One of the most effective ways to enhance your career is self market yourself!
Why do some people find it so easy to talk about their accomplishments, acknowledge their skills and enjoy the challenge of selling themselves through a resume, cover letter and interview? And others shrink at the very thought of expressing themselves in such a way that they fear they may be perceived as a brag or conceited.
Our feelings of self-esteem and confidence come, in part, from our ability to acknowledge what we’re good at and take pride in our accomplishments. Yet there are many of us raised to be modest and self-effacing, bringing the mindset of modesty into our job searches and career prospects. Where is the line drawn and are we subconsciously holding ourselves back from success in the workplace by misunderstanding the difference between bragging and self-marketing?
So, if we take the above into account could we conclude that there are many people who simply would not even know where to start when it comes to self-marketing because they do not know what their strengths and skills are. They feel uncomfortable at the thought of reflecting upon successes in their careers and confidently sharing with future employers. Introversion, shyness and a lack of self-worth can mean that for some selling themselves does not come naturally. On the flip side, how about those people that try and fake their confidence by over-compensating and over-inflating their abilities, leaving them projecting an image of cockiness and arrogance.
We need to know where we are at to know where we are going. And to get to where we want to be we need to know what steps to take. Having faith in ourselves, knowing our self-worth and having a healthy self-confidence is the foundation to building our personal brand. We tend to focus on our negative attributes far more than our positive, because that seems to be more socially acceptable. Batting away a compliment because we’re not deserving or we don’t believe it instead of appreciating and accepting the compliment, adding it to our self-worth bank.
“Believe you can and you’re halfway there” – Theodore Roosevelt
At the Career Development Centre trained professional Counsellors, Psychologists, Mentors and Career Development Practitioners are available to work with you to draw out your strengths, celebrate your attributes and share them confidently and un-apologetically with prospective employers.
For an appointment call (07) 33 55 66 88 or visit www.careerdevelopmentcentre.com.au for more information.
