3. Sell Yourself Like a Pro: The Achievement Formula 🏆
Many people find it difficult to sell themselves because they don't know what to say and feel awkward talking about their achievements. However, being able to sell yourself is very important for branding yourself and articulating the value you can bring.
Think of this as expanding on the transferable skills exercise you've already done by outlining the different aspects of your career from various perspectives. Then, we can put all of the sentences together into a profile or a professional brand. It’s also known as an elevator pitch—an personal introduction short enough to present during a brief elevator ride.
➡️ TODAY’S TASK (ESTIMATED TIME: 30-MINUTES)
Write a short paragraph (professional profile), outlining your top Achievement, Transferable Skills, Key Responsibility, Best Ability, Soft Skills, Role-Specific Skills, Education, Passion, Specialist Knowledge and/or Attributes.
You only need about 5 or 6 sentences which capture everything you have to offer. In other words, you don’t need to have a sentence for all the above areas.
Aim to make it consistent—write it from the perspective of one specific skill set or professional brand.
Topics to cover include
Transferable Skills • Achievement(s) • Responsibility • Ability • Soft Skills • Education • Passion • Specialist Knowledge • Attributes
Some definitions
An achievement is a work-related accomplishment. A responsibility refers to something you are accountable for getting done. A competency is the ability to deliver a specific outcome successfully. Abilities are natural or learned strengths. Knowledge is acquired information. Expertise is an expert skill and/or knowledge. Passion is enthusiasm for something. Attributes tell us more about you (e.g., resilience, drive, empathy). Education refers to completed formal or informal courses.
Useful Terms For a Profile
Experience in • Competent at • Knowledgeable of • Expert in • Strong at • Passionate about • Proven ability to • Successfully achieved • Key member of • Tasked with • Responsible for • Driven by • Consistently delivered • Skilled at • Recognised as • Excel at • Excellent • Awarded • Ranked as • Comfortable making • Driving change
Below are some points you can use to sell yourself well and to talk about yourself in interviews. The idea is that you don’t sell yourself as more than you are, but not less than you are, just exactly as you are, and honestly. That way, you’ll have no trouble backing up what you’ve said and it will give you more confidence when describing your career.
📋 Detailed experience (in years) encompassing the top three skills that you’ve gained
🏆 Proudest achievement to date (ideally professionally) — try to add metrics to give it extra weight
👩💼 Biggest responsibility so far — make this a soft skill if the ‘achievement’ (above) is a technical accomplishment
✅ Proven ability — relate this to anything else that you’d like to mention that you haven’t covered yet. If you’re struggling with this, you can talk about problem-solving, working with stakeholders or delivering projects on time etc.
😊Soft Skills — connect this to soft skills such as communication, influencing, conflict resolution etc.
💪Passion — what you love to do. This can be a topic (sport) or a process (helping others)
🔬 Specialist knowledge in a particular area that’s ideally related to the role you’re going for
🎓 Education — a summary relevant to the role. Not every single detail.
💻 IT Expertise/Proficiency — outline this more or less depending on it’s value to the role you’re interested in
00:00 Introduction to the Achievement Formula
00:31 Highlighting Your Biggest Achievements
00:50 Showcasing Responsibilities and Soft Skills
01:12 Diverse Abilities and Passions
01:34 Compiling Your Value Proposition
01:49 Task: Crafting Your Achievement Sentences
02:03 Ensuring Consistency in Your Points
Follow Me:
LinkedIn: / kennedyronan
Instagram: / ronankennedycoach
YouTube: / @ronankennedy
Website: www.ronankennedy.ie