Being able to talk about your success is an important part of getting noticed in your career, company, and industry.
Telling others about your success can be a challenge, and in today’s job market it’s important to build your brand. Building a good name for yourself for making things happen and being able to talk about it are paramount to your personal brand. When thinking about your successes, begin to think about it in terms of sharing your success in order to make others successful.
Your boss is the best person to help you develop this skill. Your boss is your first line and represents you with senior managers. If you can’t convince your boss of the value you bring in the work you do, then you won’t be able to convince anyone else either. Get away from the interruptions of the office so you can both focus on the conversation. Don’t use disputes, differences in option, or differences in culture as an excuse to leave your manager out of the loop.
You need to create your own ‘brag bag’, ‘atta-boy’ folder, ‘atta-girl’ binder, or an ‘elevator pitch’. It’s important to know the good work you are doing and how to talk about it casually to others. You need to be ready for the big “Tell me about yourself?” question. A good focus of answering this question is to talk about how you utilize your skills and talents in your position. To illustrate your talents and accomplishments start by answering these questions first:
- What would you or others say are five of your top skills or talents?
- What would you or others say are your top five personality traits?
- What new skills have you learned in the past year?
Now think about some examples that illustrate your talents and skills. Here are other questions to consider:
- How did you end up in your current career/profession?
- What obstacles have you had to overcome to get where you are and what lessons have you learned?
- What is the biggest professional mistake you made and what did you learn?
- What are you doing to make a difference in people’s lives?
- What career successes are you most proud of and why?
The thought is to have several examples that can illustrate who you are and what value you bring. Oftentimes we convince ourselves that we really have nothing of value to add. Or we think that others will notice our efforts and accomplishments and we will be recognized. Not in today’s environment. Don’t take yourself for granted and don’t hope others will notice your hard work. we all need to self-promote, have your ‘brag bag’ ready, and you will be successful!
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