You’ve Got A Lot to Offer!!

Sarah Rach-Sovich

Skills are the foundation

Employers don’t just want to know where you have been or what job titles you have had

They want to know…

…what you can do!

What employers say…

Difficulty communicating in clear, grammatical prose

Businesses in the United States may spend as much as $3.1 billion on remedial writing instruction each year, with many additional dollars lost as a result of inefficiencies related to poor writing

How are your writing skills?

What else do employers say about employees’ skills?

Lack face-to-face communication skills

Lack presentation skills, teamwork skills, and overall interpersonal (gets along well with others) skills

Lack a good work ethic

Trouble with time management and are unable to multitask in order to meet deadlines

Ranking by Importance -- skills/qualities:

• Communication skills • Strong work ethic • Teamwork skills (works well with others) • Initiative • Analytical skills • Computer skills • Flexibility/adaptability • Interpersonal skills (relates well to others) • Problem-solving skills • Technical skills

So, what do you need to do?

Identify skills AND…

Prove It!

• The information provided on your resume

• Relevant and necessary to your future success

Ok… I can do that… Can you?

Think about a salesperson selling a product…

BUY ME!!

A successful job search is a sales & marketing campaign!

Looking for work is selling a product!

A salesperson must know as much as possible about that product

• Ability to describe product

• What are the benefits?

• Why this and not something else?

Make them want it!Visuals/Testimonials

Close the Deal!

“ I LOVE my Scentsy warmer! My house smells AMAZING! Everyone asks what smells so good when they walk in. They also comment on how cute it is!”

“ With my Scentsy warmer I don’t have to worry about my children anymore! It is safe, my house won’t start on fire, no one will get burned AND it smells so yummy!”

You’ve got skills!The great news is… The average person has between 500 and 800

skills!

Yet, many people still struggle with identifying their skills

What is a skill?

Skills do not need to require years of formal training and experience to develop

A skill is anything you can do right now!

Can be related to employment

Can be things you do in your daily life

Main types of skills

Job-specific skills

• Used for a specific job such as sewing, record keeping, cooking, cleaning, computer programming and welding

Transferable & Self-Management skills

• Include things you can do that aren't tied to a specific job or occupation, such as being on time, dependable, independent, flexible and ambitious

Behind most skills lies a body of knowledge… these bodies of knowledge are skills too

• The person performing computer programming has learned a computer language such as Visual Basic

• A cook knows about cooking techniques such as basting or baking

Examples: Job Related Skills

Job/Occupation Job Skills

Administrative Assistant Typing, word processing, filing, answering telephones and company correspondence

Accountant Calculating accounts receivable and accounts payable, preparing taxes and using computer accounting programs

Salesperson Customer service, record keeping, order processing, inventory management, billing and product displays

Activity/Title Task Skills (Job, Tr, SM)

Administrative Assistant

Answering company correspondence

Typing, word processing, tactfulness, timeliness, responsible, creative, dependable, detail-oriented, sincere, meeting deadlines, communicating, helping others, problem solving, checking for accuracy, researching, writing clearly & concisely

Answering Telephones Getting along well with others, listening, mediating, communicating, respectful, helpful, resolving conflict, developing rapport, assertiveness, dependable, outgoing, pleasant, sensitive, tolerant, detail-oriented, enthusiastic, friendly, intelligent, kind, mature, patient, sincere, tactful, understanding

What are transferrable skills?

Not exactly… Read on….

What are transferrable skills?Skills that can be applied to a variety of

activities (they can transfer from one activity to another)

Skills that you have acquired that can help an employer but aren’t immediately relevant to the job you seek

Almost any skill is transferrable, the trick is showing employers how it applies and is useful to them

Examples of transferrable skills:

Self-management skills are highly transferable - they apply to most situations

However, a number of job-specific skills are also transferable

Other examples:• Volunteer work, hobbies, sports,

previous jobs, college coursework or even life happenings

Life happens… what skills have you gained?

Job-specific skills that are transferrable

Examples:

• If you can operate a drill press, you have skills to operate other types of machinery

• If you can balance a personal bank account, you have math aptitude skills to balance a business account

• If you coordinate events, lead meetings, participate on teams for community activities or personal interests-- you have skills that transfer to employment

Transferrable skillsare important for many reasons!

Many job seekers are unlikely to find a job identical to their previous employment

Therefore, it's critical for them to carefully evaluate how their skills transfer into other opportunities

People seeking their first job, making a major career change or returning to employment after a long absence will mostly use transferable skills in their job search.

More on Self-management skills…

You use these day-to-day to get along with others

They're the skills that make you unique

Examples of self-management skills

• Sincerity, reliability, tactfulness, patience, flexibility, timeliness and tolerance

• Motivational attributes and attitudes

• Persistence, drive and cooperation

Don’t underestimate them!

…Especially those that show motivation and a good work attitude

• Enthusiasm and a can-do attitude were what executives identify as the most important indicators of success in workers

These skills are especially important for people who are seeking their first job or returning to employment after an absence

Employers look for these skills to determine how a candidate will fit into the organization

Speaking of job “fit”…

Sell your transferrable skills, but probably not in this way…

What do YOU have to offer?

Start by identifying your skills!

• Skills Identification Tool

• Skill Identifier

• Skills & Interests

• Rating Your Skills

• Expanded Skills Definitions

• Transferrable Skills

• Self-Management

• How Others See Me

Be a sales person….Know how to sell your skills!

Check out the following examples so you can do better than this guy…

Server to entry level marketing

Transferable skills: Communication, client retention, sales and marketing, multitasking.

How to sell it: "During peak periods, I had to prioritize and handle multiple orders, market menu items, answer questions quickly, communicate clearly, up sell additional selections and ensure repeat business. My daily tip totals provided highly efficient feedback, as they were based on personal productivity and customer satisfaction."

Nanny to Human Resource Specialist

Transferable skills: Human relations, teaching, development, time management, patience.

How to sell it: "As a former caregiver to five children, I learned to identify with each child and learn his/her individual strengths, weaknesses and interests. I've also learned the importance of good time management, which would be an essential skill in the human resource department."

College student to software engineering

Transferable skills: Computer science degree, team player, work ethic, trainable.

How to sell it: "I have a strong background in computer science, with both a degree and extensive training in the field. An accomplished team player, I've worked with a database management group at XYZ University, created an online multimedia store and used CGI scripts written in C+++ to track customer satisfaction."

Sell It!

TIP • Do all the thinking for the person reading

your resume – never expect anyone to figure out what your relevant skills are or how valuable they are

Think about this…

Anyone can say…

YOU MUST PROVE IT!

An endorsement of you is many times more credible and interesting than anything you can say about yourself!

Thought to leave you with…

“If you are called to be a street sweeper, sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

- Martin Luther King, Jr.