Itemizing Your Assets
It is time to get in touch with what makes you valuable to an employer. Making a list of your assets will help you lock in on just what makes you special for the position you are applying for.
To begin with, review the job description carefully. Dissect it and analyze the information. Highlight the "must haves" and the "preferred qualifications". What critical knowledge and skills are they asking for? What makes you a strong candidate?
Now select your top seven to ten strengths and list them bullet by bullet on a single piece of paper titled: Assets of Your Name- in big (24 point) bold letters. You will be sharing these items with your potential employer when you are engaged in your salary negotiating meeting. These are the items that give the employer the essential information they need to pay you the big bucks. What is special about you relative to the position you are pursuing?
Be sure to quantify where possible and to put the information in descending order of importance according to the employer's priorities.
Examples:
Assets of Eliza Madsen
- MS in Urban Planning - UCLA (gpa 3.95)
- BS Political Science - UC Berkeley (gpa 3.98)
- 2 years of internship experience with state and local government agencies
- Exceptional writing skills
- Well refined research and analysis skills
- Experience in developing positive community relations
- Specialized coursework in city and regional planning; urban sociology; cities, space and society
Assets of Raymond Ward
- BS EE, GPA 3.9
- 9.5 years experience in operations
- Graduated #1 from USAF Leadership School
- 5 years - first line supervisor
- 2 years - managing work center
- Exceptional leadership, communication, team skills
- Well-refined organization and time management skills
- Bilingual – English/ Korean
- Security Clearance
