Standing out when looking for a job can sometimes be hard, especially when it is easier to apply for jobs now than ever and adverts can easily get hundreds of applications.
If you are a support engineer and there are 200 others, how could you possibly stand out?
In this article, I wanted to do a little exercise that I do regularly with my candidates who are looking for work: what is your superpower?
The idea is this. There might be 200 other support engineers, developers, or electrical engineers, but there is only one you, and only one with your very specific experience. We want to find out what that is!
Think of it like this...
What are the things in your career and life that have made you unique? What are the skills and projects that you have worked on, or areas that you have worked in, which could be in demand and fewer people have? It could be anything!
For example:
I spoke with a data analyst. On the surface, her CV looked like every other data analyst, with skills, tools, and duties logged, but not what she was ACTUALLY doing and where she was adding value.
It turns out she was at a smaller company, and most of her experience was in researching, designing, and implementing processes and workflows across the business to save wasted time and money, and she loved this!
This included anything from systems integration and ensuring APIs worked correctly, to introducing new tools, lean mapping, and reducing or automating non-value-adding tasks.
That is her superpower, and it is something that is highly in demand.
Another example might be a Head of Strategy who has been instrumental in writing risk frameworks within a niche sector. There are quite a few senior strategy people out there, but not many who have done this specifically, and there are definitely companies who would find it interesting.
Let's now think of soft skills:
A lot of these we are born with, and they are just who we are. They add to the culture in the right business but do not fit in everywhere, and that is fine.
But again, it is unique to you.
We had an Apps Consultant position recently.
The position was with a small business, and the role was quite broad.
What we were finding was that the introverted profile did not fit as strongly because this involved proactive work and speaking to people they never had before, something they would naturally shy away from.
But how do we find someone who is more extroverted and likes this?
The honest answer is that it was hard and took a lot of time and calls.
The lesson here is this: if I saw a CV of someone who said they LOVE meeting new people and are an outgoing social connector, I would have called them in a heartbeat. However, this isn't generally something people will add.
Your CV is not just a list of roles and responsibilities.
It should be a reflection of your skills and strengths. Remember this, and do not be afraid to add a little colour and focus on your