and professional (Gershon, 2014). This is important for job-seekers, as many employers check a job applicant's personal websites and social media postings (Toten, 2014) and use social networking sites for recruitment (Schawbel, 2012).…”