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Making yourself more marketable
One of my favourite ever quotes is Oscar Wilde’s “you can never be overdressed or overeducated”. So why do we sell ourselves short with our skill sets?
Whether it’s for employers, prospects, or just for yourself, there are simple steps you can take to make sure you’re catching their eye.
That doesn’t mean you have to spend all day blowing your own trumpet, but the responsibility to make sure people recognise your abilities lies with you.
So to help you out, we’ve put together some of the best ways you can subtly make yourself more marketable, without making any compromises.
Don’t underestimate your soft-skills
As you move through your career, you’ll learn a multitude of hard-skills that you’ll want to shout about. But these often change depending on the job you’re in, the prospect you’re talking to, and as time goes in. Sofk-skills are more related to your personal attriubtes, and that’s what matters at the end of the day.
A few of the oldies but goodies include teamwork, problem solving and conflict resolution. As no matter where you end up, you’ll always need these to fall back on.
But of course, it’s never as easy as flinging it in an email or updating your CV. You’ll need to back this up with real-life examples, or if you’re using it in the workplace, actually put it into practice.
This will be much more authentic, and prove you’re the right person for the task!
Remain active online
Literally everyone and their dog has some sort of social media platform, making them an obvious place to start building your brand.
This might be a bit tricky, as we don’t want our clients or bosses finding those questionable club photos from our first week of freshers… so don’t be afraid to set up a professional page!
In doing so, you can join a number of groups, gain and share industry knowledge, and connect with other professionals in your field. Not to mention an active presence on social media can help you get spotted by recruiters.
However the key is to actually be present rather than just have a presence. You can’t expect to be a social wallflower and still get noticed.
Post regularly. This can be anything from job updates, industry news, even a good old vlog.
It’s also a good way of demonstrating your skills. Most marketing jobs these days require some sort of social media upkeep, so what better way to prove yourself?
As RuPaul would say, “if you can’t sell yourself, how in the hell are you going to sell somebody else?” Or something like that.
Learn something new
Keeping up with the trends is important. For example, do you know what a Tik Tok is? Didn’t think so.
For inspiration, have a look at the job ads in your industry. What types of skills employers are on the lookout for? If you don’t have them. Get them under your belt.
Don’t forget about certifications or accreditations too! One good thing to come out of this pandemic is that they’ve never been easier to obtain with many companies and institutions giving courses online. And 9 times out of 10, for free. Hallelujah!
Think about what applications you’re fluent in or what software you’ve mastered. Then go ahead and share them with the world!
You can add relevant skills/ accreditations to your LinkedIn profile to prove just how clever you are. We’ve even got our own CANDDi one too, how cool is that?!
Simply go to your profile and click the pencil icon to edit your profile. Scroll down the Skills and endorsements section, and you can add CANDDi in here.
Maybe one day we’ll even set up a LinkedIn assessment so you can get badges. Watch this space!
