What are you good at?
This can be a surprisingly difficult question for people to answer. One of the reasons people find it hard to talk about their strengths is that as one of my clients put it ‘it feels like breathing’. Of course it doesn’t help that we’ve been brought up in a culture where it’s often seen as ‘showing off’ when we talk about what we excel in.
It can be very useful to know your strengths though – knowing what we’re good at is likely to:
· Build our confidence and self-esteem
· Give us some clarity about how closely we’re using our strengths in our lives and whether we want to make some changes in our work or other aspects of our lives so that we feel more in tune with ourselves
· Help us to work better in teams – for example, choosing other team members to complement our strengths when working on a project
· To communicate to an employer on a CV or job application form
· To talk about in a job interview
· Research shows that using our strengths can increase satisfaction levels at work
So if you’re reading this and are struggling to name your top 3-5 strengths, then maybe you need to take a little action.
What can you do to find out?
This can be a surprisingly difficult question for people to answer. One of the reasons people find it hard to talk about their strengths is that as one of my clients put it ‘it feels like breathing’. Of course it doesn’t help that we’ve been brought up in a culture where it’s often seen as ‘showing off’ when we talk about what we excel in.
It can be very useful to know your strengths though – knowing what we’re good at is likely to:
· Build our confidence and self-esteem
· Give us some clarity about how closely we’re using our strengths in our lives and whether we want to make some changes in our work or other aspects of our lives so that we feel more in tune with ourselves
· Help us to work better in teams – for example, choosing other team members to complement our strengths when working on a project
· To communicate to an employer on a CV or job application form
· To talk about in a job interview
· Research shows that using our strengths can increase satisfaction levels at work
So if you’re reading this and are struggling to name your top 3-5 strengths, then maybe you need to take a little action.
What can you do to find out?
There are various resources available to help us identify our strengths – you might seek the help of a careers professional (like me 😊) or do an on-line test for free or pay for an online test.
Strengths can show up in all aspects of our lives – you may be the person whose loved ones always come to for organising a big family get together or for advice on personal issues or for practical help, etc etc. Start to notice what you’re doing when you’re ‘in flow’.
I’ve been using an exercise for the last few years shared with me by John Lees, a leading UK careers expert.
One of the things I love about this exercise is it removes the boxes we can put ourselves in with job titles. One of my clients was finding it hard to imagine himself doing anything other than being a Pub Manager until he did this exercise. He could then see how his skills were indeed transferable to other areas of work and his imagination then took over. Before long he’d applied for and been offered a position working on the frontline of a leading homelessness charity.
I usually use it with clients who sign up for my career change package or for clients who need help with interview preparation.
But I wanted to make it available to a greater number of people so I’ve created a short on-line version.
The five short videos will guide you step by step through the exercise as you complete the workbook to help you.
Right now I’m offering you this for only £27 (worth £95). Click here to purchase and get started today:
https://lindseycarrcareerconsultant.vipmembervault.com/
And if there’s something else getting in your way of making a job or career move, then press the Schedule a Call button now.