How To Promote Your Skills & Land Your Dream Job

Self-promotion when looking for a job is usually something aspiring candidates struggle with.

Self-promotion when looking for a job is usually something aspiring candidates struggle with. Everyone wants to present the best about themselves in the hopes of being the frontrunner for a vacancy. At the same time, candidates tread carefully in their resumes and interviews so as not to come across as bragging and self-absorbed. Unfortunately, holding back on self-promotion to uphold a certain image may backfire in the end. In reality, it’s important to think about pitching yourself as an accumulation of various hard and soft skills. This article is for you to shift the mindset to benefit all the skills you have acquired thus far and how you wish to advance them. Promoting your skills is self-promotion.

Promoting your skills that gave results gives the employer a better image of who you are

When you apply for a job, you are basically selling yourself and what skills you can provide a company. You have to convince the company to “buy” your skills or to make an investment in advancing your skills.  Fundamentally, they want to know how you will be able to help their business grow. And the only way to do that is to let them know directly through promoting your top abilities.

Job seekers often try to be modest by focusing on the responsibilities and functions of their previous or current job instead of showcasing their achievements. It’s not wrong, but it tends to be much less effective. Let’s use a real life example this light: Consider choosing between two similarly priced hair care products.  Would you be more likely to select the one which tells you beforehand what you can expect or the one which shows you proven results from previous users of that product?

It’s easier for employers to see you fit into their company based on what you have already accomplished as compared to what you say you can do and what you are willing to do.

Promoting your skills ensures that the employer are aware of your talent, directly

When preparing their resumes, job seekers often think hard on who to note down as their reference in the hopes that person would sing songs of praises to the employers. This is a good practice but unfortunately, there are times when this is not the outcome.  Sometimes, hiring managers decide based on resume and interview only.

If you’re the type of person who relies on your references to tell your employer about your skills in action, and they unfortunately do not reach out to them, your chances of being hired are more slim than if you had  been open about your accomplishments.

On the other hand, if you make sure to self promote without the fear of being seen as arrogant, then you’re sure that the company can make a more informed decision on hiring you. What’s more, if they do decide to check your references, those people can back up what you have said, giving you more credibility.

Promoting your skills reveals much more about your character

By promoting your skills and describing how you achieved them, you are giving your employer a picture of how you work. Did you have specific objectives? How much planning did you do? What did you learn? What did you gain? How did you measure results? How you got to your success is also as important as show off the process it took to get there.

Promoting your skills is self promotion. And it is linked to your ability to identify and recognize accomplishments, which is a quality of a good leader. Being able to do this for your own self means that you will be more likely to be able to do the same for your teammates and colleagues, which can improve morale and productivity.

In line with the previous thought, your ability to self promote shows how you see and value yourself. It shows that you take pride in your accomplishments. If you try to hide it in an attempt to appear humble, it usually comes across to employers that you are not proud of them. That may not be the case but that is what the decision-makers of the company will think.

It also speaks about your sense of entitlement. Not being proud of whatever accomplishments you have might show that you feel you didn’t earn it, and may reflect negatively on the perception of your general outlook.

You worked hard to achieve your skills, and you did. You earned them. Be proud of it!

Take note that promoting your skills aren’t, and shouldn’t be, about bragging. Sell your abilities. Focus on the benefit of hiring you and highlight your accomplishments to back up your claim.

Lastly, get yourself out there. There’s a saying that resonates well with us, “the squeaky wheel always gets the grease.” Be that squeaky wheel, go make noise (figuratively), and get noticed!

If you need help getting out there, join our top-rated talent marketplace where highly skilled professionals use our patented 3D resume technology to promote their skills for top dollar. You too can use the platform’s tools to showcase your achievements to the best employers in the world!

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