CliftonStrengths and Career Development: Experience
Gaining Experience
To explore strengths in the experience section, starting with a strengths statement for each of your strengths is essential. This will serve as a helpful guide for your personal branding, which will be reflected in your application materials.
To get started, here is a career-based strengths statement for each of your strengths.
Many of the resources provided here were created and graciously shared by Jennifer Doyle Vancil.
Personal branding is a process for you to develop and promote a unique and consistent image or reputation for yourself as an individual. Building a personal brand involves several key elements and one of them is self-reflection. You would need to understand your strengths, values, passions, and goals. Identify what makes you unique and what you want to be known for. Based on this, create a strengths statement that reflects how you see your strengths.
The next step is to add context to your strengths statement to create an introduction for yourself. Here is an example:
I am a retail customer service supervisor who loves to support and encourage employees to provide excellent customer experience and create meaningful experiences for customers. I am good at developing strong one-on-one relationships with the people I supervise and presenting training to large groups of new hires in an influential and inspiring manner.
My favorite thing about supervising is hiring staff and helping employees identify their goals. I run a mentoring program for employees and use LinkedIn to connect them with professionals in industries they have an interest in joining.
You can use this introduction for the following:
Informational Interview
Let the person know who you are so they can give you good advice.
Elevator Pitch at a Career Fair or Networking Event
Say this as you approach each table.
“Tell me about yourself” at an Interview
Use this as your introduction for interviews.
LinkedIn Summary
Write a longer version of this for your LinkedIn summary.
Learn more about incorporating strengths in your LinkedIn summary below.
It’s best to avoid simply listing your CliftonStrengths on your resume. Doing so is similar to listing soft skills without any supporting evidence to demonstrate that you possess these skills. Instead, for your resume let your strengths reflect in your bullet points. You can start with an action verb that describes your strength.
Remember, your bullet points should be in this format: Strong Action Verb + Who/What + Why/Result of Action
Refer to these websites to get action verbs based on your strengths, and adjectives that best describe them. These adjectives can also be used in your cover letter.
Create narratives that highlight your strengths! Utilize your strength statements and their definitions to craft a story that showcases your strengths. Additionally, consulting the list of action verbs above can provide inspiration for your storytelling.
Here is an example of a strengths-based story that can be used for your cover letter.
This blurb was created with Restorative, Adaptability and Responsibility strengths:
Resourceful Problem Solving: Within one week of the campus club fair, the venue suffered a water leak. As the student liaison to clubs, I worked with the career center director and career counseling staff to find a new venue and communicate the change to each club president. We reimagined the event as indoor/outdoor event and increased student attendance by 10% by sending extra emails and creating new signage around campus.
This blurb was created with Relator and Individualization Strengths.
Empathetic Relationship Building: As a Resident Assistant, I intentionally got to know each of the new students personally. Many of the students had arrived from international locations and were unfamiliar with the area. I welcomed them each personally when they arrived on campus and organized a group outing to get to know the neighborhood stores and where they could buy food and school supplies. I learned each person’s name within the first week and sat with them at lunch when I saw them in the cafeteria. I became a trusted resource and got 5/5 ratings on the student survey.
Refer to these websites to get adjectives that best describe your strength, and to create your strengths-based stories.
During an interview, it’s common to be asked about your strengths. It’s essential to understand that simply listing your strengths without providing examples or explanations can be ineffective. For instance, saying “I have Intellection strengths” doesn’t convey much. Instead, you could say, “I identified my strengths using the CliftonStrengths assessment, and one of my top strengths is Intellection. Here’s how it’s manifested in my work.” It’s also useful to use your own words to describe your strengths.
Here is a worksheet you can use to draft your STAR (Situation-Task-Action-Result) story using your strengths.
Networking is the number one way to access the hidden job market. Did you know that, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, up to 70% of positions are never posted?
Consider how to use your strengths to effectively build your network.
This blurb was created with Restorative, Adaptability and Responsibility strengths:
