The One Thing Stopping You from Landing the Job You Want

What is the one thing stopping you from landing the job you want? Most professionals think that getting a great job boils down to who you know. Barring that: you need to be able to out-smart the Applicant Tracking Systems for online job applications. What about being the best, the smartest, and best candidate for the job? All of these are great, but none of them do you any good if you are missing the single most important ingredient to your job search marketing plan.

You absolutely must be able to articulate your professional value! Your professional value is comprised of your accomplishments and tangible examples of what you have achieved for the organizations you have worked for. While this might sound obvious, it’s also the most significant stumbling block 98% of my clients have.

It doesn’t matter if you are a high-powered executive, a mid-career professional or a recent graduate. Being able to clearly and succinctly articulate your professional value to potential employers will determine whether or not you get the job, land the promotion, or get the raise that you deserve for your hard work.

Why Articulating Your Accomplishments Matters

Most resumes do not discuss explicit examples of how individuals have impacted the organizations they have worked for. What is commonly seen are mindless bullet-point lists of roles and responsibilities. Many professionals still live under the impression that their work will speak for them, which almost never happens.

“Your work does not speak for itself. You do.” – Rick Gillis

The other problem with most standard job search marketing plans (which include resumes, LinkedIn, and portfolios) is that they are too generic and use blanket statements to describe industry expertise. For example: “Skilled in resource management” doesn’t tell me squat. However, if you were to give me a real-life example of how you applied that skill for a positive return – I’m impressed. So are hiring managers and your boss (remember that raise you want so badly?).

This is why creating a list of accomplishments, achievements and real-life examples of how you have applied your abilities to a positive outcome are worth gold – or a nice new job.

Why Talking About Yourself is So Darn Hard

Out of the hundreds of clients I work with every year, only 86% of them will ever complete the one (and most critical) piece of prep work required for their Resume, LinkedIn Profile or Executive Portfolio. It’s what I call an Impact Inventory. Your Impact Inventory is a list of accomplishments, achievements, and tangible examples of how you have positively impacted the organizations you have worked for. That 14% miss out big on opportunities and it stops them from landing the job they want.

You cannot be promoted when you are unable to promote yourself. – Unknown

Quite frankly, talking about yourself is HARD. Most of us are conditionally programmed from an early age not to ‘brag’ or talk about ourselves. It’s considered bad manners in most cultures across the world. We are afraid that other people will think that we are snobs, stuck up, stuck on ourselves or worse. It’s vitally important for most people to feel accepted and included in a social matrix. Some professionals will literally sabotage their careers in order to have this illusion of ‘inclusiveness’.

Stick to the Facts, Jack

I have good news for you! Articulating your professional value to potential employers is not bragging. When you develop your Impact Inventory, it’s important that you stick to the facts. Bragging is taking a situation or example and blowing it out of proportion to your own benefit. There is no place for bragging in an Impact Inventory.

To create and leverage an Impact Inventory correctly: you must provide clear, succinct examples of situations where you have positively impacted the organization, team or provided some type of improvement on the current state. These are real stories with real impact – not something you made up. You are simply stating the truth, explaining your involvement, and what the impact was: that’s it.

How to Create an Impact Inventory

Creating your Impact Inventory can be incredibly personal, but there are some excellent best practices to get your brain on board.

• Make a List: Jot down a list of your core skills, abilities and what you are known as the ‘go-to’ person for. Make a list of the attributes you excel at. If need be, ask a fellow coworker how they feel that you help them the most. Call former managers and ask them what they feel your positive attributes are. You aren’t asking for atta-boys, just facts. If that doesn’t work: ask your Mom. Mom remembers everything, particularly your accomplishments.
• Back It Up: For each expertise on the list, consider how many real-life examples you have to ‘back up’ that skill. These examples can be stories or a project you worked on. Start big and get as much detail as you can out there. Things that might seem ‘average’ or ‘just another day’ to you might be important to someone else. Don’t skip over anything. You can cut out unnecessary details later.
• Be Focused: Write down as many example stories (impact stories!) as you can think of that is relevant towards the positions you seek for each expertise you have listed. In other words, be relevant. You can talk about anything but it’s best if you focus on what will get you where you want to go. Spent your energy wisely and keep your career target in mind.

When you are done, you should have at least one real-life example of each skill, expertise, or ability that you listed. For experienced professionals – you should have more than one or two examples of your core skills and abilities. For newer experiences, just one example will suffice.

▶ Download an Impact Inventory Guide to Help You Get Started! ◀

Turn Your Stories into Impact Statements

Now that you have your Impact Inventory – you can distill your example stories into impact statements. These statements are usually one or two sentences that capture the essence of the example. A solid impact statement will have three parts:

• The Catalyst: what sparked a change or an Issue that you needed to solve?
• The Detail: a very brief overview of what happened and your involvement.
• The Impact: how did it affect the company or clients in a positive way?

Specifics are key when discussing your achievements as a professional. If you can speak in terms of percentages or dollars & cents that makes even more of an impression. Here’s an example impact statement:

“Reduced the number of open mobile / handheld application defects by 50% in four months by collaborating with subject matter experts and leading a select project team with a focus on improving the customer experience.”

You might notice that this statement doesn’t get into all the details but it does give the reader a taste of where you used your expertise in a real-life situation to benefit the customer and the organization. You also are able to give the reader a tangible result. A good impact statement serves as a springboard for further conversation. A hiring manager is likely to ask questions and allow you to elaborate further in the interviewing process. Most importantly, it showcases your abilities and hooks the hiring manager’s interest!

Leverage Your Professional Value

Short, succinct and value-packed impact statements can be inserted into your resume in lieu of boring bullet points about your roles and responsibilities. While it’s important to provide an overview of your positional role – it’s most important to provide specifics about what you did.

On LinkedIn, these statements can live under each relevant Experience. Your finest accomplishments (only 2-3) that are relevant towards your career target can be showcased in your Summary on LinkedIn. If you have project work that provides further detail and depth about your expertise, you can add a Project Section to your LinkedIn profile as well.

In interviews: having an Impact Inventory is essential. You can better answer those questions like, “Tell me about a time when…” The interview process will be easier for you because you already have your stories written down! You won’t have to frantically try to remember a situation where you used a particular skill or expertise.

[inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”CoachEurban” suffix=””]For promotions or salary raises: keeping your Impact Inventory up to date is critical! It’s a myth that your boss knows exactly what you do.[/inlinetweet] Most other people are absorbed in their own challenges and have a vague idea about their team members. It’s vitally important to keep a running list of the specific examples of how you have added value to your position, the team, your clients, and the organization. Not only is it helpful for performance reviews, but it’s essential for asking for (and backing up) a promotion or a raise.

Mindfully Further Your Career

By being intentional about keeping your Impact Inventory up to date, you can ensure that you will stand out from all the noise on LinkedIn and make a vastly better impression on potential hiring managers. If you are going for a promotion or a raise, you can’t walk in empty handed and talk about how hard you work. Managers want examples and they want specifics. [inlinetweet prefix=”” tweeter=”CoachEurban” suffix=””]Promoting yourself in a factual way isn’t about bragging or being selfish: it’s being smart about how you take care of yourself and increases your chances of landing the job you want.[/inlinetweet]

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A little bit about me …. my name is Erin Urban (LSSBB, CPDC), I’m a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, a keynote speaker, a certified career growth and leadership development coach with almost a decade of mentoring and coaching successful professional transformations.

There is nothing more rewarding than helping people achieve their dreams!

With an extensive background in leading individual, cultural and organizational change initiatives: my mission is to lift you up to defy your limits and exceed your goals!

Seen on: Thrive Global | besomebody.com | Forbes.com

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