Creating career clarity
If you are in the market for a new job, career change or looking for a promotion, then you have probably checked out the endless lists and every tip and trick out there. You will have read all the articles and advice threads about how to get that job, start a new career you will love, or push on for the promotion you hanker after. However, there is still an elephant in the room. It’s the one thing we tend not to talk enough about, and that’s your message or the personal career statement that you tell recruiters
Some would say it’s your “why,” or your motivation and drive to do great things and to change things for the better. Others would say it’s the thing you do that inspires those around you, with a message to help people to remember you and most of all give you the job.
So anyone looking to move on at work, we all need to work on a compelling message about who you are, what you do and how you can make the business or clients’ lives better. Put another way, it’s your precious reputation (or a personal career “brand”) and what you are known for. If you can’t pin this critical aspect of your career down and have a concise message to tell, then it will be difficult for you or others to be clear about who you are. Potentially stopping the recruitment process for you in its tracks.
So what do you say?
Put simply, your message or personal career statement is the critical element of what you do and what you want to tell people about yourself. It’s the basis of the story you will be telling throughout your job search and the recruitment process. It’s the narrative about your work that pinpoints the value you can bring to the business, customer or to clients. Something you do that is based on evidence, a facet of your work that is quantifiable to the point of making a real difference. Without a compelling message, what we say can be quite literally pointless to the listener.
When searching for a job, you will need this compelling story that is going to carry you through every conversation, every interview and every networking meeting. If you don’t have one, you might be stuck chopping and changing the statement every time you speak to influential people. In the main, people really want to help you but without a clear message they can’t pin down the benefit of signposting you to an organisation or group that can help you. Those that meet you will not know why they should believe in you. Probably more important is what you believe about yourself.
Stating your purpose
To begin the process of constructing your message or statement, you can start by asking yourself “what is the big thing about me and my career that will engage the decision-makers I meet.” This message should be grounded in your strengths, legacies, achievements and key skills that have been demonstrated to make a difference. Most will sigh and give you the thousand-yard stare if you just say, “I am purpose-driven,” “am passionate about……,” or “I am a self-starter” or “I like to work on my own.”
To create your statement, look at yourself in the mirror or better still corral a good honest non-judgemental friend to listen to you answering the question. Do you believe the message sums up the value you bring and most of all, is it a compelling statement? The critical question in all this is “Tell me about yourself or tell me about what you do.” No one is interested in the nuts and bolts of what you do, it’s more about what are you going to do for them and their business. A marketing professional might say “I have a love for marketing and have grown market share with unique marketing strategies in three successive companies. I did this by having a keen strategic sense of every market we entered. I am now ready to take the next step to a CMO.”
If this feels too wordy then reduce it to just a sentence. It may read “I am a driven marketing professional with strong market intelligence and a proven track record of achieving success. I am now ready for a senior role.” We now have a crisp, powerful idea to share. Try to stay focused on that single definable message about you.
Clear and concise
This message can of course be re-fashioned for all your encounters. Needless to say, the message won’t be expressed exactly the same way each time you use it. Though as you use it again and again it will create themes that have a form of continuity that you can believe in. Remember if you believe the message about yourself, others will too.
So if your message is this; “I am an accomplished H.R professional with a history of building measurable employee engagement.” For speed, it might be: “I build engagement for happier, healthier and more fulfilled people at work.”
For a networking conversation, it might be; “I would really appreciate your help to find a senior H.R position that builds on my strong background in employee engagement.”
In a job interview, you might say; “I have a significant background in HR and employee engagement and want to bring my expertise to the role we are discussing.”
The power of your story
All these versions of your message or statement will serve you well as a personal script throughout your job search. Having a clear and concise message will help narrow down and focus your search for greater accuracy. I hear again and again about candidates who apply for countless roles without any luck. Bemoaning the interview process or that the employer didn’t understand me and what I do. In the end, it is probably your lack of understanding of the value you deliver and processes you improve or the people you help. All this then is due to a lack of clarity about self and what they have to offer. Your message will focus on who you are, what you bring, and what specific positions/roles are right for you.
Having a single message or personal statement will also give you continuity and unity in your overall job search. Equipped with a single message, you won’t deliver a hackneyed elevator pitch or a networking/interview script as an unconnected confusing narrative. A single career narrative will have another clear and distinct advantage. It will help to give you ownership of your career achievements and every conversation that you will have. You will not have to worry about “what am I going to say when someone asks me about what I do.” You won’t just react to the situation you find yourself in, but will proactively know what to say to whom and when. This idea will engender a narrative that has clarity and coherence with authenticity and congruence.
Lastly……………
Being very clear and concise about what you do and how this message or personal statement is articulated means that you will not stumble when asked “so tell me about what you do.” What are your achievements, experiences or what your career goals are? You will have a ready to go with the statement that allows you to project the confidence and belief you have about your purpose and career value.
Needless to say, the big question is, how do you know if you have achieved this consistency of your career message or statement? The acid test of course will be for those that have heard your message before. You want to be in a position where someone heard you deliver your career message, perhaps overheard your networking conversation, or was a fly on the wall during an interview to know who you are. Moreover, they will be able to identify you and your clear concise message about what you do and how you can make a difference in the business. Being unclear about your career message might just be the difference that has been missing from your job search and interview performance. So are you ready to “tell me about what you do?”
