So how do you find and articulate your own edge? Try asking yourself this series of questions. The goal throughout is to find a narrative that is both personally authentic and aspirational. I.e. a way of framing your past experiences in a positive way that lays the foundation for your career vision.
What are my values?
- What achievements am I proudest of, both personally and professionally?
- What causes am I consistently passionate about?
- What factors have driven big career choices in the past?
What sort of problems do I solve?
- What particular feature sets have I enjoyed working on (e.g. onboarding, search, check out)
- Where in the funnel do I specialize? (growth, retention, monetization)
- What sort of work do I prefer? (0->1, optimization, large strategic projects)
What sort of companies do I solve these problems at?
- Consumer businesses (B2C) vs. business-facing businesses (B2B)
- A particular industry (e.g. fintech, education, healthcare)
- A particular company stage (e.g. startup, scale up, enterprise)
- Particular technical approaches (e.g. mobile, hardware)
- Particular business models (e.g. e-commerce, marketplaces, subscriptions, SaaS)
- Particular cultural or organizational traits you are looking for (e.g. product-led, transparent, high-performance)
Choose ONE of the following three exercises to complete, depending on the amount of time you have:
- ⏱️ [< 10 mins] – write down some quick notes on the questions above in your career development plan.
- ⏱️ ⏱️ [< 1 hr] – look back through your Linkedin or CV and think about each of the questions above in the context of roles you’ve had in the past. Go for a walk around the block and reflect on these questions, then note down any thoughts you’ve got in your career development plan.
- ⏱️ ⏱️ ⏱️ [2-3 hours] – build on the previous exercise, by talking it through with 2-3 people closest to you. Try to speak to people who know you in different settings (e.g. different jobs / family life / from university). Be sensitive to how you react to what they say. They will obviously have an independent view of you, but this is really about finding themes that resonate with you.
Whichever exercise you do, write down your thoughts in your career development plan.
