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Snapshot: Finding Your Strengths and Weaknesses
Now that you have come this far, you have one more thing to look at before you start on your resume. You need to think through your strengths and weaknesses so that you know the best way to present yourself on your resume and in your interview, should you be lucky enough to obtain one.

"The best advice overall is to know thyself," says Richard Miles, vice president for communications and technology at E-Span (http://www.espan.com). "Unfortunately not everybody pays attention to that advice." It's "prudent," he says, to examine your strengths and weaknesses. With the average person staying with one job three to five years, maybe seven at the most, Miles says it becomes more important to know yourself so you will remain competitive when you compete with the rest of the world for that elusive job. "Keeping in touch with your own talents and skills will obviously help you," Miles says.

One of the first things you should do is analyze your strengths. You should think generally at first. In general: are you always on time? Are you a consistently hard worker? Are you a real people person? Now it's time to think a little more specifically. Without listing every single program and job-related skill you have, highlight the programs or skills you currently use the most or have consistently used the most throughout your career.

Next you need to list your weaknesses. While it's not quite as much fun as listing your strengths, finding your weaknesses is just as important. Employers want to know that you realize you aren't perfect and they want to know that you are working on your weak points. Think honestly about your attitude, work ethic, and personality. This is the perfect place to pinpoint your shyness as something to work on. Don't just think about the weaknesses that you can turn into good things (let's face it, workaholics do their job and do it pretty well if they are doing it all the time, don't they?). Think about any episodes that former employers might mention to the company you want to work for.

For folks wanting to find their strengths and weaknesses "by the book," E-Span offers a lot of help in the way of tests and articles that will help you determine them. Just look on their Important Career Information page (http://www/espan.com/docs/). This E-Span extra includes articles on resumes and interviewing, personal support information for you, reference articles, book links, and even salary guides. This is definitely a site to check out if you want reading material.

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