Thinking about looking for a new job? I’ll wager the first thing you feel compelled to do is update your résumé. It’s a nearly universal reflex. And, it’s wrong. My advice is to push away from the keyboard and spend time gathering data and thinking through the value you bring to your teams and firms. It's time to form and articulate your professional value proposition.
Whether you’re looking for a job, asking for a promotion, or focused on reinventing your career, you need to be able to articulate and showcase your Professional Value Proposition (PVP). The same goes for situations where you are asking for more, including angling for a promotion or seeking a raise. It turns out, uncovering and articulating your PVP is a challenging exercise. Here are ideas to help:
Part of the process of moving up or moving on involves a hefty amount of self-marketing, and it’s at this point where we attempt to share who we are and what we bring to the table that we often fall short. Here are 6 ideas to help you jump-start the process of creating an effective professional value proposition:
Job search is a hot topic right now, and I received a number of notes from individuals who read my Irreverent Opinions of a Resume Hobbyist post the other day, asking for input about how to craft a Personal/Professional Value Proposition to support their job-hunting activities. I said in the post that I view this as the hardest task in developing an effective resume (and self-marketing strategy), and is the area where you will likely spend the most time creating content and agonizing over wording.
