The confidence trick: turning two strengths into 12 when returning to work

Confidence Trick
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Returning to work? One of the first things to do if you’re thinking of applying for a job is to invest some time in identifying what your key strengths and skills are.  You’re going to need these to sell your abilities on your CV and for interviews – and it’s not just so you can handle the dreaded ‘strengths and weaknesses’ question, anyone interviewing a candidate for a job wants a clear idea of what the person in front of them is good at.  

Being asked to describe what we’re really good at often takes us out of our comfort zone, especially when we’re put on the spot. We’ll often come up with two or three vague skills in a slightly embarrassing way to indicate we don’t want to be thought of as full of ourselves or over-confident.  But in an interview situation, if you don’t tell people what you’re good at, how are they going to know?

I’ve written numerous CVs and it’s not hard to find at least 10 skills and strengths to include on a person’s CV. So if you’re looking at a new job, start thinking about ALL the transferable skills you have that will help you succeed.  So how do you do this…?

If you’re a busy mum, you may say you’re “quite good at organising and planning things.” Well, you’d be right…except for the “quite good”.  Chances are you are actually highly accomplished at this. 

So, when returning to work, how about considering what you do as a busy mum but view everything from a work perspective. You probably do most of the following regularly: manage multiple calendars and appointments, organise social events, arrange pick-up and drop-off services, manage endless paperwork and communications, ensure vital supplies are replenished, and you may also book complex travel arrangements (i.e. holidays and such-like). 

Now if you transfer all those experiences and actions into skills needed the workplace, these are some of the skills you’ll regularly use:

  • Attention to detail
  • Decision-making
  • Forward planning
  • Contingency planning
  • Communicating

Then think about what goes into successful planning?  There’s usually quite a lot of plate-spinning involved – I’m not a fan of the phrase multi-tasking – but being able to manage multiple projects sounds much more impressive. 

Planning also involves being able to see the bigger picture, seeing what needs doing and coordinating the different aspects to pull it all together – which is project coordination.  

And an important part of any organisation and planning is considering the timescales – and if you’re good at working these out and meeting deadlines then your skill is time management

Then if we consider that organising is not just a random thing that we do for the sake of it – there’s an outcome – and that’s ‘delivery’.  So, if you have good organisational skills and are good at managing multiple tasks, my guess is you will already be accomplished at project delivery.  

All of these skills fall into being good at planning and organising, plus in the home there is also financial planning and cost control involved as well. 

Finally, if during all this organising and project planning, something goes wrong (after all, it happens!) you will no doubt have used your skills in problem-solving – giving you your 12th skill – and a very important one too. 

Separately, as a mum you may do quite a bit of conflict resolution too! But that’s another story.

Drawing out people’s strengths is something I’m passionate about. We all have numerous skills, but we often downplay them – especially when returning to work – diminishing our own abilities and assuming that other people have similar skills to a similar level. I frequently remind my clients when they turn their two skills into 12 (or more) that not everyone can do what it is that they do well.  It often takes a few reminders for them to believe this, but it’s true.

So remember… you are unique – it’s not a cliché, as not everyone has the skills to do what you do brilliantly.   

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Sandie Reed is a Career Development Coach who specialises in supporting and encouraging women to maximise their potential when returning to work. You can contact Sandie via her website www.sandiereedcoaching.co.uk 

She also co-runs Back to Work Workshops for women looking to return to work after a career break – details can be found at www.empowering-women.co.uk. The next one is on 11th October – details below:

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10 comments

  1. This is revolutionary! And not just for mums returning to work… This post would resonate with my other half who has been in the same career for some time and is worried his skill set wouldn’t allow him to move into a different type of work. I’ll be sharing this with him!

  2. You lose so much confidence when off on mat leave. You also forget what skills you do have when staying at home so this article is really useful!

  3. I think it’s only natural to lose a little bit self-confidence when you are on maternity. It’s also great time to realise skills that you have that you might not already realise. After I had my daughter I decided to become a stay at home mum which then turned into a work from home mum and eventually back into work. During this time I started a blog And it’s surprising that I have gained so many skills from my little blog. You’ve shared some amazing tips

  4. Thanks for your comments, I’m glad you found it useful. We do so often downplay our skills, I focused this on mum’s but it does apply across the board. As a coach, it gives me the most satisfaction when clients realise how many skills they really have.

  5. I never returned to work, but I did go back to being a freelance. As a mum you get so used to juggling things that it really helped with managing projects too

  6. So glad you all found this useful. It can be so hard having the confidence to go back but we are all so much more capable then we give ourselves credit for. Look out for more words of wisdom in the next edition! x

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