Since I have moved to Lima, Peru as of yesterday, I am faced with identifying new job opportunities in a new country. As part of this process I have been working on website content for the non-blog portion of seanpmckee.net.
Aside from merely updating my resume and posting it online, I am developing success stories of how my variety of overseas positions have enabled me to develop a somewhat electic set of skills — project management, multi-cultural communications, international team participation and management, along with copywriting, web design, database design, and international job search techniques.
Admittedly, there are some skills that I don’t really have a chance to apply — such as basic reindeer herding and extreme cold weather survival (two lessons from Siberia) — but I suppose that these are skills that are “nice to have” as opposed to “need to have.”
I suppose my personal brand is slowly evolving into something service-oriented rather than anything involving manufacturing or production. Also, given the lifestyle of a Foreign Service spouse, I am leaning more towards trying to create my own opportunities rather than always relying on finding a job ‘at post.’
LESSONS LEARNED:
- Developing a solid resume doesn’t necessarily define someone’s personal brand. I realize that it is far more difficult to create a brand simply by relying on single sheet of paper rather than doing a number of things such as posting a blog, building a website, or signing up with job search services.
- A personal brand should help define what types of work I want to look for. It has sometimes been the case that I should have applied for jobs that I wanted rather than avoiding them because I thought I wasn’t entirely qualified. At this point I think it is good to take a chance rather than wait for the “perfect opportunity” to present itself.