6 powerful women to inspire your next career move

6 powerful women to inspire your next career move2KTweetShare302K SharesHappy International Womens Day to all women, moms, grandmas, daughters and sisters In the wake of this amazing day, we looked at 6 powerful women that are a great inspiration to us. They surely prove how much you can accomplish if you set the bar high and have a personal drive. We believe a key factor to their success lies notlagelage only in experience but also in their personal talents. Were showcasing them with Enhancvs most popular sections focused around personality.Letting personality shine through on a resume seems to be a challenging task for many people. Enhancv offers a number of sections that can help you show your true self and highlight your achievements at the same time. If you also struggle with this, find your inspiration from these powerful women that changed history forever.What would be Marie Curies proudest moments?The first powerful woman we decided to add to our list is Marie Curie. The Poli sh-born who desperately wanted to study Maths and Physics. In herbeibeibei young age, she made a deal with her sister to support each other financially so each of them could study. First in the secret underground school because of being a woman. Then Marie made it to Paris where she earned her Ph.D. in both Mathematics and Physics. She was the very first woman to receive a degree in a French university. All that led to making a breakthrough in Physics, when she coined the term Radioactivity. And the list goes on.What are you most proud of in your life? Its a question even the most successful people struggle answering. The answer doesnt necessarily have to be connected to your professional life. It could be paying off your debt or working out regularly. Answers to this question reveal the most amazing things about people.If you decide to give it a go and share the Proudest Moments on your resume, make sure you describe them in mora detail. Outline what led you to that moment and focu s on experiences and traits that can tie into the position you are applying for. Also, include as many numbers as possible. It will give your answer more credibility.What did a day in Princess Dianas life look like?Have any of your friends ever told you you live like a princess before? Its supposed to mean that your life is great, youre being spoiled rotten and you dont have to worry about anything. But is that true? Princess Diana of Wales proves that it isnt, as her life was far from great at times. Yet, she always managed to put a smile on her face and fight everyday struggles with grace. All that made her a very powerful and loved woman.Her usual day was filled with helping others. Raising awareness about the ones that are usually forgotten by society, the homeless, HIV sufferers and sick children. She was a huge fan of fashion, which was quite obvious from the stylish clothes she always wore. People loved her because she also openly talked about her struggles, such as bulimia.O ne way of showcasing your personality in your resume is mentioning things that youve struggled with or that didnt quite work out well. It makes you more relatable. And more, our greatest room for growth is in areas of our greatest weakness. Show your potential employer that you are aware of them and that youre working towards improvement. You can use the My Time section to do it.What are Susan Wojcickis top strengthsSusan Wojcicki is one of the most successful women in tech. Googles very first office was set up in her garage and she became its Marketing Manager back in 1999. While developing and overseeing Google Video, she proposed to the board to buy YouTube and became its CEO in 2014. These activities outline one of her strengths perfectly, she obviously has a nose for a good business opportunity She is also known for promoting balance between family and work and encourages people to prioritize on a daily fundament based on what is the most important task to fulfill.Addressing yo ur top strengths is another great way of presenting yourself as both individual and a professional on your resume. Interviewers often ask about your main strengths so its a good idea to share them on your resume, to catch their attention right away.When outlining your Top Strengths in a resume, make sure you dont use cliches and overused words like team player or hard worker. To avoid that, you might use a short phrase to show your strengths, rather than a word or two. Be specific when justifying your strengths. Think of why do you consider that to be your superpower? Dont forget to keep it short but powerful.There is a lot to be proud of, what would Oprah Winfrey choose?Oprah came from a very poor background, with no running water or electricity at home. She was raised by a single, teenage mother and as a 9-year-old, she moved in with her father. She always had high grades at school and worked hard towards her dreams. Her main motivation in life was and still is, to help others. Th e Oprah Winfrey Show, the number one daily show in America for 25 years straight, was a great platform to listen to others and help them become the best version of themselves. She became the first African-American woman billionaire and uses her influence to empower women and young girls. Today, Oprah is a successful entrepreneur, philanthropist, actress, educator and a leader.Oprah has achieved so much as a human being and a businesswoman. From all the things shes done in her career, it was quite difficult to choose the top 4 things she would say shes most proud of.If you have a lot of experience up your sleeve, take inspiration from Oprahs Proud Of section. Choose life achievements that show your character and biggest life victories. The ones that are most important to you and fit with the job requirements youre applying for. Sprinkle bits of your personality here and there, or mention difficult life events you went through to stand out from other highly experienced applicants.Is J .K. Rowling writing all day long?J.K. Rowling became the first writer billionaire in her later thirties, which proves its never too late for a huge success. After struggling to endure at the edge of poverty,, she became known thanks to the first Harry Potter book. After that she wrote 6 more to finish the series which put bases for the 8 fantasy films distributed by Warners Bros. Writing brought a great recognition to her and after the Harry Potter series, she was named Britains Most Influential Woman, UKs best-selling living author and a runner-up of Times Person of the year. She is an extremely charitable person and is very open about her struggles with clinical depression and insomnia.How do you usually spend your day? is another question you might be asked during an interview or while networking. In any case, you should be prepared to answer well and have it on your resume.Rowlings My Time section consists of only 4 main points that describe how she spends her day. Its clear and straight to the point. When describing your day on a resume, do the same. Describe clearly the activities you do most of the time and make sure you have evidence to prove it in case youll have to go in more detail.Are Sheryl Sandberg skills surprising?Sheryl Sandberg is a great example to follow. Her background is very interesting. She was born to a Jewish family who was helping other Jewish people in the era of refusenik. She was a high achiever in high school already and was always at the top of the class in both Harvard College and Harvard Business School. Her career with Facebook started in 2008 when she became its COO. It was her proposition for Facebook to rely on advertising, which made the company profitable for the first time. She is a big role model to many women out there and dedicates a lot of her time to women empowerment. Her book Lean In aims to encourage women to become leaders and be ambitious without being scared. Heres what we imagine her greatest skills areA Ski lls section is just as relevant to add to your resume as your Top Strengths. You can also assess your skills to show the employer how good you are at each of them. The main thing to be careful about when filling in your Skills section is not to overestimate yourself. Its one of the most common mistakes on resumes. Stretching the truth does not pay off, they will find out at some point. Also, make sure your skills match the ones described in the job description.One of Sandbergs Skills we chose is Fighting lifes setbacks. Consider adding something similar. It reveals your character. In Sandbergs case its obvious that despite difficulties, she picks herself up and fights until the end.Next time you craft your resume remember that showcasing your personality gives a great touch to your resume and becomes the main differentiator. It also helps companies to secure a perfect culture fit.Go ahead, sign up for Enhancv, and create a stellar resume now.Happy Womens day from the whole Enhancv t eam Tags career, career advice, resume

Interviewing Around the Elephant in the Room

Interviewing Around the Elephant in the Room Interviewing Around the Elephant in the RoomWhether youre interviewing for a job or an internship, you will inevitably have sohonigweinhing about your education, background, or experiences that isnt quite what your fhigkeit employer has in mind. This however isnt personal and doesnt necessarily mean youre not qualified. In fact, its highly unlikely that any candidate is going to be perfect for a job. Theres always something that could be a little better or a little more on point, and its probably an amalgam of different candidates that equates to the perfect package. Once you have the interview lined up, know that you met the basic criteria for the job and then some at least on paper The point of the interview then is for your potential employer to gauge if youre the best possible candidate out of all of the other applicants. And thats where you have the opportunity to discuss all of your experiences and accomplishments, but its also wher e perceived weaknesses and imperfections can get highlighted and probed.Although wed all love to pretend behauptung perceived imperfections dont exist, we cant. They become the elephant in the room everyone knows they exist and theyre impossible to ignore. Because you cant ignore them, its important that youre ready to acknowledge and address any questions about your perceived weaknesses with confidence and then take the focus off that pesky elephant and quickly move to more positive experiences and traits.Some common examples of perceived weaknesses are grades and lack of experience. Although your potential employer will have reviewed your resume and decided that you meet their basic criteria, you are still not in the clear, and may have to justify your low GPA or lack of industry experience. Maybe your employer sees that you have a 3.2 GPA, and the job posting just said 3.0 or above (or maybe didnt even include one), but theyre really hoping for someone with a 3.5 and above. Your GPA may be in line with their requirements, but they may want to know if some of your lower grades were outside of your major or during your freshman year.Or in regard to experience, maybe they dont see an experience on your resume, but because they were impressed by the rest of the package, they wanted to see if you had similar work experience, or at least have some trait that gives them the confidence you can pick it up on the job. Try not to get thrown off by these questions because theyre all part of both you and the employer figuring out if this is a good fit. Indeed, you wouldnt want to work somewhere where your background and experiences arent valuedComing back to grades and experience as the potential elephant in the room, the best way to answer questions that aim to probe these potential weaknesses is to identify those areas in advance (which a careful review of the job description will usually bring to light), and then to acknowledge them, address them, and move on to the positive that came out of the those circumstances. Always remember to speak in an honest, confident and importantly, proactive manner that keeps the conversation moving forward and focused on the skills and experiences you do have.For exampleDid you perhaps struggle with some biology classes during your freshman year before realizing that you wanted to pursue grenzberschreitend affairs and not pre-med? Can you discuss that realization with your employer, and then explain that since transferring to international affairs youve maintained A-level grades and have participated in several significant research projects?Are you maybe lacking in some experience that was listed on the job description but did some similar tasks during an internship and can truthfully and confidently explain that youre ready to take on this new responsibility? Instead of saying no, I dont have that experience, can you instead, more positively and proactively, explain that while I havent done A, I have done X, Y and Z during past internships and feel confident that I can tackle A if Im hired.Notice here that were not letting the elephant just sit there. We didnt shut down when asked these difficult questions, or give a one-word yes or no answer, or one that acknowledged the perceived weakness without any concomitant positive. Rather, we aimed to carry the conversation forward and in the direction we wanted it to go, away from the elephant and toward the positive attributes that we, as a candidate, bring to the table.The take-away from all of this is not to let that pesky elephant that lurks in the background for all of us as candidates, in one way or another, derail an otherwise promising opportunity. Be prepared to address it, and know how to keep the conversation moving forward after youve done so.