Key Takeaways
- Understanding your skills and value is crucial for effective self-promotion in job searching and career satisfaction.
- Actively gather evidence of your achievements to solidify your self-worth and demonstrate your capabilities.
- Practice communicating your value in various settings to build confidence and showcase your accomplishments effectively.
I’ve written before about how important it is to get to know yourself to best write and talk about yourself. It not only helps you get resume ready, but when you take the time to get to know yourself, you’re giving yourself an advantage in your job search. You will perform better in interviews and maximise your chances of longer-term (more satisfying) employment by choosing a values-aligned organisation to work for. In addition to finding out what makes you tick, when you get to know yourself, you get to know your value. Your worth.
For some of us, this is a perfunctory exercise in understanding what we should be paid—how we should be remunerated for our time and effort (You can compare your salary anonymously and in real-time using our Compare My Salary tool. If you need another resource, be sure to check out our 2025 Australian Salary Guide.
For others, though, understanding our value is more of an exercise in intrinsic self-worth: “Am I really as good as I think I am at my job?”. Chances are, you’re excellent at your job but maybe not as good at seeing the evidence.
The trick? Gather the evidence and then get comfy communicating it.
Why? Why can’t you just gather the evidence? Well, that’s kind of like collecting Pokemon cards and then never showing anyone the cards you have. Sure, it feels great to shuffle the cards back and forth between your fingers… but what’s better than showing your bestie that holographic Charizard?
Step one: Gather value data on yourself
First up, compile evidence of your achievements. You can ask your manager and/or a trusted colleague for a list of three things you do well in your job. Look for numerical or statistical evidence that you’ve improved something. Now, if this evidence doesn’t exist, it’s a great time to baseline what you’re doing and then set a growth target. Are you aiming for a percentage increase in unique views? Are you looking for more social media engagement? Do you need to streamline a process or increase readership or time spent onsite?
Look for ways to make it easier for you to collect evidence in the future. You’re future-proofing the collection of value data about yourself. Who doesn't love gamification in the name of self-worth?
Still looking for evidence? You might want to remind yourself why you’re an expert at something. You can do the 5-whys root cause analysis on yourself.
Step two: Communicate it!
Once you have some evidence that you’re good at your job, communicate it! If talking about yourself and your achievements is new to you, no worries; start small. Chat with your spouse, a close mate or a family member about one or two achievements. Next time you’re out for coffee, practice talking about your achievements at work rather than the work in general.
Next up, update a line or two in your LinkedIn bio or resume summary to include key achievements. And your work experience blurbs on your resume, add in new achievement-focussed dot points to show what you’re capable of. This is instead of a list of responsibilities—swap those out for a list of achievements.
After a few months of communicating your value and showcasing your worth, you’ll be surprised how easy it is to talk about these things in interviews or with new clients. Practice makes progress after all.
If given the chance, you might communicate some of these evidence points with your leaders in meetings or maybe on a panel or two. And hopefully, the process of not only gathering evidence, but communicating it, gives you the necessary boost needed when you’re having an off day or just want to strut around the supermarket.
To summarise
By practicing this habit of collecting evidence of your accomplishments and communicating your value in various settings, you'll not only build a great portfolio you can lean on, but also the confidence to effectively showcase your value in any situation. So whether you’re currently navigating the job market, working towards a promotion, looking for more recognition in your team, or wanting to highlight your contributions to your workplace—this is a great practice to apply to solidify your self-worth, demonstrate your capabilities and foster more fulfilling employment.
About the author
I help people write and talk about themselves. I have 15 years of experience in communications, from branding and PR to digital, web and social media, most recently, internal communications and coaching. My clients are from a variety of backgrounds and industries, including mid-senior leaders, Executives, and CEOs. Helping people achieve their goals by providing communication guidance is what I love to do the most. My current focus is helping more people be visible in the job market. The best way to get in contact with me is via LinkedIn.
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