Talking about your strengths and accomplishments can be perceived as trivial matters when in reality they are the foundation of your success. The lack of self-knowledge toward your skills often keeps talented people from progressing forward.
When you think of assets most people see visions of tangible items like property or money; however, when asked about their career assets, most draw a blank look. Your career is a major investment of your time and energy yet people often struggle to describe what they do well.
What are career assets? Think of them as an accumulation of your interests, values and personality. Everyone has accomplishments whether it is graduating from college or contributing to the success of a project but few people can recall specifics of what they did to accomplish their goals.
The truth is people tend to take for granted their skills in accomplishing goals and frequently resort to using clichés that have lost their meaning. For example when interviewers ask job candidates about their communication skills they will often say something like “I get along well with others and have no problems with giving presentations.”
Getting along well with others doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to resolve conflicts or negotiate, instead it comes across as non-descriptive. Giving presentations with no problems is in the same genre, it says nothing about your ability or personality when you communicate.
When you analyze what makes you get along with others well, it helps you come up with different scenarios and it makes your answers more meaningful, at least you set yourself apart from others who fall back on the same precepts.
Knowing your career assets does more than help you land a better job — it helps boost your confidence and develops awareness. When you can readily identify the skills you use in “getting along with others and giving presentations”, you send a perception of energy and satisfaction.
One reason why people struggle with knowing their career assets could be the fear of bragging or seeming arrogant. The key difference between confidence and arrogance is the measure of self-awareness.
People who are arrogant are often defensive and clueless about their areas of weakness whereas confident people will readily admit their shortcomings and strive to improve. Talking about what you did well is not bragging, rather it’s about the facts.
If you want to broaden your career assets, a good place to begin in helping you identify your skills and accomplishments is with a self-reflection exercise. Here are some questions that will help you become more in tune with your values, strengths and interests.
• Name one of your most successful projects and the skills used to make it successful.
• What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
• Choose five core values that describe you the most.
• What strengths would you describe as your “go to” strengths, the ones you use regularly?
• Answer the lottery question, “What would you do if money was not an issue”?
• Ask people that know you to list three of your strengths and describe why.
Knowing your career assets helps you make good decisions when opportunities present themselves and serves as a guide to what brings you the most satisfaction.
How did you develop awareness of your career assets?
