Jack

of all

TradesPlanning for a career advancement in tune with your abilities

babuappat@gmail.com

I sometimes receives letters of this sort

Dear Sir,

I lost my job after working for more than ____ years at the same company. In that time, I had a variety of responsibilities. I worked in a half-dozen departments. As the company changed, I would take on new projects as needed. I was a "Jack-of-all-trades."

I thought when I lost my job I'd find it easy to get a new one because of all I have done. I've got so many skills and abilities, my resume is three pages long. And yet, I can't seem to get an interview. As I research positions on job boards, I find myself saying, "I can do that!" But, having applied to over 40 jobs, I've yet to get a single interview.

What am I doing wrong?

Jack of all Trades

And a master in manyEven then…….

Career advancement depends not only your abilities and skill

But in your ability to manage and market your skills

The answer is simple:

When you try to look like a match for everything, you match nothing

A Job Opening

Is a specific problem to solve

W h e n a c o m p a ny h a s a n o p e n p o s i ti o n :

what they really have is a particular problem

that needs to be solved

Hiring decision goes by…

The person choose to hire will be the one that can solve the

problem the best and is priced right.

Confusing hirers

When you are marketing dozens of things about yourself, a/k/a being a Jack-of-all-trades, you overwhelm

hiring managers.

You stand to loose…

In fact, you distract them to the point they are unable to see you as a

match…

Overqualified, overpriced

Not only do you appear overqualified, but they may also assume you are

overpriced as well...resulting in your resume going in the "no" pile

The Solution?

Become A "Swiss Army Knife"

Instead.

Swiss army knife?

If you find yourself in the Jack-of-all-trades situation, I suggest you re-tool yourself to

appear more like a Swiss Army Knife:

Skills; Demonstrate them with precision

be clear in what each of your key skills is good for and demonstrate them with

precision.

Here's what to do:

Step 1:

Identify the top 5 skill sets you want to leverage in your next position.

You have many skills, but you need to focus hiring managers on the skills you are most passionate about using on a daily basis so you can find a job that

plays to your strengths

Step 2:

Map out how those skills support an employer in solving a problem.

How can your skills be of use

Clarify how will you use these skills specifically to save and/or make the

company money.

Empathize

Ask yourself, "What pain will I alleviate when I utilize these skills for an

employer?

Step 3:

Quantify your track record of success in these key skills.

You need to be able to back up your abilities with facts.

Articulate examples of how you have used each of these skills to help an employer so you can justify the cost of hiring you.

Step 4:

Optimize your career tools (i.e. resume & Online identity

Profi les available online

Must reflect your problem solving expertise using the skill sets you

chose to showcase.

Less is more

Simplify these documents so the text clearly supports your area of focus.

Without overwhelming..,

Give hiring managers enough information to confirm you can do the specific job

without overwhelming them.

Contact me to learn more…

Your career tools should say, "I can do the job you need, but you'll need to contact

me to learn more."

Finally, Don't Forget To...

Start a proacti ve job search

One more thing…

Once you've gone from branding yourself as a generalist to a specialist, you need

to do one more thing:

Just because you revamped your professional identi ty to be bett er

suited for specifi c jobs, doesn't mean employers will start responding to your online

applicati ons.

If you really want to get an employer's att enti on, you need to increase your networking eff orts

so you can spread the word about your special problem solving

abiliti es as a way to get referred into positi ons

What other tips can you share to deal with the Jack-of-all-trades challenge?

Please write to me

I too am a career trainerPlease visit: http://

www.youtube.com/TheTrainingclasses Google me and you’ll find how a jack I myself am

THANK YOU

babuappat@gmail.comhttp://www.thetrainingclasses.blogspot.in/