You're struggling to find a job. How can self-evaluation help you succeed?

Before setting up your resume, or applying for jobs online - it's key to get clarity and understand your strengths and skills. Only you know what you are good at, and it's critical to spend a bit of time in this exercise Have a clear picture of who you are and what roles you can target. Remember, if you can't convince the recruiter - the recruiter can't take your application forward. It's your responsibility.

Never underestimate self-evaluation and pausing to reflect - "look inward" - to confirm skills, attributes, accomplishments / successes throughout your career and your overall abilities. It's also a valuable "confirmation" of what you take to your next role. Self-assessment allows you to consider what you are good at, what interests you at work, what you want to learn and develop and importantly what your values are as you consider a new role. Aligning values to your new employer is vital. (And yes, this analysis also allows you to consider what you are really really good at - but do NOT enjoy - that can be pretty powerful. That's not to say you can completely avoid it in your next role, but it certainly helps to acknowledge it!)

Hey job seekers, If you want to break the loop of 'Get interviewed - Get rejected - Repeat' you need to put conscious effort into breaking this loop. If you consciously ask yourself "What am I doing wrong?", after each rejection, you are on a path to win eventually.

Self-evaluation can be a valuable tool for job seekers by helping them identify their strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. By reflecting on past experiences, skills, and accomplishments, individuals can tailor their job search strategies to align with their career goals and target roles more effectively. Additionally, self-evaluation can boost confidence and motivation, enabling job seekers to approach interviews and networking opportunities with a clearer understanding of their value proposition. Through ongoing self-assessment, individuals can refine their job search approach and increase their chances of success in finding a suitable role.

Mastering self-evaluation allows you to display the type of poise and confidence that shines through in the interview. Being able to articulate the skills that you own and identify skills that you would like to develop creates an opening of opportunity for you and the potential employer. It says that you are eager to grow personally AND grow with the organization.

Cuando hablamos de autoevaluación hablamos de autoanálisis, es decir, de practicar el autoconocimiento para saber qué puntos fuertes tienes, tus debilidades, tus logros y todo aquello útil para construir una buena propuesta de valor profesional. Mi propuesta sencilla es que te hagas preguntas sobre en qué eres bueno revisando tu trayectoria y añadas siempre a cada una de esas cosas en qué contexto lo eres y qué resultados logras. Añade también un análisis de tus objetivos, porque siempre son necesarios.

First, you can examine your top 5 transferrable skills and reflect on how you have used them to achieve goals over the past few years. Then, use the STAR approach to tell two stories for each transferrable skill. This will prepare you to respond to behavioral questions asked in interviews. A one-page, double-spaced, 12-point text is approximately 2 minutes of speaking. You never want your initial responses to go as long as this, so keep it brief and discuss what you did to accomplish the goal. Now, you can use this information to reduce it to a bullet point to put on your resume. This can be done by highlighting the critical or most important words or phrases and blending them with the result (R) you achieved.

Here is a streamlined process that you can follow: 1. Reflect on Career Goals- Identify your job aspirations and set clear short and long-term objectives. 2. Assess Skills and Qualifications - List all your hard and soft skills, along with your educational background and certifications 3. Analyze Work Experience - Review past roles and achievements, identifying any experience gaps. 4. Gather Feedback 5. Set Development Goals 6. Create an Action Plan - Develop a realistic timeline for achieving your goals, identifying necessary resources and steps. 7. Monitor Progress and Adjust This process will surely help you get you to answer how you can succeed when you are struggling for a job!

I'm not a big fan of complicated or high fluff tools/software used for evaluation. I've taken many evaluations myself and they never accurately represented me or anyone I know for that matter. Just sit down with yourself and a piece of paper, you'll find your way.

The best way to conduct them is to use pen and paper. With full command to jot down points, the way you like it, you create a structure or columes, listing out all those categories to get your choices.

Self-evaluation yield your Unique Value. Try this: Ask yourself ONE question. What is something I do well, I enjoy, and comes easy to me – that’s an absolute dreaded chore for others. That, my friends, is your superpower. And that superpower is your unique value. Own. It.

There's nothing worse than spending hours of your time only to hear feedback such as: - Went with someone more suited to the role - Didn't have industry experience - Not the right fit What we're looking for is detailed rich feedback that helps you to understand if you need to improve on your: Structure, Examples, Impression, or Tone. With this, you're then able to create actionable steps that you can use as part of a plan to improve. It's never easy hearing that you may not have performed well in areas you felt strongly about so before getting defensive ask questions to get specific examples.

Self-evaluation is indeed a powerful tool for enhancing your prospects of securing a job. By identifying both your strengths and weaknesses, you gain insight into areas where you can improve and further develop. Recognizing your strengths, including valuable skills, experiences, and personal qualities, allows you to highlight these assets during the job search process. Through consistent self-awareness and reflection, you can significantly increase your likelihood of finding a job that aligns with your skills, interests, and aspirations.

As you are adding strengths to your resume - make sure you are specific with examples - have a look at job adverts to see what employers in the sector/s are looking for so you can match them on your resume (often using employer ‘speak’ can be helpful - check out other profiles on LinkedIn to get ideas on how others use wording

Having your self-evaluation feedback physically written down and in front of you allows you to reflect and form your story - where have you been, where are you now, and where are you going? Having a clear picture of the skillsets you bring to the table and your approach to tackling goals and challenges sets you up for delivering a more robust strategy in your job search- how are you articulating who you are and what you offer through your resume or LinkedIn profile? How are you assessing whether a role is right for you? How are you navigating interviews and clearly highlighting yourself?

Building on Irtaza Tafheem's comments, AI tools can be extremely helpful here. For example - "one of my weaknesses is selling myself in an interview. I always feel like I'm bragging." What are some ways to communicate my value that might be more comfortable to me?" "I never know what to say when I follow up after an interview. What are 5 ways I could stand out better in a thank-you email?" AI is a game changer for planning your search and can be utilized in every phase, from researching industries to selecting software tools to managing your search to providing negotiation strategies. Anyone not utilizing it is at a disadvantage.

If you don't set goals for yourself to achieve on a daily/weekly basis, how will you know how you are doing in a job search? All you can control is the outgo. I encourage clients to: 1. build-up to reaching out to 10 network contacts per day; 2. try to find 3-4 posted openings that you are 85% or more qualified for and apply; 3. check in with at least 1-2 recruiters per week; 4. set up three networking/marketing lunches per week; 5. if you achieve your goals before the end of the week, find a way to celebrate If you are working full or part-time, you must monitor these goals accordingly. Note at the end of each week what you have learned about yourself and the process.

You can consider tools, like ChatGPT or Google Gemini to further verify your self-evaluation, regarding your job search. Also, validate your results, based on your self-evaluation to be verified by consultants on your network.

Tip of the day: 1. **SMART Planning:** Define Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound goals to stay focused and motivated during your job search in the European market. 2. **SWOT Analysis:** Conduct a thorough analysis of your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats to tailor your applications and interviews effectively, highlighting your strengths and addressing weaknesses. 3. **Market Research:** Stay informed about industry trends, company cultures, and job market demands and employer needs. 4. **Informational Interviews:** Reach out to professionals in your desired field or industry for informational interviews to gain insights, expand your network, and uncover hidden job opportunities and insights.

Since the job search process can take several months, coming back to your self-evaluation notes monthly is a great starting point as you continue to have different conversations with potential employers through formal or informational interviews. Reminding yourself of your accomplishments and that one closed door will open another. Continue to refine how you use your self-evaluation feedback in your job search, but also start to assess how you've approached the process- what's working and what's not working in your job search. What do you need to adjust to better set yourself up for success?

This open-ended space provides an opportunity for individuals to share additional insights or anecdotes. It encourages a personalized touch, allowing individuals to express unique aspects of their self-evaluation journey that may not fit within the structured sections. It promotes creativity and individuality in the self-reflection process.

Being honest and realistic with yourself is not always easy! Do your best but also ask a few trusted people their feedback especially around certain skills or attributes that are key factors in the jobs you are applying to. The other piece is to do a side by side comparison of the job and your resume to evaluate if you are a true contender or wishful thinker. LinkedIn jobs tab has a great tool/resume builder that can provide feedback as you enter the job title and have it scan, compare, and share what you have and what’s missing.

If you are struggling with a job and have heard more than once from a company that you are not the right fit, then self-evaluation may not be enough to help you through this roadblock. Typically, no matter what superficial feedback you are given, if any, the likelihood is that there was not a personality fit. No company will tell you this! I would recommend investing in spending time with a good career coach to unravel what is happening at your interviews. It can be illuminating and fast forward your career and end unnecessary frustration.

Self-evaluation helps you look at yourself and look at what you've been doing for your search to ask yourself a few questions: - What am I doing that is not working? -Do I need to revise my resume? -Do I want to pivot? -Do I need to ask for help to figure out my next move? -Do I need to do a mock interviewing? -Who in my network can help me? Self-evaluation helps us uncover those scotomas (blind spots) that can be the portals to a breakthrough to get things moving again.

The job search process can be draining, and you can feel defeated when you consistently apply to jobs and do not receive an interview or hear a "no" after interviews, but behind many no's is a YES. Lean on the power of connections- use your network for guidance and support. Keep your head up and your foot on the gas. Set clear goals for your week and days as it pertains to your job search, but also remember to give yourself some space to take a breath and focus on yourself. It takes time and patience, but your next opportunity is around the corner.