Self-Assessment for Sharpening Resumés and Interviews

For more interviews and job offers, you should clearly communicate your potential value to employers!

Job searching? How well can you describe what you offer an employer in terms of your relevant knowledge, skills and abilities, attitudes, motivations and other assets? Not sure? This might be a time to do more self-assessment for recognizing what you bring to the table today and its potential value for employers of interest.

Self-assessment is the foundation for writing resumes that get noticed and doing interviews that lead to job offers. As an applicant, you must reach out and build a bridge to employers by communicating your motivation and potential to address their needs, as described in the job requirements.

Questions to ask yourself

What interests you about this employer? Why these services, operations and work? What are your related knowledge sets, skills, aptitudes, attitudes and goals? Take an analytical, reflective and logical approach to help figure these out:

• Analyze and identify the specific requirements of the job posting (e.g., interests, skills);
• Reflect upon your related background and others aspects about yourself (e.g., education, knowledge, aptitudes, experience, goals;
• Make the connections between the employer's needs and what you are motivated to offer

When describing these connections, be sure to use the keywords and language of the job posting and field. Also important, support your statements with short examples from your academic, volunteer and employment experience. On your resume or during an interview, for example, note the title of lab, paper, project or event that you worked on. Whenever possible, also add a supporting detail, statistic or result as "evidence" of the quality or effectiveness of your work.

Make it easy for employers to make connections between their needs and what you offer. If you don't figure this out as the applicant, don't be surprised if you get overlooked. Self-assessment can lead to impressing more employers of interest, and also yourself!

The University of Regina offers workshops on job searching, resumés, and interview skills. To find out more visit the Career Centre.