Great Occupations

I've addressed this topic of skills versus talents before in the Daily Career Blog, but yesterday one of my clients emailed me asking for additional clarification. It's a critical to know who you are and what you bring to the table, so I want to give you this important piece of information. Yes, it's a fact. Prospective employers do care about your skills when you apply for their positions. However, you will encounter a lot of competition in the job market for those same skills. You have x skills and so does the other candidate who's vying for the same job. What could set you apart though is your... Read the rest of this entry »

Whether you’re looking for a job, getting ready to ask for a promotion or preparing to explore new career directions, you need to have clarity about what your career assets are. How can you sell someone on why they should hire or promote you if you can’t articulate the reasons, and how can you journey into a new direction without knowing your starting point?

So in case you’re wondering what I mean by career assets, here you go… Your career assets are a summation of your passions; your gifts, talents & skills; and your value as demonstrated by how you’ve made an impact.

Tom Peters, well-known marketing and branding guru, authored a terrific article called The Brand Called You in which he suggests that you should look at yourself as the CEO of your own company, “Me Inc.” He says that “Me Inc.” is a brand and that you’re the one in charge of that brand. I think this is very empowering. I mean wouldn’t you rather be in charge of your brand and how it gets defined? If you’re like most of us, you’d rather NOT have someone else define it for you!

Now you know what career assets are, how do you identify yours?

• Take assessments like DISC, MBTI, Strong, Clifton StrengthsFinder, etc.
• List the gifts and talents you’ve always had, the credentials and skills you’ve acquired, and things you’ve accomplished.
• Source details from past performance reviews, and ask trusted colleagues, friends and families for specific feedback.

Get clear about what you want, what you bring and what the market (or your current or prospective employer) wants. At the point where these intersect… that’s where the magic is.

Where your talents and the needs of the world cross, therein lies your vocation. - Aristotle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Angela Loëb is an author, speaker and career coach. Along with partner, Jay Markunas, she helps people gain clarity and develop successful strategies for career transition. Through their company, Great Occupations, they help job seekers and career shifters by offering seminars, webinars, tele-coaching events and individualized coaching services. Listen to them on The Job Search Boot Camp Show on Blog Talk Radio. Check them out at www.jobsearchbootcamp.net & www.careerfindermethod.info.

This last week on The Job Search Boot Camp Show we answered “Listener Mail”. This was our final show of 2009, but we’ve got 24 great shows planned for next year.

One of the questions we received last week was: “I’m looking at positions in the technical field. I have some of the skills they require, but not all of them. Should I even apply for those positions?”

There was a famous Harvard University study that said 15% of a person’s success was due to technical and knowledge. 85% originates from our attitude, self-discipline, desire, and enthusiasm. Only 15% of success came from technical skills! In technical skills, we can group anything quatifiable - intelligence, education, aptitude, licenses - all of those things we can measure.

85% of success in America comes from what they call personal skills - attitude, enthusiasm, self-discipline, smile, tone-of-voice, etc. However, the emphasis is generally placed on gaining technical skills. These are certainly important, but what really opens up opportunities are those personal skills.

What are people looking at in an interview? Is it technical skills? No. It is “do I like Jim?”, “Is Sally fun to be around?”, “Is Sarah going to fit in well here?” Those are the questions that hiring managers look for in an interview.

So remember that your fit, enthusiasm, and desire to grow with the company is the key to getting the job. And, only 15% of your chances of getting hired ride on those technical skills.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jay Markunas is a Fortune 500 HR Professional and Career Coach. Along with Partner, Angela Loeb, he helps people stuck in their career get momentum. Their company, Great Occupations, has the Job Search Boot Camp Live Event - a half-day event for job seekers, The Job Search Boot Camp Radio Show - which gives career advice, and The Art of Finding a Career You Love - which helps people who are burnt out and ready for a career change.