As you embark on gaining your first job or start your creative career, and consume valuable quantities of job search, resume writing and career success, I want you to consider how much time, dedication and resources you’re willing to invest in your career success. The more you invest, the more focused you’ll be so you can crush your goals.

At Skills For Your Career, we believe how you start anything in life needs invested time, effort, heart, soul and resources. Nine times out of ten by learning from the beginning where your effort needs to be when starting your career and supporting it with actionable steps, you’ll move closer to accomplishing your goals!

Whether you’re looking for your first job or graduating high school, no matter what stage you’re at, you’ll need a professional resume. And believe me when I tell you that your resume matters.

One of the biggest mistakes individuals make when creating a resume is jumping straight into writing it without taking the time to consider the background work that needs to be done first.

This is where the time, effort and resources that I mentioned earlier become significant because the first step to writing your resume is not actually writing it at all – it is knowing who you are, and your values, interests, passions and skills and what role you want to pursue – the background work!

My goal is to remove the overwhelming feelings you may have and maintain your positive feelings about an exciting job opportunity while teaching you the effective techniques I use BEFORE you even write and craft your resume.

Grab a pen and a notebook and let’s get started!

THREE WAYS TO LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF AND MY TIPS TO HELP YOU EXPLORE YOUR CAREER OPTIONS.

In each step, you’ll complete self-assessments, also known as self-reflection. The purpose of self-reflection is to identify some key themes or insight that come to mind and keep these at the forefront when considering occupations and for starting your resume.

1.    Discovering YOU!

Knowing who you are, what you value and what motivates you, is where your effort needs to be focused first!

It is also a crucial part of the career planning process as this helps you make informed decisions about education, training and work so that you can choose the best options that fit your current situation and help you progress in your career.

To determine what work-related values and benefits will help guide your actions, I have given you a helping hand. I’ve included a free Work-related Values Self-assessment that can help you understand what’s important to you NOW when choosing a job or a career path.

Email us for you Your Free Self-Assessment – Work-Related Values Inventory skillsforyourcareer@gmail.com

2. Utilise Your Network – You’re Surrounded by Awesome People

People like your parents, teachers, lecturers, friends and career counsellors, to name a few, will know things about you, your interests and aptitudes that can act as inspiration during your career planning and resume creation process.

Another form of self-reflection is talking to people. Below are some questions you could ask people you know directly. It may feel difficult at first but start with the people that you feel comfortable with.

Questions                                                                                    Example Responses

1. What do you think I am good at?                                         Writing and proofreading
2. Do I have a blend of skills that makes me unique?             Copywriting and editing
3. What do I enjoy doing? (interests)                                       Reading, watching movies
4. What am I passionate about?                                              Reading, creativity
5. What do you think my favourite subject is at school?          English and Drama
6. What did I want to become when I was younger?               Actress or Author
   

Reflection – It’s important to then reflect on some common topics or interests that have surfaced after questioning your chosen network. To give you an idea, I have underlined the common themes in the example above.

Are you ready? Let me show you how this information could be used to explore your first job opportunity.

Example reflection – Common themes included reading and writing.

Let’s imagine you’re an avid reader and are passionate about books and most likely own hundreds. An individual who has an interest in or loves reading could consider working in a Bookstore as a first job.

I bet a book lover wouldn’t even realise how much knowledge they have about types of book genres or authors. This valuable knowledge can not only create quality content for a resume but is a grand asset that can perhaps be the reason why an employer chooses a candidate who has never had a job before over, someone else who has.

Now it’s your turn! Did you notice common themes that connected your various interests and skills?

3.    Exploring Jobs or Career Paths using the Insight from your Self-assessments.

Exploring career options, job or study options that have some type of meaning to you and is aligned to your work-related values, interest, skills and personality, can help you to select a more suitable career or employment options.

Remember, once you have completed the self-assessment in Step 1 and ranked your top three values, you’ll be able to use these for selecting suitable occupations that match what’s important to you.

If you need even more support to learn more about your work style and pathways, try your luck on my top picks below for ways you can identify some career options and choose the right path for you.

1. Job Outlook, Career Quiz - The Australian Government Initiative – https://joboutlook.gov.au/CareerQuiz.aspx
2. Consider gaining workforce experience - options include work experience, internships and volunteering. By committing to this you could be creating opportunities that you never thought existed.
3. My Career Match - an investment of $20, this report gives you a personalised career profile, a list of top 5 careers and more. As a Resume Writer, I offer this resource as part of my resume writing services and I absolutely love it.

Go to https://www.mycareermatch.com.au/

4.    Final thoughts – Research, Evaluate and Reduce Options

Make sure you record your values, interests, personality styles and your top 5 career paths or occupations that interest you. You may like to share this list of options with those you trust can also help narrow down your selections.

At any point in the process of knowing what role you want to pursue while you’re at school or university, scheduling an appointment with a Career Advisor can be worth the investment.

I hope these tips inspire you to start discovering what’s important to you and knowing what role you want to pursue BEFORE you start writing your resume.

To your career success!

Loretta Spatocco
Resume & Job Search Coach