I chose this thought from Napoleon Hill to open
this lesson because I want to remind you of what's a stake here.
As we discussed in the last module,
I'm trusting you want to be part of
that 20 percent that finds deep fulfillment in their work,
that you want to do the work that leverages your strengths,
passions, and who you are as a person.
The work that matters to you and to the world and you can,
but it will take effort to create those opportunities.
In this lesson, you will take the next step in
that direction by identifying your transferable competencies.
These will help you position yourself for your best career opportunities.
If you have good experience and you're seeking a job
in the same field you pursued in the past,
then identifying your transferable competencies is relatively easy.
But if you are changing careers and seeking to
do something entirely different from what you've done in
the past or you are entering the job market without
much experience or you're returning to the job market after some time away,
then you have a more difficult task ahead of you.
But in any case, your first step will be to record your work history.
If you've never worked outside the home or you're just out of school,
don't worry, just skip this activity and go on to the next.
Otherwise, use the form attached to this lesson to record the jobs you've had,
beginning with your most recent work.
If you had more than one job title with the same employer,
just record that on the form.
If you need more space,
you can simply add lines to the form or use
multiple forms or you can record the information in a file on your computer.
The next step is to record your accomplishments.
This is similar to the enjoyable accomplishments activity you did earlier,
but here, you focus on what you've accomplished as part of your work history.
When recording accomplishments, think of concrete tasks you completed,
along with the outcomes achieved.
Then for each, rate your interest level from one to
five with one being the lowest and five the highest.
If you've never worked outside the home or you've never had a job,
don't worry, the next activities will focus on accomplishments outside the workplace.
So, these activities are here.
This is where you record your accomplishments at home,
school, or in the community.
Again, think of concrete tasks you've completed,
along with the outcomes achieved.
Then for each, rate your interest level from one to five with
one being the lowest and five the highest.
The final step is to identify your competencies.
Remember, competencies represent skill behaviors
that you can demonstrate to a prospective employer or a client.
They open the door to your employment opportunities.
Competencies are the benefits that you're marketing to an employer.
Employers are less concerned about your strengths and
interests than they are about what you can do to help their business prosper.
Of course, employers are pleased when you like your work,
but it's what you can do to benefit the employer that will get you hired.
Competencies provide a common language for you and an employer.
How can an employer know how you will perform in the position?
The easiest and clearest way is to hear how you performed in the past.
When you describe your competencies,
you use action words.
You demonstrate behaviors that a hiring manager can assess.
Competencies show your expertise and value to an employer.
Employers may like you personally and feel that
you will fit in well with their organization,
but if you can't show that you have the ability to
perform on your job, you won't be hired.
You will be hired based on the expertise and value you bring to the job.
And think of everything you've done in terms of how it's
transferable to what you want to be doing and portray it that way.
Some years ago, I worked with a gentleman who had spent
nearly 20 years as a zoology professor.
His specialty was the study of bats.
Now you might know that bats locate and identify
objects by a process known as echolocation.
They use reflected sound waves as biological sonar,
just like modern day submarines use sonar to locate and identify objects underwater.
Because this gentleman had developed
extensive competencies in the analysis of biosonar systems,
he was able to successfully navigate
a career change to working with submarine sonar systems.
He was able to transfer the competencies he had gained in
one field to entirely new career field,a field that he very much enjoyed.
In English speaking world,
it is not unusual to have three to five different careers throughout your life,
not three to five jobs,
but three to five careers.
The university zoologist-turned-naval-analyst is
just one example of a successful career change.
Maybe you're not thinking of a career change,
but to prepare for today's English language interview,
you still need to recognize your competencies.
To help you, I've attached to this lesson a list of competencies that you can refer to.
These were identified by the authors,
Edward J. Cripe and Richard S. Mansfield in their 2002 book, "The Value-Added Employee."
You can, of course, add more to this list.
Use this form to go through the accomplishments and
analyze each for the competencies you demonstrate.
This may take some time,
but remember the competencies you identify
here will become the opportunities you can pursue in your career,
either in the field you're already established
in or in a new field if you're seeking a new career.
In closing, I invite you to reflect on this thought from Richard Bach.