“Tell us a bit about yourself.” I fear this instruction above all others. “Jump into the fog.” Okay. “Come in, the water’s fine.” Sure, why not. But, tell you about myself?

What do I say? How do I sum myself up in a concise, interesting way so that you know the most about me after hearing the least?

I go by Nina. I’m thirty years old. I’m from Omaha, Nebraska and I lived in the same house for twenty-two years. I never thought I’d want to live anywhere else until I visited London. I now live in Saint Paul with the love of my life, Andrew. I have a BA in psychology and an MA in media psychology. My parents got divorced after almost 25 years of marriage; I have a younger brother. I’m a passionate consumer of television and film and all things British.

This is where I get stuck. If I keep going, I’ll ramble on forever about, what I assume are, less important details. At least less important in the context of making you believe I’m right for your company and for the job. I’m struggling because I want to be self-deprecating, knowing full well that it won’t get me anywhere.

So where do I go from here?

I started journaling regularly in 2001. Since then, I’ve filled up fifteen journals. I think of it as my own version of client-centered therapy. It affords me Dr. House-like epiphanies and strives toward Sherlockian deductions. It allows me to figure out who I am.

I’m not one for public speaking. I would rather steal away the attention of the room with a question or comment from the audience. I guess I’m more of a class clown than a teacher. I’m an introvert and an idealist. More specifically, I’m a harmony-seeking idealist.

As I’ve already mentioned, I’m an avid journaler. That’s because, as an idealist, the search for my inner self is paramount. Stemming from my integrity and authenticity, it’s near impossible for me to do or say things in which I don’t believe. I feel the same way about my job – it has to be something I feel strongly about.

My relationships with people are very important to me. Growing up, my dad would constantly embarrass me by talking to anyone and everyone while we were out running errands. Today, I find that I have to practically put a hand over my mouth to stop myself from making a comment to someone in the grocery store. I seem to have developed a frequency in my voice that subliminally tells people, “She will listen; go ahead and tell her the whole story before it ended.” Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your perspective, or the day, I must emit this frequency whether I speak or not. Nevertheless, each encounter I make is significant. Someone always needs to talk and I can be the person to listen.

As a harmony-seeking idealist, I can’t ignore people and I put a lot of effort into not hurting anyone. This isn’t always a good thing. It’s hard for me to say no to people because I don’t want to hurt them. I put a bit too much stock into most new contacts and run the high risk of being disappointed. However, that disappointment doesn’t inspire me to be any more careful the next time. I’ll put just as much energy into the next person even after being knocked down a peg. It’s a genuine and intensive interest in others. This applies to my colleagues as well. I have the ability to see the best in everyone. I read recently that in this day and age, it’s ignorant to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. Well, I’ll be the first to admit when I’m ignorant. It’s been established that I enjoy writing – either from my mention of journaling or how verbose this profile is. I just enjoy communicating. Whether it’s through writing, emailing, blogging, journaling, talking, listening, tweeting, and so on, obviously. I’d like to think it started as note-writing in fourth grade and progressed to AOL Instant Messenger, on to blogs, school papers, and now, especially, social media. To me, it’s consuming. I’ve got my written journal, a WordPress blog, a MacBook, a typewriter, Tumblr on my iPhone. Sometimes I have to internally debate which medium I’m actually going to use to get my thoughts out. My friends would probably tell you that I’m also an obsessive texter. (I won a texting award in high school, by the way).

The thing is, if I can excite someone, make someone laugh, make someone look at something differently, convince someone of something, motivate someone, calm someone, help someone, it’s fulfilling. If I can do all of that through writing, it’s everything.

Now. I’m the kind of employee who wants to be like no other employee. I love to set myself apart. I don’t know many people like me, and I revel in that. I’m not incredibly ambitious in many other ways than that. That being said, I don’t see myself as a leader. To clarify, I see myself leading by example from somewhere within the team. It stems back to not wanting to hurt someone – it’s not my thing to be demanding or critical. It also stems back to being a class clown.

In ready conclusion, and I appreciate it more than you know if you’ve read this in its entirety, if I sound like someone you’d want working for you, I’d love to hear it.