In a world where everyone seems loud and life is moving at warp speed, it’s easy to blend in and miss the opportunity to showcase your value.
Add to this the military mindset of “Service Before Self,” which promotes acceptance of responsibility and accountability, and discourages seeking credit or praise – and you have a recipe for underselling yourself.
For more than 11 years, I’ve volunteered to teach personal branding and civilian readiness to transitioning service members at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Each month, I’m struck by how quickly service members undersell the experience, talents and skills they could offer to potential employers.
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Similarly, I’ve coached and mentored hundreds of active-duty and veteran sailors, soldiers, Coast Guardsmen and Marines and see the same thing: It takes tremendous prodding and inquiring to get them to articulate the value they’ll bring to the private workforce.
Is it because the worth isn’t there? Hardly!
It’s because the idea of “selling” yourself is seen as distasteful, arrogant and boastful. I’ve heard it more than once:
- “If I’m good, they should see it,” or
- “My track record speaks for itself.”
And that’s partly true. In an ideal world, recruiters and interviewers would spend the time necessary to learn about your military career and understand the significance of your skills. They would carefully consider the different life and service experiences that have shaped you into the tremendous asset that you are, and your past would clearly lay out the path for your future.
But that’s not reality.
Today, it’s up to you to clearly and confidently articulate and demonstrate why you’re right for that job, promotion or leadership opportunity.
How to ‘Sell’ Yourself
Self-promotion isn’t about taking out billboards on the highway that flash your resume at passersby. It is about being intentional and strategic about how and where you show up, who you know and what they know about you, and making yourself visible.
To sell yourself to potential opportunities and connections:
1. Be Clear About Your Personal Brand
Your brand is who you are, what you stand for (values) and what you care about. Identify the assets in your personal brand that are most relevant and important to your career goals: Which relationships influence you most – the ones with people who inspire and motivate you or those where you’re learning and growing? Which experiences in your military career were most significant to you? Were they transactional and tactical or emotional and relational?
When you have a sense of who you are and what means the most to you, you can seek out others who feel and think similarly. Together, you’ll support and encourage each other and provide professional opportunities for each other.
This becomes your new post-military community, where it will feel effortless to self-promote because you’re all aligned in values and mission.
2. Strategically Think About Where You Should Be Visible
If you’re in a job search or fully into your civilian career, LinkedIn makes sense because it represents a professional knowledge sharing platform. Here, you can update your online connections with new activities and milestones in your work and career.
You’ll seek out conversations on LinkedIn where thought-provoking discussions lead you to grow your understanding, as well as allow you to add value to the work of others. Again, sharing your knowledge and celebratory updates won’t feel like “selling” as much as they are letting your network know what’s happening in your career.
3. Ask for the Opportunity
Don’t wait to be tapped for a promotion or to lead a key project. Raise your hand. When asked, explain clearly how your past experiences, training, insights and skills – combined with what you’ve learned post-military – have positioned you for this opportunity.
Tell the story of why this makes sense and help the listener see the reasoning and rationale for why the opportunity is ideal for you.
Unlike those who promote themselves with arrogance, self-promotion doesn’t have to feel icky. When you can remain confident and clear in who you are, what you can offer and who benefits, telling your story becomes more comfortable.
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