Self Describing Skills - Key Strengths -

Home
>
Careers, Jobs & Employment
>
Self Describing Skills - Key Strengths

Self Describing Skills - Key Strengths

You need to be the best you can at describing your best qualities; particularly your key strengths. In my coaching practice I generally, at some point, ask my client: "What are you good at?" purely as a means to establish if they have already thought through this most important question.

Some have, but more often they haven't and the answer usually involves lots of head-scratching, umms and arrhs and then quite often a monologue on what they're NOT good at!!

Your answer to this should be your key strengths statement which we talked about in personal marketing on my website - let me remind you.

A "Key Strengths" statement is a summary of your most powerful skills and attributes.

The Key Strengths statement

Highlights your most important skills and abilities
Differentiates you from others
Avoids generalisations
Provides examples of your achievements
Spoken naturally should take no more than two minutes

Of course at interview, the question may take many different forms:

"What are your main strengths?"

"why should we hire you?"

"what do you think makes you the best candidate?"

"convince me you're the right person for us"

"how do your skills match our particular needs?"

As with all your Presentation Statements it should be so well rehearsed that it sounds completely spontaneous.

This example I've given you here should get you thinking so give your Key Strengths statement some thought now.

"I have very good communication skills; I work well either leading or being part of a team and I am self-motivated and capable of working on several tasks at once.

As a leader of small teams I involve people in the decisions so that they feel involved and ensure they have the opportunity to contribute to tasks facing the team. I manage the information, plan and organise and make the decisions as required.

With my strong communication skills, I have been able to motivate the staff to higher standards of performance meaning we have also helped our profits figures through increased sales and tighter cost-control.

Alongside this I have encouraged innovation and my team has produced several very good ideas for new products, services and markets. As an example the new widget has taken off in Eastern Europe and is contributing 7% of profits in less than 18 months.

Most importantly I actively seek to develop members of my team for their own careers sake but also for the future of the business itself. This means I also look for personal development opportunities to ensure my skills are kept up to date."

If you refer to the sample CVs and resumes page on my website, sample resume #1 is for a Chief Engineer. The Key Strengths statement from him might go like this:

"I have very good communication skills and work across all departments to ensure that issues are identified and practical solutions are prepared. Coupled with my project management skills and my hands-on leadership style I am able to consistently deliver and commission projects on time and to budget.

I am focused on internal and external customer's needs, rather than purely functional needs and I apply specialist skills in continuous improvement and world class manufacturing to increase efficiency, reduce waste and losses due to downtime.

As Chief Engineer I have initiated and managed strategic change programmes and implemented effective quality improvement programs all the way through to successful local level implementation. This has led to savings of £750k per annum and helps to maintain the position and financial strength of my employer".

These key strengths statements naturally answer many of the interviewers questions whilst being reassuring in content. You will find though, that they will create new questions for the interviewer, so be aware that you must be able to substantiate everything you claim.

Try working on your own statement using your own words and skills, blending them together to create a strong "key strengths" statement to meet your needs.

You'll be surprised how often you use this one!!

With over 25 years running businesses; as a Career Coach and Consultant in many sectors; Peter Fisher is well placed to guide job seekers through the steps needed in order to achieve that all important new position.

He has personally coached thousands of individuals to career success.

His distillation of these years of experience with all the essential facts and actions you must complete in order to achieve your own success is outstanding. He is very clear that you shouldn't be misled into thinking of "acing interviews" or "finessing" your way into a business; the most sustainable and fulfilling roles are gained through understanding your own specific needs and creating your strategy accordingly. For specific guidance on how you might produce your own Key Strengths statement go to http://www.your-career-change.com/key-st rengths.html

You can learn more about his dynamic and comprehensive approach to career change, with every page dedicated to helping serious career changers if you go to http://www.your-career-change.com/index.html

In The News:

Layoff Not End Of Work For 30-Year Employee
MyFox WGHP, NC - 8 hours ago
Just last month, the Career Center in Kingsport worked with 1900 people who were either seeking employment or additional training and certifications. ...

Cutting edge careers at council
Yeovil Express, UK - 14 hours ago
Out of almost 200 applications and after intensive tests, interviews and presentations, 21 candidates have now obtained permanent employment with Somerset ...

Unemployment rate steady at 6.1%
National Post, Canada - Sep 5, 2008
Gord Waldner/Saskatoon Star PhoenixDalton Charles visited the Careers and Employment Services office in August. Dalton has worked in the house building ...

UPDATE 1-Monster employment index rises in August
Reuters - Sep 4, 2008
O: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), an online careers and recruiting firm, said its Employment Index rose 2 percentage points to 159 during the month. ...
Monster US online jobs index edges up in August Reuters
all 30 news articles

With an Aging Workforce, a Rising Risk of Discrimination Claims
Workforce Management, Ca - 4 hours ago
Instead, many boomers are extending their careers in the face of inadequate savings and underfunded 401(k) accounts. Add that trend to an uneven economy and ...

Law puts genetic data off limits
News & Observer, NC - 15 hours ago
For about a decade the US Congress has considered proposals to ban the use of such information in employment and some insurance decisions. ...

What Color Parachute
Corsavoo.com, France - 20 hours ago
Richard Bolles has moved the topic of changing jobs and/or careers into the realm of self-reflection, coupled with a consideration of the difficult and ...

NAS Executive to Present HR Solutions at SHRM Conference.
PR Web (press release), WA - 17 hours ago
A-level talent carefully navigate their careers, and they take this seriously." A much in-demand speaker, author, thought leader and Senior Associate with ...

Canada's Government and Prince Edward Island Sign New Training and ...
MarketWatch - Sep 5, 2008
This will provide the Province with the flexibility to focus job training programs and employment supports on the local and regional needs of both employers ...

Out of the inbox, into the dog box
New Zealand Herald, New Zealand - Sep 5, 2008
The Employment Relations Authority ruled later that he was unjustifiably dismissed, but he wasn't reinstated and his career lay in tatters. ...

careers employment - Google News

Self Describing Skills - Key Strengths

Careers, Jobs & Employment