Is this you?
“I’m in a job, but I know I’m capable of so much more. This job is a road to nowhere. I’m bored. How can I get to the next level?”
If you identify with this question, here are 3 ideas on making yourself more marketable. More attractive. So that when someone looks at your CV and you, they see the potential, they see you as superior and they’re persuaded to give you the chance you’re looking for.
[By the way, join me on Facebook for daily ideas: www.fb.com/gerardlerouxonline]
Here Are the 3 Ideas
ONE – Collect and add testimonials from your supervisor, your colleagues, even clients – collect positive comments such as: “Joe is a positive, skilled, hard working professional.” “Joe can handle pressure well.” “If there’s a crisis, I’d want Joe by my side, for sure.”
Include excerpts of these in your CV. They’re persuasive. They show you’re a valuable team player who’s not just another bum-on-a-seat to the employer. You make a contribution.
Hey, and if your performance isn’t up to this standard, then work on it. Get it there. Be that great person that everyone likes to work with. Start where you are. Don’t wait for the new opportunity to be the person you can be. Be it now.
TWO – Continue learning – go to the library and read 1 book every month – see that it relates strongly to your field of work. It could be focused on what you do, how you do it, who is doing it, where it’s being done. For example if you’re in the medical field, say a paramedic, you can read books/websites on: improving your knowledge of medicine, physiology, pharmaceuticals and methods; books on famous people in the medical sector; websites or blogs of people who do what you do; etc. Get it?
Take any opportunity to learn something new – either via a course, or when you work with someone more qualified than you. Ask someone at work to teach you something new. Document it. What did you learn? How will it help you.
This shows you’re serious about your career. Newsflash! Not everybody is! Show that you are. This can be your competitive advantage – what makes you special.
THREE – Put the list of books/websites etc. in your CV. Even include and addendum (a CV add-on) where you list them and write a brief summary of what you learned and how you’ve applied what you’ve learned in your job.
Keep a log of incidents you’ve worked on, like a diary. At the end of every day, write a brief description of what you experienced that day. Explain the situation and then explain what your role was in assisting. How are you now a better qualified/skilled person, more valuable to your employer.
Put this log in your CV – well, perhaps only include the biggest events (maybe a collection of 10). This again will show thoroughness and passion on your part.
Easy to do, no? So instead of applying for jobs, coming across as jaded and as someone having lost interest in your job or career, you come across as a learner, with energy and passion, as someone who’s always making themselves more valuable, as someone serious about making a contribution.
Don’t be amazed when you start getting more and better paying job offers.
Food for Thought: Summer is coming here in the Cape. Just brilliant days in between the rain. As I’m looking out of my office window, the sun is lighting up Jet’s (my wife’s horse) back as he cruises around the paddock nibbling on tufts of grass. Just a perfect picture. What’s the food for thought? There are many simple moments in life that pass us by. Let’s slow down a minute here and there to notice them. They refresh us.
I’m here for you.
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