Finding Ways to Learn from Wordle

Earlier today, I gained a whole different insight into my own resume. How you ask? I used Wordle to take a look at my resume as a word cloud.

It resulted in my being rather surprised that it was not precisely communicating what I had aim to communicate. It isin't the exact representation of who I think I am professionally. How intriguing... and pretty cool, I'd say. What can I learn from this? Use other descriptions and words for the cloud to become precise? Is it possible to have a precise cloud? Do I even want to do that?

I then remembered being surprised in the same way a few months ago regarding something else that is dear to my heart. And that is reading. I know what kind of books I like to read. But the tag cloud had showed me differently.

I have tagged many of my books in LibraryThing and when I looked at the cloud it did something to me that was something in between amusement and annoyance. My own personal idea of what I like to read is different than what the tag cloud showed me.

For example, the tag cloud shows that a majority of the books I've read are set in England. That is not how I would have identified my reading. Yet it gave me a different perspective on myself in a silent and subltle way. In a powerful way, I'd even say.

Still what does it mean? What can I learn from it? Not sure how to approach this new way of looking at myself or the things I do and produce in a word format. According to this technology how am I then represented? Do I even know myself?

What are the thoughts from others who will look at my cloud? Does it mean next time I send my resume a prospective employer they will plug it into wordle to see if my experience is giving them what they are looking for? How will this change things?

So now, I have an urge to put everything I do into Wordle! Can't help myself. I composed a detailed email earlier and it went into Wordle! My latest presentation? Sure! Why not honey? Put it in Wordle. This Blog entry? You bet! See for yourself!