If you have the ambition to grow and progress, your current job and other professional engagements should be a canvas for you to grow, show what you can do, and make an impact. The impact is summed up in resume bullet points and real-life stories told in interviews.
Here are the questions:
Does your current role align with your ambitions, and are you creating the necessary ‘bullets’ for your next professional steps?
Your professional value is communicated through conversations, word of mouth, jobs, and what you write in your resume, cover letter, LinkedIn profile, and other personal marketing materials.
For documents, bullet points are soundbites, summarizing what you’ve done so far. One to three lines per bullet point can convey professional information. Contribution and impact is explained.
The moment of truth comes when it’s time to write down your experience and demonstrate your readiness for the next role in your career.
The purpose of bullet points in resumes, cover letters, and LinkedIn profiles is to tell you what you can do, given what you’ve done.
- Impact of projects and initiatives
- Meet and exceed KPIs and standards
- Process creation and improvement
- Developing new solutions
- Response to crisis
- Your influence on the team and individual team members
- How have you demonstrated and leveraged your key competencies?
- And as a leader, what role have you played in guiding growth?
Bullet points are about achievement, impact, and how you created a positive result.
If so, instead of waiting until after the fact, shine a light on your current role now.
What are the differences?
What positive results have you produced?
Pondering these questions will give you valuable insight into two key areas of your professional journey. Your personal leadership level and current job quality.
Personal Leadership: Should You Step Up?
To what extent are you taking action, behavior, leadership and inclusion to effect change?
Are you taking advantage of opportunities to demonstrate leadership, change the situation and step up? To what extent are you positively impacting people, processes, products, customers, financial and organizational health?
Don’t be a bystander. The starting point for a strong career is the inner fire you bring to your mission. Make sure things happen.
Current job: What are your chances?
To what extent does your current job/role allow you to achieve these outcomes and produce compelling bullet points?
Are there opportunities to contribute in a meaningful way and create positive results for your department, organization, or customers?
If the answer is an immediate “no,” ask yourself, “Why not?” Is it just a job, or have you ever stepped back, given up, or played it safe against constraints?
Constraints may include how your role is defined, the leadership style of your manager, the culture of your organization, the state of your department, business, industry, and the trust and confidence people have in you. I have.
If your self-analysis has determined that you are blocked, it may be time to consider a career change.
Generate Bullets
Developing market influence and a healthy career involves creating the building blocks for greater levels of achievement, learning and contribution. Overall, there aren’t many roles to play. And importantly, the quality of this experience will determine the extent to which you choose your next job.
What do you think? To what extent do personal leadership and job opportunities matter?
reflection questions for you
Consider the following in your current and/or recent roles:
- What’s the difference? How?
- What positive results have you produced?
- How likely are you to contribute in a meaningful way and create positive results for your department, organization, or customers?
- If not, why not?
This is a core exercise we do with our clients when considering or preparing for a deliberate career change. If you haven’t thought about this for a while, I highly encourage you to give it some thought or book a strategy meeting with us.
