The skill that makes you a desirable worker

You are looking for a job so you get ready for the job hunt. You get your ‘skills backpack’ and start packing: technical skills: check; communication skills: check; work experience: check. That’s it; you’ve got all you need to land that job you dream of… or do you???

The truth is you don’t: something very important is missing. There are three elements in the ‘employability formula’: technical skills, communication skills and something else. There is one more skill that makes a person a desirable candidate, an attractive worker. What could it be??

That skill is the ability to sell yourself. But be careful here: selling yourself does not mean saying positive things about yourself, telling potential employers how good you are or why you are perfect for the job. No: those are just words, and anyone can say them. As the popular phrase goes, show, don’t tell. To sell yourself, you have to show that you are passionate about the field, and that you are a curious, proactive person. How can you do this? By having projects and hobbies not only related to the industry you are working in, but also completely unrelated.

Having projects related to your industry shows you are indeed passionate about your field.? When you are truly enthusiastic about something, you are self-motivated to do it, and what better evidence of your self-motivation than a project about that topic outside of work?? Here is the thing: many people say they are passionate about technology and solving problems, but when asked if they are doing anything about it outside of work, their answer is ‘no’. This may lead to confusion: if you say you have a passion for something, but you only do it at work… are you really passionate?? Or are you just interested? Doing things outside of work that show your passion for the field makes you a desirable candidate. Who doesn’t want to work with a person that is passionate about what they do? Passion makes you attractive.

There is a lot you can do outside of work to show your enthusiasm for the field.? These have to be things you really like and are willing to put into practice. You can have:

• A blog and write articles about your field
• A YouTube channel to share your expertise with a wider audience
• A GitHub account with a portfolio of interesting projects
• Courses in platforms such as Udemy

There is no need to force yourself to do any of these things, but if your passion is real, your desire to do them will come naturally.

Not everything you do has to be connected to your field of work, though. Taking up activities that are not directly related to your area of work shows you like learning about different things, that you are curious about other topics as well. The person who focuses on only one thing, for example, coding, misses out on opportunities to develop interpersonal and communication skills. Here are a few? examples of what some of our Devs around the world do:

• Contribute to operating systems of open source projects?
• Organize meetups and networking events
• Run a course of improvisational theater. In fact, most of the people who attend are IT professionals. The course helps to improve communication skills, gain confidence getting exposed to the unknown and feeling comfortable feeling uncomfortable.
• Develop a project of carbon credits in the blockchain (this is what I’m doing, in fact)

What you do can be completely unrelated to work, for example playing the guitar, riding your bike, hiking or kitesurfing. Leaving your comfort zone and doing things outside your immediate field of work shows you are a well-rounded person, something that makes you a desirable worker.?

So, as you can see, when going on a job hunt you also need to ‘pack’ your ability to sell yourself in your ‘skills backpack’. Nowadays, to get a job it’s not enough to have a degree from university; you need to be able to sell yourself, which means telling a story supported by facts. Part of your story consists of your technical skills and your experience. But another part consists of all the projects you have:

• in your field of work, that show how passionate you are about it and how seriously you take it
• outside your field, that show you have a wide variety of interests and are a well-rounded person, interesting to work with.?

By having your own projects, you demonstrate you are able to make things happen, and that is something companies always look for.

Now you know the three elements of the ‘employability formula’: technical skills, communication skills and the ability to sell yourself. You also know that selling yourself means having a compelling story to tell; and for the story to be compelling, it needs to be real, that is, based on facts. Don’t just say you are passionate about something, or that you are an interesting person; show it by having your own projects and hobbies. I encourage you to take a moment to think about yourself. Do you have any projects and hobbies that show your passion and make you interesting? If you do, what else can you do to cultivate them even more? If you don’t, what are you waiting for? Remember that to share your story, you have to show, not tell.?