How To Get The Job You Really
Really Want - What Do You Want - How To Market Your Skills Set
I started
working life in banking, mainly due to parental pressure (there we
go again). I hated it from the minute I walked through the
door, but it was a good career, with prospects and a job for life!
However, after three short years I was pigeon-holed - BANKER!!
So, deciding to "get out", I sat down to write my CV.
That said BANKER too.
I went to recruitment agencies, and all they could
say was, "Oh, I see you're in BANKING, haven't got any BANKING
vacancies at the moment".
The mistake I made was simply to show what I had done
(BANKING if you hadn't guessed yet!) and not the skills and
abilities I had gained. Skills and abilities that could
easily have allowed me to make a career change. I had started
to develop the skills I mentioned earlier, I was already good at
getting people to see my point of view, explaining things well (you
had to in the Bank). I had good communications and letter writing
skills, I was good with money and budgets and was genuinely hard
working. All skills that industry, at the time, was begging for.
However, all anyone could see was BANKING, and
I hated it!
I had made the cardinal sin of not showing these
highly marketable skills in my CV. Now I look at it, I realise
these skills were the root of all the good things I did (and still
do). Once I realised the mistake and put these skills into my CV, I
doubled my salary overnight, and, nine months later achieved
my goal of a move into sales with a major blue chip company.
Amazing, isn't it?
Incidentally, I hope you don't mind me using myself
as a case study. I do it simply because it is the case I know best,
and it does illustrate the point I am making extremely well.
The point is this;-
Know how important it is to understand your skills
and abilities (you may hear them called key competencies
nowadays by the way).
It cost me dear, don't let the same happen to you!
You can do these things and do them very well, they are things you
do not need qualifications for, and things that many people
find difficult. You can also get paid very well for these
skills, particularly if you market them well.
So, the message? Well, know your skills, know what
you want, and then be creative in marketing those skills to
ensure you do get what you want. Decide what your key
competencies are. Think about what you have accomplished and how.
What skills did you use and how? What did you accomplish in
school? The local whatever club? Your hobby? Past jobs? What
about family accomplishments? Then ask what do I know that helped
me achieve these things, and remember these are not necessarily
"formal" skills.
As an
example, try not to think of understanding the Widget & Co ISO9002
Quality Manual down to the last word, but also think in terms of how
you are able to understand, make sense of and impart knowledge to
others in really complicated issues.
Try not to think of yourself as only a computer
programmer, but think in terms of being able to explain the use of
complex technology to business people you work with as well.
Don't just market your total knowledge of
Lichensteinian tax laws (although very handy), but also think in
terms of how you are easily able to decipher complex rules and
regulations so that others may easily understand.
I hope you see the distinction, because it is so
important when you come to market yourself, particularly if
you are looking to change direction in your career.
Incidentally, don't think I am telling you to leave
your detailed knowledge out of your CV. If you think that, you have
not grasped what I am saying. You need to market your specialist
knowledge, but you also need to market the other competencies those
skills have allowed you to develop. You have to "mix and match"
your approach depending on the job you are applying for.
O.K,
moving on, time to look at your personality.
Next Page -
Your Personality
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