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What are your strengths?

When you are looking for a new role it's common to feel that everyone else is more employable than you. You might also feel that you are employable but you're not sure how to communicate this to an employer. Most people will start with their CV. One of the most important aspects of a successful CV is to treat it like a marketing document, it is of course there to sell you.

However, I know that this is something that people struggle with, so how do you turn your CV into a marketing document from a life story? It's easy to get bogged down in your own history, focusing on the things you have done which are important to you, rather than being essential reading for an employer.

By knowing your strengths you are able to:

- demonstrate genuine experience
- reveal to an employer how you might operate in the new role
- make yourself memorable by using a language that an employer finds easy to understand

How do you identify your strengths?

You can start simply with asking yourself 'What do I do well?' You can also ask other people the same question to give yourself a different perspective.

John Lees has a useful Seven Step guide to identifying your skills:

1. Recall times when you have used skills in information, imagination, organisation, growth and enterprise, influencing people and developing people.

2. Think about a day at work when you were entirely absorbed in what you were doing, time passed quickly and you felt a 'buzz'. Think about what you were doing, what skills did you use?

3. Think about interesting roles or projects you have done. What was the best job you have ever had?

4. Think about the skills which come easily to you.

5. Imagine it's Sunday night and you are looking forward to particular activities and projects in the week ahead, what are the skills you are looking forward to using?

6. Think about a time when you surprised yourself by doing something you didn't know you were capable of doing. What were the skills you used?

7. Write down any other skills you are good at AND that you like doing.

Look at all the skills you have written down, which skill energises you most and which would you like to improve? These skills can be turned into strengths by embedding them into an example which is not about the skill, but about you. These are either short and punchy - perfect for a CV or more detailed which is perfect for an interview.
Posted by Charlotte Ashley-Roberts on Jun 18, 2014 10:30 AM Europe/London

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