Career Moves: Know Your Value
Posted By: Eddie Francis on August 23, 2015 As a job recruiter, I have noticed that people who make great career moves do so as a result of understanding their value both literally and figuratively. Having grown up like many African Americans--in the 'hood--I've learned that conversations about career advancement normally aren't designed to help us identify value. We are normally told by people, even our family members, that we are lucky to have jobs, let alone degrees. For example, I am proud of my career but I think I would be much more advanced if I had spent time focused on building my value as a professional and paying attention to my work environment early in the game. I spent 19 years with a major company getting paid an insulting salary yet I was one of the few college graduates on staff, I worked tirelessly, and I got results. I was even an interim department head at 23 years old. These folks could have treated me much better but I have to take the "L" on this. My failure to understand my worth contributed to my failure to insist on better treatment and seek out better opportunities. I was blinded by the "I'm just lucky to be here" attitude. So, now is the time for you to take inventory of your combination of skills, experience and talent. Here are the steps you can take to build and articulate the value you bring to the table on each job: Use your resume as an assessment tool. Your resume is the foundation of building a strong personal brand. This is where you document your experience, skills and talents (and do yourself a favor--brag). Create a "master" resume to serve as a guide to develop resumes for each of your disciplines if you have a diverse skill set. For example, I have a mass communication resume and a job recruitment resume, each two pages. My master resume--from where I pull information for each break-out resume--is six pages of the following:
If you are a college student, your master resume should track the skills you are building inside and outside of the classroom including campus leadership opportunities, work study and even part-time jobs. Ultimately, we should look at our resumes and either feel good about what we have accomplished or understand what we have to do in order to boost our value. In order to articulate your value, you must have a tight resume. Know what the market bears. Do research on what others in your field are making at your position. Web sites such as Salary.com, PayScale.com, Glassdoor, CareerBuilder, and Monster have salary calculators you can use to get a rough idea of the value of your position. Network! Communicate with other people in your field to find out how they position themselves to advance. Consider joining a professional association to understand the best way to enhance your value. You may even consider talking to a past employer to have honest conversations about what you could have done to increase your value on the job. Determine what kind of compensation package you want. This is where a lot of us slip up. We get consumed with take home pay, not even thinking about how valuable our time and energy are to an employer's success or what it means to care for us and our families. Consider the following:
Do homework on the employer. A lot of us are so happy to work for certain companies or organizations, that we run head-first into the job. Then we find ourselves in a royal mess and have to plan an exit strategy sooner than expected. This is another area where you can network with colleagues and even past employers to collect some intel. Look up information such as the employer's profit and loss statements to see what you're getting yourself into. Also, get feedback from current and past employees. Web sites such as Glassdoor and Indeed allow employees to write reviews. This will help you figure out the best way to be productive based on the environment you would be entering. People who know their value bring value but building that value takes work. Just know that if you are not aware of your value, no one else will be. If you enjoyed this article, Join HBCU CONNECT today for similar content and opportunities via email! |
![]() |
GE Appliances Looking for an Experienced Professional to Lead Their Digital Marketing & E-Commerce Business! |
![]() |
The Capgemini Talent Acquisition Team Presents: Keylor Acosta, PrincipalThroughout our history and especially today, Capgemini aspires to be an inclusive and diverse workplace, where freedom of ideas and a culture based on equality are paramount. To celebrate this culture ...more
HBCU CONNECT • 48 Views • April 15th, 2021 |
![]() |
Are You An HBCU Grad With A Doctorate and Extensive Experience in Education, Scholarship, and Research? APPLY NOW!Virginia Tech is looking for HBCU grads with experience in education to join its Open Rank Educational Leadership Faculty.
Virginia Tech is a public land-grant university serving the Commonwealth o ...more
Kennedy Williams • 88 Views • April 13th, 2021 |
![]() |
The 4-H Council Wants You To Join the Team and Make A Difference in The Lives of Young People. APPLY NOW!The National 4-H Council is looking for HBCU grads to fill its Integrated Marketing Specialist, STEM position.
National 4‑H Council (Council) is committed to providing leadership and resource ...more
Kennedy Williams • 119 Views • April 12th, 2021 |
![]() |
Are You A Teacher Who Is Looking to Work In A Multicultural Environment? Jamesville-DeWitt is the Place for YOU!The Jamesville-DeWitt Central School District is looking for HBCU grads to apply to fill its Social Studies Teacher position. Jamesville-DeWitt is dedicated to the goal of building a culturally divers ...more
Kennedy Williams • 111 Views • April 12th, 2021 |
![]() |
Today's Success Tip: Joachim de Posada says, Don't eat the marshmallow...yetWe were invited to the National Association of African Americans in Human Resource's reception held at the
Atlanta Marriott Marquis during the SHRM conference, and the gift/tip we walked away with w ...more
Elynor Moss • 30,529 Views • June 29th, 2012 |
![]() |
The most important thing Warren Buffett looks for in job candidatesWhen Warren Buffett considers hiring an executive for his company Berkshire Hathaway, he assesses their intelligence and drive.
But more importantly, he said at a talk at the Ivey Business School in ...more
Elynor Moss • 27,805 Views • April 9th, 2015 |