Let me show you what I mean. The human spirit is quite remarkable when it comes to our career. Each one of us is a veritable bank of job and career experiences, strengths capabilities and assets.



In addition, as we grow, we acquire accumulate practical skills and a certain wisdom that transcends this or that specific job assignment.

What we haven't acquired, however, is the ability to explore that amazing catalog of capabilities with an eye to putting them to use to advance our job search or change our career direction. They can become our insurance policy.

Some of our most important strengths never show up on a resume. Yet they can be the deciding factor for an employer. And they have to be presented with assertiveness during your employment interview. You miss these and you miss the most important ingredient of your employment interview.

For example:

1. Willingness to work hard with certain creativity.

2. Care in doing an assignment well and on time.

3. Deference to the experience and expertise of others.

4. Taking the initiative to be friendly and helpful with co-workers.

These are work-style values that often outweigh many other considerations in the mind of an employer. And these are part of your insurance policy that adds long-term value to your job search and career advancement.

Just take a look at how some of these unspoken skills can build a bridge to any future opportunity even if you have no experience. You'll see why they can be so valuable in the mind of an employer.

Let's say you participated in high school or college athletics. You gain leadership capabilities, acquire stamina and assertiveness as well as achieve a sense of human interaction and fair play.

Or, in an organizational setting, if you supervise others, you learn motivational skills and management strengths that never show up on your resume. Yet they are of utmost importance to a decision-maker who is considering making you a member of the team.

Or, when you accumulate interactive experience, you develop problem-solving abilities and, at the very least find out whether or not other people will work effectively for you. Employers want to know this!

Cataloging these special capabilities is one of the ways the way we build a long-term career insurance policy.

They give us the flexibility to make a persuasive argument in favor of our candidacy with any employer not matter how remote. But only if we're prepared to bring it up in a compelling way during the employment interview. These special capabilities also guarantee that we will be heard when we choose to explore a new career direction.