The Power of Self-Inventory

A self-inventory is a job-hunting method that enables you to take an inventory of who you are and increase your chances of finding work exponentially compared to sending out your base resume. Chapter 7 of What Color is Your Parachute tells us why a self-inventory is beneficial and useful in your job-hunting efforts. A self-inventory is an evaluation of yourself, your priorities, the things most important to you and the things most important about you. A self-inventory makes you stop defining yourself by your job title and focus on the skills and experiences you have, which opens yourself up to multiple job-markets and endless opportunities. The self-inventory helps you describe what you are looking for and identify what you really want to help increase your persistence in your job-search. 

Additionally, a self-inventory helps you discover your skills and unique strengths that make you an asset to employers. If you know what you want, you can more easily find employers that you will effectively mesh with and you can approach them because even if an organization has no defined openings, they can and many time will create one for you. Further, a self-inventory gives you the ability to tell employers what sets you apart from other job applicants because you have reflected on your unique skills and abilities that you have cultivated. A self-inventory is also very useful to complete if you are thinking about a career-change because it gives you perspective on what you can do already beyond the scope of your current job title and allows you to identify what you want. 

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