Knowing what makes you tick is vital to making the right job and career choices. And knowing your strengths is part of this. Definitions differ, but essentially strengths are your natural talents, things that come naturally to you and do not require a huge amount of effort to exercise.

I was working with John earlier this week and it was a revelation to him to learn of his strengths as he lacks confidence, has worked largely in an interim capacity as an office manager and did not have a career plan – until now. We used the At My Best strengths cards for this exercise which are highly visual and provide 48 examples of key talents.

Choosing these and seeing them written down and in front of him made John realise two things; that he has a completely unique set of strengths that distinguish him from the crowd - a confidence booster in itself, and that many of his talents; being adventurous, flexible, engaging, attentive and calm, are particularly relevant to his ambition to work in the marine industry as a marina manager or a project manager.

The exercise gave John the impetus and permission to start pursuing this ambition, harnessing his broad experience, technical know-how, passion for boats, and better understanding of what makes him tick.

As a post script , employers are increasingly using strengths to test and interview candidates - get ahead of the game. Book a session with me.