What was your specific contribution to the team effort? Maybe you beat your co-workers hands down when it came to efficiency and cheerfulness - and you got the tips to prove it. Were you the one everyone approached to resolve conflicts, perhaps? Was it your time management skills that kept everyone on track?

More specifically, how did you excel in that role? Was it your service-oriented attitude? Your ability to juggle several responsibilities at once and do all of them well? Or your willingness to help others out when they couldn't cope?

Drilling down farther, what other competencies can you link in to your ability to work well in a team? How about your strong work ethic? Your ability to prioritize tasks or find solutions to problems? These are all relevant.

In this way you can develop stories that, while not directly related to the job you may be applying for, nevertheless illustrate the critical competencies that today's organizations desperately need.

Remember, it's not where you did something that is important, it's how you did it that's relevant to prospective employers. Every time you've been praised for a great presentation, been thanked for helping someone out or congratulated for solving a challenging problem that stumped others, drill down to uncover the skills and personal characteristics you have that will make you attractive to a hiring manager. And remember, companies love numbers. If you're able to quantify those results that's even better.

Think of every experience you've had as scenarios that potentially provide rich material for you to demonstrate you have what it takes to add value to any future employer. And don't stop there. In order to keep yourself current and attractive, keep a note of everything you do when you get that job - looking for numbers (preferably) and testimonials from your new boss, co-workers and customers to back up your claims.

 

Liz Simpson has written nine books on how to achieve personal & professional fulfillment and success that have collectively sold over 280,000 copies. She is the founder of HeartWork and offers strategic and tactically focused career coaching and workshops to individuals, as well as in-house training to organizations on the bottom line benefits of recruiting, motivating and retaining passionate employees. For more on Liz and her work: http://www.lizsimpson.com or email: liz@lizsimpson.com .

 

© Liz Simpson, 2002

The above is an excerpt from The Last Job Search Guide You'll Ever Need: How to Find and Get the Job or Internship of Your Dreams, which is available for sale for $19.85 in our bookstore or $27.00 at Amazon.com but for free to those who subscriber to our free career newsletter. This hot new book contains job search secrets of the most experienced, most knowledgeable and most respected career experts. Learn career planning, job hunting tools and tactics, interviewing, cover letter and resume writing (lots of samples!), networking, and how to find an internship. Written by 149 career experts. To receive a free copy, subscribe to our free career newsletter.

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