Great women are not considered so because of personal achievements, but for the effect their efforts have had on the lives of countless others. From daring feats of bravery to the understated ways of a compassionate heart, great women possess a common strength of character. Through their passion and persistence, they have advanced womanhood and the world. (Peggy Anderson)
Want to get hired? Prove you are great.
Employers look at resumes for three things to do the initial screening for greatness:
- Basic job skills
- What you have accomplished
- What you caused others to accomplish
Basic job skills have to be easy to find on your resume. Prove you can type, program in VB.Net, sell, do accounting or design widgets. Make it so those skills will not be missed by a receptionist who has 100 resumes to plow through.
What you have accomplished is often harder to come up with.
What you caused others to accomplish is even harder to remember and very hard to prove.
My opening quote gives a great suggestion, figure out the effect you had on others. Keep track of people you have trained, processes you speeded up and money you saved. It will set you apart. Most people won’t track those things because they are taught to be “humble”. There is nothing wrong with reporting how well you do your job. Correctly convincing an employer to hire you because you will make him more money is a great idea. Don’t shy away from proving what you are worth.
The people, teams and companies you have helped are a great indicator of just how great you are. Accept it and take advantage of it.
Something to do today
If you have not started a job journal, today is a good day to do it. Start tracking all the people you help. Keep a tally sheet with the number of people who drop by and ask for help each day. Figure out how you make the workplace better. Track it and report it.
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Later: Oil drums on the horizon