Before you can market your amazing skills to employers, you have to be able to articulate them clearly and weave them into a persuasive and memorable narrative. Use the tips below to consider how you will share your marketable skills in your cover letter, on your LinkedIn profile, during an interview, or while networking.
Identify Strengths & Connections to Career Paths
Use the self-assessment tools below to identify your natural strengths and capacities. Once identified, you can start building your professional brand.
- FOCUS2 online- identify your natural strengths by taking a personality preference self-assessment.
- PathwayU- take assessments to gain insights on your interests, values, personality, and workplace preferences. It aims to help you find a career with purpose and meaning and offers resources like detailed career matches, occupational exploration, a job and internship board, and work preparation tools.
- Leveraging AI for your job or internship search- Create a list of potential career roles based on your interests
Career Values
- Career Values Self-Inventory, examine your career values, and then add meaning to your responses.
- Culture 500- search for and compare companies using these nine markers to determine if they would be a good match with your values.
- Attributes new graduates seek in an employing organization/job, NACE 2024
Skills
- Skills inventory- Determine your current strengths.
- Skills Matcher- Rate yourself on 40 key workplace skills to be connected with a list of career titles.
- Career Readiness Competencies- Access yourself for the most in-demand competencies.
Interests
- O*NET® career exploration includes an ability and interest profiler.
- CareerShip matches interest area with potential job titles to explore.
- Interest Assessment is a 30-minute assessment that connects responses to job options.
Use these tools to craft a compelling story to support your internship/job search or application to graduate school.
Market Your Professional Brand
- Create your “go-to” introduction to be used during interviews or while networking
- How to Pitch Your Value in Interviews
- Your Personal Brand Workbook, pwc
- Professional attire examples and affordable clothing options, determine what is appropriate for your next professional opportunity.
Use this tracking sheet to organize your accomplishments. This information will be helpful for crafting your resume and speaking about the experience in job interviews later on.
EPortfolio: Offers UMD students the opportunity to highlight skills, experiences, and learning through a set of curated works in an online platform, Portfolium
Creating a LinkedIn profile resources
Capture your professional headshot for platforms like LinkedIn, Handshake, etc.
Protect Your Image
According to a recent survey, 92 percent of employers conduct background screening on applicants.
BSOS Career Exploration Toolkit
A guide to reflect on your own career values, exploring career interests, and develop a plan to gain experience.
Professional Communication Examples
Not sure what to say? Use this sample language below to excel in your next professional encounter.
