I am often asked by team members, partners, employers and job seekers, “What is one of the most important components for success in getting the job you want and building a career path?” My response is always, “Know your brand!”
No, I’m not talking about the brand of clothes you wear or where you shop. I’m talking about you, the job seeker. You must get to know what you’re good at doing, what you’re passionate about, and what motivates you. This is critical self-knowledge that will enable you to promote yourself and your value to an employer in ways that relate to the organization’s needs.
How do you begin getting to know yourself? Invest in learning about the soft skills, hard skills and work experiences that define you as a professional.
Soft Skills: These skills include such abilities as teamwork, communication, adaptability, leadership, conflict management, time management and decision-making. If you don’t know what soft skills you have, online resources can help you identify them. Many of these resources are free and can confirm your strongest soft skills along with the skills you may need to develop. You’ll be amazed at the results your research will generate, and how they’ll help you develop your professional self-awareness. A few resources I’ve found useful include:
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CareerOneStop: www.careeronestop.org
O*NET Online: https://www.onetonline.org
The NC.gov Job Seekers Toolkit: https://tinyurl.com/zze937wd
Hard Skills: These are skills that can be quantified and measured. Some examples are proficiency in using Microsoft Office applications, driving a forklift or installing HVAC equipment. There are many online resources and assessments that will gauge your knowledge of a specific hard skill. Even more valuable is the increasing availability of free online training resources that will validate your hard skills with certifications. Take advantage of these invaluable resources if you haven’t done so already. Many local workforce development agencies also offer free professional assessments and coaching support.
Work Experiences: Finally, you need to evaluate your previous work experiences, specific to how you used your soft skills in combination with your hard skills to complete a project or achieve a result that met or exceeded your employer’s needs and expectations. Remember, experiences can include volunteer service and collaborating on projects.
Now, armed with your new self-knowledge in these three areas, you can incorporate this information during interviews. Here’s an example: “I had the opportunity to use my HVAC installation knowledge and experience in a recent construction team effort to help complete a project three days ahead of schedule. This resulted in reducing the contractor’s labor costs, which lead him to hire our team for another project and reward each of us with a bonus.” Statements like this highlight your contributions and commitment to quality results through teamwork and time-management.
Understanding your brand also provides you with language to promote your worth via your résumé, which will serve as your “sales brochure.” You can communicate your contributions and achievements by creating impact statements that describe the actions you performed and the resulting impact toward company objectives. Here is a sample statement: “Used my software knowledge and experience to support the completion of a project three days ahead of schedule.”
Impact statements highlight outcomes that benefit the employer, underscoring how you can be an asset to the business. This knowledge of your brand and the value you bring to the table will enable you to customize your “sales brochure” by creating multiple resumes to address the specific needs and objectives of employers.
If you’re targeting a leadership role, you can design your résumé to focus on your leadership skills and contributions. If you’re targeting a machine operator position, you can create a résumé that highlights the technical skills you used and goals achieved. Creating customized résumés tailored for each position for which you are applying will serve you well in capturing the hiring manager’s attention and interest.
When you truly know your brand and have applied this self-knowledge to create a persuasive customized résumé, you have done the hard work. Now you have the language you need to answer such interview questions as, “Why should I hire you?” with the confidence and enthusiasm that will lead to offers of employment and, ultimately, success in achieving your career goals.
Malla Vue is the director of the Goodwill Workforce Development Centers in Statesville and Conover. Learn more at www.careersbygoodwill.org.