"Look around and reflect on where you are. What do you feel the need for?"
The phrase that, inevitably, comes up at a certain point in career transition counseling is, 'Ah! Told this way, my resume seems different. Have I really done all these things?!'
I also sometimes think of my resume as something static, a list of things done, learned, and set aside.
Sometimes you don't look at it anymore: it's what you use for all applications. You cross your fingers and hope that the company you're sending it to understands your (technical and soft) skills between the lines, even when the role you've applied for is not in line with your profile.
Your CV is much more than just a list of work experiences. It represents your growth journey, the skills acquired, the small and big steps taken, the effort, and the sleepless nights.
However, there are several reasons why you may perceive it in a distorted or limited way, and in this article, I want to explore some of these common situations that prevent you from fully valuing your professional background.
1. Reevaluation in Moments of "Emergency
Sometimes you reassess your skills during a moment of “emergency.” You are not where you want to be. Escape is not a feasible option, but you feel the urgency to be in a different time and place, far from where you are now. The whirlwind of sensations and emotions prevents you from an objective evaluation of what you are capable of and what you know.
An evaluation requires time and a strategy.
2. The Power of Habit
Sometimes it’s the power of habit that prevents you from seeing yourself differently. You have been in that role for so long that you can’t imagine yourself otherwise. Your own and others' expectations weigh heavily, and your professional identity represents the whole.
As Gestalt teaches, the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
3. Fear of Change
Sometimes the fear of change does not allow you to imagine other scenarios. What you do, the role, the place you are in, are perfect. Really. Except for the contractual conditions, the stress, the nonstop hours, and so on.
Changing means accepting the risk that things may go differently from how we imagine them. [Read the article on this topic].
4. Response to Rejections
Sometimes it’s a response to the "no" you received. A single "no" was enough to make you feel inadequate. Or it’s the lack of responses (personally, this second hypothesis disturbs me more). A "no" is not “just” about the resume, it becomes a "no" to you as a person and turns into “I’m not worth it.”
It depends on your state of mind. Self-esteem is not always constant; there are moments of up and down.
But did you know that self-esteem is a skill? Like all skills, it can be learned.
I talked about self-esteem in this episode of #coachforbreakfast.
5. Complex Life Paths
Sometimes life’s path is so complex that it’s difficult to bring order. It seems impossible to find a common thread that somehow unites all these pieces. And you forget something that remains hidden behind the rest. The feeling you might experience is that you have no control and are at the mercy of that disorder. Francesca Marchegiano, on CFB’s microphones, said a phrase I will never forget: “I kept moving others’ boxes and not considering my own.”
Before finding the common thread, start lining up everything you have done without prejudice.
6. Forgotten Experiences
Sometimes you consider certain activities or experiences so distant from work or so obvious that you forget them. “I invented a design model, but it was amid all the other work I was doing!” “Yes, I was responsible and the point of contact with coordination tasks, etc., but should I include it in my CV?”
It’s incredible how many things you can leave out when it comes to work that could be relevant in describing yourself professionally.
A goog help comes from those who witness your life, your companions on the journey.
When I feel down, discouraged, I call a witness. They help me see the path taken over the long term. They act as a mirror, as counseling would say.
In counseling, it’s one of the basic but also the most powerful tools: “mirroring” the other means focusing on everything that is taken for granted and forgotten, precious for reestablishing a more realistic view of yourself.
Where were you a year ago, two years ago, or ten years ago? Where are you now? What would you have never thought of doing, and yet you have achieved with effort?
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