Marketing Your Skills

Knowing all that you have to offer is important. You may not being finding the work you want because you are not marketing yourself. This may be because you don’t realize all you have to offer. You may have skills that would crossover into other industries that you have not considered.

You’ll need to do more than just present your background. Don’t trap yourself by thinking, “This is simply who I am, where I’ve been and what I’ve done.” People fail because they never surface and communicate all that is marketable about themselves… and they never build their appeal beyond factual credentials.

Using our career history and marketability profile, our starting point will be to organize your lifetime of experiences and achievements. Whether you are a young attorney or a company president, there is probably much more to your story than meets the eye. We’ve learned that people need to identify 10 to 12 skills that can make a major difference in their career opportunities.

About 20% of the clients who come to us have settled for less, simply because they are not able to communicate their real skills. One client was earning a $65,000 base after almost 20 years. Three years later, she is earning $180,000. Another executive came to us at $125,000. Three years later, he is a CEO at many times that amount.

The key in both situations was to market their true assets. Psychologists, spiritual leaders and coaches have often said that the most restrictive limits you face are those you put on yourself. So, don’t put any limits on your thinking, and look at some factors that you may have overlooked… which will expand your marketability.

Identifying transferable skills is critical (e.g., organizing, group presentation skills, problem solving and so on).

Employers place a premium on men and women who can move from challenge to challenge, handling assignments that draw upon skills. Your experience can also be reviewed according to various “functions” that apply to most businesses, such as sales, production, accounting and human resources.

All areas in which you have knowledge should be identified. At the same time, you need to think of your experience in terms of “action words” that describe what you did, and then translate those activities into achievements, e.g., controlled, wrote, reshaped, etc.

Do you have knowledge of a job, a product, a process or a market… from work, hobbies, alumni relationships, research or suppliers? If so, it may be marketable. Personality, of course, is just a word for that combination of traits that either attracts us to someone or leaves us unimpressed. More employment decisions are based on personality and chemistry than any other factor.

For example: “He’s certainly professional and quick-thinking. I like him, and better yet, I trust him. He’ll fit in with our team. I need to get him into the firm.” The perception of your personality has to do with your interest and enthusiasm. How many people get hired because they showed real interest? A lot.

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