Don't make the mistake of telling a prospective employer only about the skills you have.




COLUMN: Analyze, plan, research new career
COLUMN: You can change your career path


He has all the essentials including bachelor's and master's degrees in the subject he previously taught and has extensive experience and achievement in. And he still has a fiery passion for the work.

What's missing is an essential point of view, one that you, too, need before you head into the job-hunting wilderness.

Without it, you are toast.




He learned it in 1974 when he was just out of the Navy attending a free career workshop sponsored by the Advertising Club of New York.

"The approach the instructor taught was to begin with these four magic words: 'I can bring you,' " Hauptman says.

What's so great about that? The phrase is powerful because it connects the applicant's past experience to the employer and his wants and needs, Hauptman says.


As one employer told me, "It is saying to me that you own something you can give me. I can clearly see what I'd be paying you to bring to our company."


The I-have response would go like this: "I have a bachelor's degree and a state license, experience with computer modeling, digital mapping and field experience from a summer internship."

The I-can-bring-you response would sound like this: "I can bring you the skills to assess building sites for potential geologic hazards. I can bring you the knowledge that helps mitigate the effects of natural hazards and determine the effects of pollutants on soil and ground water so engineers can design remediation systems."

If you want a job as an account executive in an advertising agency, it's one thing to say, "I'm good at developing relationships and have experience managing promotional campaigns, working closely with creative people and getting things done."

That's telling me what you have.


That's connecting your experience and skills with what I need.

An agency that hires treatment specialists for corrections departments wants to hear that you can bring "investigative, supervisory and counseling skills to prevent offenders from committing new crimes."

All three examples show that you know what the organization is in business to accomplish.

