{"id":7440,"date":"2024-03-14T16:50:34","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T16:50:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/?p=7440"},"modified":"2024-03-14T16:50:34","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T16:50:34","slug":"blowing-your-own-trumpet-isnt-easy-but-you-can-learn-how","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.open.ac.uk\/blogs\/careers\/?p=7440","title":{"rendered":"Blowing your own trumpet isn\u2019t easy, but you can learn how"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Blowing your own trumpet, learning to sell your skills and strengths to employers doesn\u2019t happen overnight. We know many OU students find lack of confidence a barrier to a fulfilling career, you\u2019re not alone. So we developed Build your future with career confidence<\/a> to give you a systematic way to start gaining confidence.<\/p>\n

Having spent a long time in the same job, I found myself looking for work. I discovered that selling yourself isn\u2019t too different from selling anything else, like shampoo or toothpaste (though unlike big advertising agencies, only you can sell yourself). By looking at myself like a consumer product, here\u2019s what I learned:<\/p>\n

Step 1: Find your USPs (Unique Selling Points).<\/h3>\n

You are unique, and employers these days understand the strength in diversity. It\u2019s true, knowing how to start auditing your skills and strengths<\/a> can be tricky. We\u2019re usually unaware of our own talents and often wrongly assume everyone else can do what we find easy. \u00a0If you can, ask a trusted friend or family member what they think you\u2019re particularly good at, because those who know us well can usually identify our skills much easier than we can. Qualities which people often don\u2019t appreciate in themselves include:<\/p>\n