Finding Your Strengths

"You can be anything you want to be, if you just try hard enough." Is this true?

Have you heard this expression before? What do you think of it?

Tom Rath, author of the top-selling business book, StrengthsFinder 2.0, discusses this maxim as potentially misguided. He discusses the idea of focusing on your innate strengths and developing them towards success and not focusing on your weaknesses. The belief is that those with innate strengths can develop skills a lot easier than those who do not have them. Rath believes trying hard at strengths you don't essentially have is a waste of energy when you should be using your time wisely to develop the strengths you have further and using that as the focus of your potential career. It has been proven that those who have the opportunity to focus on their strengths every day in their work are six times more likely to be engaged in their jobs and more than three times as likely to believe they have an excellent quality of life overall (Rath, 2007, iii).

Personally, I do agree we should focus more on our strengths to develop them further. Often times we figure out what we are good at and then think we are all set. We have to keep working at our skills to make them better. However, contrary to Rath, I do think we still need to work on our weaknesses as well. However, I do agree with Rath that it should not be our primary focus.

StrengthsFinder 2.0 believes the key to human development is building off of who you already are. If you purchase the book brand new, it comes with an access code in the back. If you go to their website and register your code, you can take a free personal assessment to find out your strengths. The report is customized to describe your personality and what makes you unique. The assessment takes roughly half an hour and gives you your top five strengths with their descriptions, insights, ideas for action, and steps to increase your talents towards achievement.

My Top 5 Strengths:

1. Achiever
• Achievers have a great deal of stamina and work hard. 
• They take great satisfaction in being busy and productive.
• Support and  motivate individuals around them.
• Physical and mental endurance to work continuously after others have stopped.
• I agree with these statements. I feel as though I have always taken my goals seriously and once set I strive hard to achieve them. I love to motivate those around me to succeed together and help out with that in any way that I can. 
2. Relator
• Enjoy close relationships with others.
• Satisfication found when working hard with friends to achieve a goal.
• Comfortable being open and honest.
• People come to you for words of wisdom.
• Recommendations seeked from you by others.
• I also agree with the relator strength. I think I work well with others and am able to give good feedback. I am approachable and encourage others to seek input.
3. Strategic
• Create alternative ways to proceed.
• Quickly spot relevant patterns and issues.
• Innovative thinker.
• Think of alternatives first, then choose the best option.
• This is true as well that I love to think of all options before executing any course of action. I like to think of approaching things differently if it will produce a better outcome. At the very least, I like everyone to consider and discuss all the options before jumping too quickly into a decision.
4. Focus
• Prioritize, then act.
• Takes direction and follows through.
• Avoid irrelevant distraction.
• Aim to make important contributions and influence others.
• Determined to act correctly, ethically, and right.
• This is similar to the strengths above. I do have the ability to zoom in on what is important for right now and take care of the rest when it is time. I prioritize often by deadlines and importance. 
5. Discipline
• Enjoy routine and structure.
• Timelines and deadlines are important.
• Attention to little things.
• Establish processes to handle recurring tasks.
• I do look for easy ways to perform frequent tasks. I perform best when given timelines and deadlines to complete tasks. I create my own deadlines for steps of tasks to be complete and function well with to-do lists.

Finding out your strengths can help you figure out not just what you are good at, but also where to focus your attention to find success in the business world. Pursue your talents in the work force to enjoy what you do and to advance. This will also help you learn how you relate to others and how others function differently as well. Also, this will allow you to observe what your blind spots are. Your blind spots are caused on the extreme end of your talents. For example, a person who may have "Consistency" may be focusing solely on keeping steps uniform and ignoring the overall goal or flexibility.

When in an interview, you want to know what your strengths and weaknesses are. You will probably be asked, and if not you definitely want to showcase your strengths and add a story to it that ties into a specific example from your related work experience. For example, if I went into an interview I would showcase that my strength is I am an achiever. Then I would say, "I say this because..." and input my work experience relevant for the job position I was applying for. This would please your potential employer that you have what they are looking for.

Most people do not know what their strengths and weaknesses are. I definitely recommend checking out this short book. It is cheap and will offer you valuable skills. You can then take the assessment on your own to learn what your unique traits are. Has anyone out there also read this book? What were your strengths? Or what do you think your strengths are (even without reading this book)?

Career Vision

Welcome to my first blog!

This blog will not only consist of personal stories of my own professional pursuits, but also advice and ideas to think about for your own career advances.

First, let me start off by saying my name is Angelina Bossone, I am a college senior at University of New Hampshire (Durham) and will be graduating this May 2013 with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication: Business Application. I would like to pursue a career in advertising, marketing, promotions, or social media.

I currently have had experience with two internships and one job opportunity:

1. BookRenter Digial Media Internship

I applied for this position from a Facebook post they published on their wall. What started as a paid summer internship has lead to an ongoing paid position that I've now been holding since May 2012. I created my own Twitter and Pinterest handles (@BookRenterUNH) and have been managing them with daily posts (with experience with Involver and Wildfire social media marketing tools). I started filming, editing, and posting my own videos once a week (it is now once a month) to YouTube targeted towards college students on various topics ranging from freshman advice, tuition options, school goals, test taking, how to save money, and holiday celebrations. I write blogs once a month and in August I was given the opportunity to start managing their blog. I would edit everyone's blog posts, improve the search engine optimization (SEO), approve comments, search and credit images, post entries, and maintain a blog spreadsheet.  I have also dealt with customer service relations and advertised promotional campaigns and company contests through social media and campus fliers. I continue to grow with this company and have enjoyed every experience so far.

2. Health Education and Promotion Intern

I did this internship for my senior fall semester for four credits (240 hours). I was able to work alongside the Health Services Communications and Information Coordinator on promotional event campaigns (CashCourse, Student Health 101, World AIDS Day, University Day, and Plant the Promise). I used Drupal to help edit website content, constructed tweets to be posted through their Twitter page, and wrote an article for Student Health 101 Magazine (page 9). I also created social media images for Facebook and Twitter after researching information for body oddities and study tips, produced and published a Pagemodo banner for finals week, and developed PowerPoint slides for advertisements and health awareness on the televisions in waiting rooms. I also learned how to use Publisher and InDesign to create fliers, while also learning Sproutsocial posting and social media analytics (also observed through Facebook, Google, and YouTube). This experience has been lifechanging and has helped me learn how important internships are to help you gain skills you can't gain within a classroom that will forever prepare you for the working world.

3. Campus Special Promoter

This was a short part time paid position that lasted for the first two weeks of spring semester. A friend I knew from class is an Account Executive for Campus Special and was looking to hire a few students to help promote Campus Special and hand out coupon books from local businesses to students. I stood in various locations throughout campus and passed out these coupon books to many students and took daily pictures of students posing with these booklets. I also had to create a daily social media post via Twitter or Facebook to promote this campaign and encourage students to get their discounts!

4. Other

I've had other experiences along the way from being an Office Assistant at Family Research Lab (UNH) since fall 2010, to advertising committee, and May Day Carnival Planning. It is important to note that EACH experience you gain along the way counts for something. The more experience you get, the better off you will be - so GET INVOLVED. Also note that leadership roles are just as important to employers. Leadership roles I have fulfilled have included: Rising Scholar Leader, Certified Peer Educator, and Lambda Pi Eta Logistics Chair.

My dream job would help me be able to use these skills I have developed. I don't have an industry preference, but I do want to be able to help make a difference in whatever company I do get involved with.

Take the time to do internships, get part time positions that relate to your field, and get involved in organizations that can help you gain skills as well! Reflect on everything you have gained so far and things you want to gain experience on and then look to see where you can get these experiences! Figure out what your career vision is to help you fine tune the skills you will need for success!