TAMLYN BUTWELL | FREELANCE AUDIO ENGINEER | LinkedIn

Today I found myself in the position of needing to update my LinkedIn profile. I am an audio engineer in the process of relocating to Melbourne and I want to find like-minded creative people and new job opportunities. So, I thought I should make my profile reflect more of my personality and be more memorable to those who click on it. I rewrote my summary and sent the link to the following people: my mother; two of my best friends; and my oldest sister.

My mother, unsurprisingly, loved it. She thinks I’m hilarious and perfect and am obviously the best person for any job no matter how unqualified I may be for it. One of my friends still hasn’t seen the message. The other had very supportive and relevant comments, and my oldest sister blew my mind. Well, first she made me tear up. But I was also having a rough day/eating ice cream with mum/watching Married at First Sight. I made her email me her ‘constructive’ criticism and because she is the wisest, most wonderful oldest sister in the entire world, she dropped some editing related truth bombs that have CHANGED. MY. LIFE.

I don’t know if it’s a woman thing, or a millennial thing, or a ‘me’ thing, but when I write about myself, I present as far more humble than I really am. I use words like ‘opportunity’, and ‘developing’ and ‘able to’ when what I really mean to say is ‘I did this and I was amazing at it so hire me please.’ I also am constantly extending sentences with brackets and hyphens instead of embracing the power of the full stop.

Because the universe works in mysterious ways, this mind-blowing information was read as I was listening to an episode of Mamamia Out Loud. The one where Jessie Stephens and Jackie Lunn were locked in an epic debate about email etiquette. Jessie finds a full stop aggressive. It is. Embrace the full stop Jessie. You will feel empowered. According to my wise and wonderful sister, anything that follows a bracket or a hyphen immediately feels less important. And believe me when I tell you, what I have to say is extremely important. No more brackets (I promise). No more hyphens – I really, truly swear it. Embrace the power of the full stop ladies. Be aggressive, B E AGGRESSIVE.