Do you recoil from the idea that as a contractor you are selling something? We are workers, not sales people, right? Well, yes, we are workers but in today’s more mobile workplace, we need to remember that we are always selling our capabilities as workers. So how do we identify and frame our capabilities into something that we are proud to sell?
Finding out why we are valued at work is a good starting point. The first thing many people say is, “I’m a hard worker and a good communicator.” Now we would all agree that these are good traits in a worker but from a sales perspective they are not very marketable. They are too general with no real way an employer can be assured of their quality at the point of purchase (except through references who are known to be honest). Also, in today’s production focused world, hiring managers often look primarily at experiences directly related to your work and to specific outputs.
Here are some questions to get your thinking started identifying your value in terms of the work itself:
• Have you been through particular transitions – to new software or other technology?
• Have you participated in a turn-around situation or major reorganization, and achieved specific work-related goals?
• Are you proficient in particular work software, technology, or systems?
• Have you solved particular problems for management in the work you do?
• Have you succeeded in achieving work goals given particular challenges? (e.g., redesigned a work process using a virtual team of individuals who were new to working in virtual teams and/or working cross-functionally or successfully completed a project on time that involved using resources over which you had no authority)
Asking yourself questions is not the only way that you can develop your list. You can do your own survey asking others to identify what you add to work accomplishment using an anonymous and free internet survey tool. Or, go on LinkedIn and look for the work descriptions of savvy professionals with the same or related work experience.
The Second Step!
Once you have a list of work-oriented achievements, then you need to think of them as your potential customers would – what current problems do these solutions solve? Can you rephrase the specifics of your experience to speak directly to their current problems? As potential employees, we are all selling solutions – so what are the perceived problems of our hiring managers/customers?
Few did this second step in the marketing process until recently because organizations hired people who would fit in and do what the organization needed. Today, managers are hiring experienced workers for the skills and knowledge they have to do a specific task. The challenge for individuals who are involved in job search is to take their capabilities and frame them in a way that meets the current, specific needs of hiring managers in their work.
Once you have your value-added description, selling becomes much easier – you know what you are offering that could really help certain employers. Your job then is to find those employers.