When applying for a job, going after a BIG contract or landing a new client there is some who think the the best approach is to sell yourself as an expert at all things. I recently edited/revised/retooled a resume for someone that she had paid an "expert" to write for her. At the top of the page, just underneath the "profile" statement was a list of "Sally's" areas of expertise.
There were SIXTEEN listed strengths/talents for Sally and about half of them were in fact not her strengths. Take for example "marketing" which was listed as an area of expertise. This is not only not an area of expertise for Sally I would venture to say it is one of her weaknesses. Imagine then if she goes into interview for a position and the interviewer zeroes in on "marketing" and asks Sally to give her some examples of how she is such a great marketer. I see things going downhill from there because that is not what Sally wants to talk about. She wants to talk about the things she is actually gifted at: strategic thinking, problem solving, program development, coaching and mentoring.
These things, unlike marketing, are true strengths for Sally and where she wants to have someone focus their questioning in an interview. Not on marketing, sales and networking--all great qualities but just not the qualities that Sally excels at (and yet they are listed on her resume at areas of expertise!)
Resist the urge to list all valuable qualities as strengths on your resume and be prepared to talk about how you compensate for your lack of in a certain area. Let's stay with marketing. Sally is not applying for positions where marketing would even be important but for the sake of fun let's just say that there is a marketing component to the position she is applying for. How does Sally handle this in an interview situation? Here is how:
"I do understand that about 10% of this position is marketing and that is not an area where I have a lot of experience. Knowing that, I have to think up some ways to address this in the job and here is what I would do. First I would find someone on our team who is great at marketing and loves doing it and I would ask her to help me with the 10% part of the position where marketing is needed. I think over time I will get a sense of how to do this 10% myself and if it makes sense I would then do it myself. It might make more sense though for her to do this 10% of my position in exchange for me trading out some of my expertise for an aspect of her job where she does not excel. It's a win/win for all of us and I think will make our team stronger."
See how Sally is stressing that only 10% of the job is marketing?
Strategically Sally is showing the interviewer that
a. she is very self aware and understands this is not her core strength
b. demonstrating how it is just a tiny aspect of the job
c. communicating that she has the ability to recognize talent in others and give them the opportunity to shine and
d. a team player.
That to me seems better than lying and pretending that you can do something that you really aren't that good at doing in the first place. Imagine the disappointment of your boss when she realizes you are terrible at marketing!
I have always said that a great president is someone who recognizes his/her strengths and weaknesses and then surrounds his/herself with those who are strong where he/she is weak.
You can't be good at everything. It just isn't possible. Your resume should truly reflect what your strengths are and you should be prepared to talk about them.
Don't know your strengths? I recommend then you check out Marcus Buckingham's phenomenal books "First Break all the Rules" and "Now Go Discover Your Strengths" and take the strengths finder test that comes with the book.
You can't get the job trying
to be all things to all people.
We live in a very crowded and competitive marketplace and the name of the game is to DIFFERENTIATE YOURSELF from the rest of the crowd. You can't do that if you are masquerading as someone who is an expert at everything.
I promise.
No comments:
Post a Comment