Getting your player ready...
When it comes to competing in today’s crowded job market, it is crucial to become your own best advocate. Yet for some, presenting their own skills and accomplishments is uncomfortable at best. Many experience a high degree of discomfort because they don’t enjoy talking about themselves or they’ve been taught from an early age that, “It’s not polite to brag.”
Still others find it challenging to be objective about measuring and explaining their skills because they feel they have simply been doing what is expected. Today’s highly competitive job market demands that we master the ability to articulate our relevant accomplishments, a job seeking skill that can make or break the job seeker.
If you relate to any of these self-marketing challenges, take heart. There are ways to identify and articulate what distinguishes you from other candidates while maintaining integrity and presenting an honest account of your work. Now is the time to learn how to “name it and claim it” in order to advance your career.
Keep track of your wins. Many clients tell me that they don’t receive written performance reviews. While this is certainly frustrating, it needn’t stop you from tracking the ways you help your company to reach objectives. Review both the large and small wins that you have directly influenced. Keep track of the ways you help save money, make money, or improve profitability.
Find and document performance metrics. Here is another common challenge: no written performance standards or goals and objectives. How do you know if you are performing up to expectations? This can be tricky, but not impossible. The simplest route is to ask for feedback directly. If that is not forthcoming, don’t force the issue. Instead, identify industry best practices and key success measures that apply to your role. In the absence of a written review, you can still gauge your performance and document your successes.
Think like a hiring manager. One way to simplify the task of articulating your marketable skills is to think like a hiring manager. What problems have you solved that free up your boss to spend her time on more strategic issues? Think about the ways you take on additional responsibilities and outline how that helps your company.
Save those cards and letters. Have you received a thank you note or email from an appreciative client or boss? Save these for future reference. Do you have strong recommendations on your LinkedIn profile? Take time to request those, and revisit these testimonials when it is time to tell your story to a future employer.
Time to “Name it and claim it.” Now that you have some strategies for collecting your own success stories, take the time to organize the information into compelling presentations. This means an accomplishment driven resume and cover letters, and relevant examples that you can talk about in an interview. The truth is, if you can’t name the ways your skills make a difference, no one else will know.
Don’t let your talent go to waste, especially in this market where high impact contributors are more valuable to employers than ever.
