“It isn’t just what you know, and it isn’t just who you know. It’s actually who you know, who knows you, and what you do for a living.”
- Bob Burg, Best-selling Author of Endless Referrals and The Go Giver
Being social about your skills, your learning and your abilities can go a long way in furthering your career and helping you reach your goals. And yet, selling yourself is something that you may shy away from. This could be because you feel others may construe it as bragging. This is a valid argument. In this blog, we will see the importance of being social about your skills and knowledge. We will also discuss how you can do this without coming across as a braggart!
Why Talk About Your Accomplishments?
When you are dedicated to furthering your career or your goals, the first thing to do is to keep your eyes open to opportunities. There’s no way in knowing how these opportunities will present themselves. Here are three importance facets to being social about your strengths.
- Referrals
88% of employers say that employee referrals are the #1 best source for high quality applicants, according to a John Sullivan research. Obviously, those referrals are highly valued by employers. This is the most important reason why it is crucial to talk about your skills. You never know who is listening and through whom you may get your next big opportunity.
- Networking
“The richest people in the world look for and build networks, everyone else looks for work. Marinate on that for a minute.” – Robert T. Kiyosaki
Since studies show that 85% of critical jobs are filled via networking of some sort, it makes complete sense to work your connections and tell them about your skills.
- Personal Branding
It is important that you start thinking of yourself as a brand. A Forbes article entitled Why Personal Branding Is Key To Career Success puts it well: “Your brand is an indication of what you have to offer, and can make or break your success. It’s also indicative of confidence, credibility, and an ability to prioritize.” Brand building is synonymous with promotion and raising awareness, which brings us back to the importance of telling others about your skills and strengths.
Where Do You Start?
When networking, we tend to pass over the most important of our brand advocates – our friends and family. They are the most loyal and effective ambassadors of your brand. A survey on How Millennials Navigate Their Careers showed that the most common approach used by millennials to finding employment was referrals from friends, relatives and others (45%). While many of us start this way, we often underestimate the value of these connections as we build our careers and reach out for greater aspirations.
I recently came across an interesting term: connectional intelligence. Connectional Intelligence is defined as “the capability to consistently deliver breakthrough innovation and results by harnessing the value of relationships and networks.” Spreading the word through relationships we already have is often an untapped source for excellent referrals.
When you talk about your skill set, qualifications and experience, it allows your connections to understand what it is that you do. They will be able to appreciate what your role is and If an opportunity opens up with them or with a friend of a friend, they will know exactly who to recommend.
How to Be Social About Your Achievements
We have seen the importance of being social about your strengths. Here are a few pointers to ensure that you do it the right way, without coming across as self-serving:
- Focus on your effort
People appreciate hard work. When speaking about the effort you had to put into your achievements, phrases like “oh it was nothing,” makes you appear arrogant. Talk about the challenges you had to overcome and how you worked hard to get it done.
- Help others
Networking is never one-way. When you see others asking for help, do your best to refer them to opportunities you are aware of. What goes around does come around!
- Be grateful
If you were helped by someone or the opportunity opened up because of someone, give credit where it is due. This will show that you aren’t seeking self-praise but are genuinely happy about the achievement and are thankful to those who helped you on the way.
Own Your Success
“Success is where preparation and opportunity meet.” – Bobby Unser
Keep building on your personal brand, whether it is through your friends and family or through social media. Believe in your accomplishments and own your success. Wishing you the very best.
