In the article titled “Soft skills in IT ” we discussed what the key soft competencies are and how to develop them. This time we will focus on how you can learn more about your strengths.
Personal strengths are often called “talents.” Everyone is born with predispositions and natural talents, both hard skills and soft skills, that can be applied in various areas of life. Using your strengths in your career can improve the effectiveness and satisfaction of your work. The following article will teach you how to learn more about your workplace strengths and how to develop them.
Discovering the strengths
Many people know their signature strengths very well and can determine how they use them in everyday life. However, some people are not quite able to identify their powers. They are aware that something works out better for them than for others. But they are unable to immediately say, “That is my talent.”
I was once asked by my colleague, “What is your talent?” Tell me what you are good at, even if you do not consider it a talent. Do not limit yourself.” Sometimes what we think is natural to us and comes easily is something unique to other people, and we do not see it ourselves, precisely because it is natural to us.
Discovering talents is the first step to developing them further.
Psychological tests and workshops
If we have the opportunity and need, we can use the help of professionals. A conversation with a psychologist or career counselor, during which several types of competency tests and career aptitude tests will be administered, can help us determine our talents even more. Specialists use a variety of reliable and accurate methods. Such as a psychology personality test, but tests are not the only method. Talents are a broad topic, and recognizing them necessitates personal reflection.
Self-analysis of unique strengths
Let us begin by analyzing your strengths by doing your homework first. Self-diagnosis, or self-analysis, helps you see and pre-determine your strengths as you arouse reflection and think about situations in which your talents manifest themselves. Try to recall such situations and behaviors. What came easily to you? What did others say was going well for you? List the valuable strengths you observe in yourself, and as we said earlier, the sky has no limit, so do not limit yourself. What seems obvious to you may not necessarily be obvious from an objective point of view. This analysis of strengths provides greater insight into yourself and your potential.
The Gallup test
The strength assessment tests are one of the methods that we can use on our own. This Gallup Strengths Test is a tool that is used to assess a person’s natural aptitude and potential character strengths in as many as thirty-four areas. This assessment provided us with information about not only team strength analysis, but also relationship building, leadership strengths, and strategic thinking. With this method, we can identify the five leading natural talents and get to know ourselves better. Even if we know our superpowers, we can find out which are our key strengths. It is becoming increasingly popular to include Gallup talents on resumes. This is interesting information for both the recruiter and the employer. They already have more knowledge of your strengths at the outset.
Strengths development
Just because we are strong in something does not mean we cannot develop it further. It is also critical to cultivate one’s strengths. Investing in one’s development is an investment in oneself. By being aware of our strengths, we can find a job where we will use them. Later on, this will result in the said development. When receiving new tasks and challenges at work, we can ask ourselves, “How can I approach this using my talents? Is there any way I can share my strengths in this area? Knowing we are good at something motivates us to not only influence job performance but also job satisfaction.
Making the most of personal strengths
A strengths analysis will also be greatly beneficial and helpful. Especially for people who are lost on a career path and do not know which way to go next or who want to change careers. People who would like to embark on an adventure in a new industry, such as IT. Often have many dilemmas and questions about whether they will be able to cope in a completely different position. A strengths analysis can boost a person’s confidence in starting a new job. But also raise their awareness of the value they bring to the team and the company as a whole.
Questions worth asking ourselves not only before the job interview:
- What was it like working at a previous company/position?
- Were my potential and my strengths used by me at work?
- If so, which ones? With what intensity?
- Was there anything that I knew I could do well but did not do? Or was there no way for me to prove myself?
- How can I use my strengths in my current job?
- What actions can I take to develop them?
The questions above can be especially helpful in assessing one’s strengths. Not only do they stimulate reflection on one’s talents. But also on one’s career path and possible changes that can be made.
As you can see, awareness of one’s talents is particularly important in the process of developing a career path. This allows us not only to use our strengths at work but also to develop them skillfully.