This Key Strengths Offer page is here to help you to define your own key strengths - in other words, the unique things about you as a potential employee, that ultimately convince the employer of your value and get YOU noticed as someone they will want to hire. It is worth taking some time to get this part of your job search campaign right, because it will underpin so many other things you do such as writing your CV or resume and preparing your covering letters.

Individual key strengths fall into many different areas but you should look at the list of ideas I've given you below and think about whether you consider any of these should be in your own list.

The key to getting taken on or hired for a new job lies in your ability to prepare a great self introduction to describe yourself in clear terms, so that the potential new employer knows exactly what they will be getting if they decide to go ahead and employ you.

Removing doubt or uncertainty about your capability is just as important as stating your abilities and is the basis for your own key strengths offer.

In the list below are some examples of key strengths that add value to an organization and are therefore of particular interest to a new organization. Most people will have some involvement with these areas of commercial activity; do you see anything that you regard yourself being good at?

Commercial performance

Improve profits through increased sales and better cost control. Can you demonstrate any achievements or ways you have contributed to improving the bottom line?

Marketing and selling

Attract new customers and retain existing ones by ensuring excellent customer service. Have you been involved with customers and brought in new accounts or extended the value of existing customers.

Productivity

Increase productivity by introducing improvements to working methods. If you have improved productivity by doing something faster or more efficiently, your key strengths offer is instantly strengthened.

Developing People

Enhance the performance of your team through development tasks, continuous learning and training. Whether in a formal people management role or as a team leader, or merely someone who has been able to get the best out of others, this skill 'future proofs' your own employability.

Financial resources and controls

Reduce costs by streamlining procedures, keeping better records and cutting back on waste. Good administration and financial management are the dual supporting factors for the viability of commercial organizations and if you can demonstrate how you generated savings through good use of these skills, you immediately become of more interest to the new employer.

Intellectual property

Ensure that patents and copyrights are protected. Identify ways to exploit the potential of new ideas. All businesses need to protect and exploit their own inventions and your successes in this area can protect the future income streams of the organization.

Innovation

Generate or encourage ideas for new products, services and markets through managing a project team. Have you been creative in coming up with new ideas that took off? Have you interpreted clients' requirements in a new way? New ideas and creativity are the lifeblood of many businesses.

Human resources

Motivate staff to perform to high standards. Act as business partner to line management. Without the performance and commitment of their people, organizations fail. Your ability to motivate people to high standards is something that a high value will be placed upon.

Social responsibility

Help make the workplace safe by setting an example for meeting health and safety standards. Compliance with legislation keeps colleagues safe and customers happy. As part of your key strengths offer, don't forget this valuable addition to your skill set.

Strategic information

Manage access to information on all aspects of the organization's activities. Maintain knowledge communication and updating. Knowledge management is becoming ever more important as organizations become more diverse. If you can keep knowledge up to date and disseminated effectively you help the organisation the maintain it's commercial edge.

Your Own Key Strengths Offer

If you can include a number of the above in your own key strengths offer, then you can be confident that the hiring manager will want to know more.

Try to identify 5 or 6 areas that you are active in and good at, then write yourself a short paragraph or two that describes your strength. Write in short descriptive sentences that say what you do and what good results have had that demonstrate this as a key strength.