Strengths.
The core tenant to my skill tree is organization. My work and hobbies revolve around organization, not because I dislike disorganization, but because I love the process of seeing how all the pieces can fit together. Because my love of organization does not come from being reviled at its opposite, I am content in chaotic environments and can quickly change tactics. I am not attached to a specific style or method, which makes the way I work with clients and coworkers flexible to the needs of the group. I am a firm believer in failing fast - if something doesn’t work, I am fine with scrapping it in favor of something more effective. My adaptable style of organization makes it easy for me to fit into any project or situation and drive it forward. That same organization skill paves the way for my other skills to flourish, including time management, communication, and resourcefulness.
Over the last few years, I have been honing my ability to communicate with others, which is an ever-growing skill. When communicating with an individual, it is easy enough to understand after talking with them for 10-15 minutes how they prefer to converse, and this often leads to the path of least resistance for communicating effectively with them. This is more challenging in a group setting, where the preferences are dynamic and may vary greatly from one another. In those situations, I analyze as much as possible what the general consensus is for communication preferences and try to determine what the outliers are. Once I know and understand the outliers, I can give more specific attention to them to ensure that they still feel heard and valued in the conversation so that the team dynamics can flow smoothly. However, in some cases, groups or teams can have wildly different communication tactics from one another, in which case automation becomes a dear friend. In that case, I centralize using some platform they are already familiar with - Google, an ITSM tool, a website - and I create a main feed of updates available to check or reference at any time. From there I can add additional script or processes to generate emails or slack messages, produce charts or graphs as needed, and link out to other resources that can help the team understand what they need to do. As they work with this system, I refine the tasks that seem to be the most helpful to them and extrapolate additional solutions from what has been effective. For the scale this works on, this takes a relatively small amount of my time, as I believe in working efficiently.
Efficiency is not pure speed. I am of the firm stance that efficiency is moving as quickly as you can do something effectively, and that does not always mean it can move particularly fast. If you move too quickly through a project or task and mistakes are made, you must take the time to go back and correct them, possibly multiple times. It is not an efficient process if you have to keep returning more time to it, so therefore efficiency does not equal speed, it equals the crux of proper planning, effective motivation, and resource plotting.
One of my greatest strengths is that I am very familiar with my limits and my needs. This sounds like a basic skill, but it is difficult to learn and put into practice. I have strong work / life boundaries in place. I have some extremely minimal exceptions to when I will work outside of my specified hours - this makes me a strong employee because I retain my enthusiasm, health, and mental wherewithal; I come to work each day knowing how much time I have to complete a project, which keeps me working in a timely manner; and I do not suffer from burnout. I am able to provide a significantly higher standard of work by maintaining my health and wellness in this way. I am also aware of my limitations as a worker - which you can review in the next section, Weaknesses. Because I am aware of my limitations, I do not hesitate to ask questions or express my concerns when I don’t understand a project or a problem. This means that I do not become an obstacle to productivity when I work and allows me to be transparent about any situation to both my team and to management. It helps me to be a better delegator as well, since I know when I need to collaborate with others and how much I can handle in workload at any given time. As such, my inbox stays clean, my customers happy, and my company informed. In return, I seek out opportunities to assist others as much as I can so that we can balance our strengths and workloads and create a work environment that is independent as well as collaborative - no one has to fear one person going on vacation or not know who to turn to.
Weaknesses.
I have learned a smattering of various code and script languages during my career - I do not have a particular specialty in the realm of programming beyond perhaps javascript. While I am adaptable, I find it difficult and much slower for me to attempt to write code. I am perfectly capable of reading through a great many languages, but writing has always been more of a challenge for me, as my brain itself runs asynchronously, and it can be difficult for me to parse the exact language I may need for the logic required in computing. However, I am an eager and passionate learner, and have never let my nervousness in this less familiar realm of technology prevent me from trying. I am capable of building small things, and while I am by no means a programmer, I do enjoy working on this weakness - learning new ways to solve problems with these languages, new ways to integrate something meaningful onto a system. Because I understand my limitation in this, I try to seek out opportunities where I can grow, whether that be by asking if I can get read access to a project to understand how it works, schedule time with a coworker to discuss how a function works, or volunteer for surrounding tasks in coding or scripting to familiarize myself with the environmental characteristics. Every year, I understand the world of code a little bit better.
Because I am an eager and passionate learner, I require a job that keeps me busy. This has proven a challenge at nearly every job I have ever held - because I work efficiently, delegate appropriately, and communicate strategically, my work gets done rapidly. Many jobs have boasted that they will have no problem giving me enough to do and have found themselves to have underestimated the speed and enthusiasm with which I work. A colleague described me best as “compulsively responsible” and because I will perform all my duties to completion, once I run out of tasks, it is easy for me to become stalled or bored with less to do. I have worked in the last few years to become highly resourceful so that I can seek out other projects or tasks that I can assist with, but I am well aware that I am a “wartime president” and work best in a chaotic, fast paced environment. When I worked in troubleshooting jobs, I was often known as a hub for coordinating solutions as I keep a cool head under pressure and am able to be decisive and accountable for what happens. This need is buffered at times by my strict work / life balance, but I am at my happiest when my to-do list is long so that I can make my first task “prioritize other tasks” and get to work scaling my projects.
In Summary.
I am a driver. I push things forward and make sure they get done in proper timing. Because I move quickly, I work best with detailed planners who will think of the obstacles that may come into play. With this combination, projects can move forward at an effective speed that has still been well planned and researched.
In large part, I am driven because I am passionate about the work I do. I carry tactful honestly and sincerity with me at all times. I am not a salesperson unless I think that the customer could truly be helped by the product, but the passion I have for finding a way to help them and my transparency in doing so helps me to forge strong customer relationships with a foundation of trust and understanding - far sturdier than a simple pitch.
In summary of both my strengths and weaknesses and how they work together, I would be best placed on a team that is looking for someone driven and active, who will take excellent and thorough notes, communicate within and beyond the team at hand, and can help balance the workload between all members. My goal is to have a position where I can help customers directly or indirectly in finding solutions that make their lives preferably not just easier, but more enjoyable. I hope to have the ability to place tools in others’ hands, help them understand their priorities, and find a solution that works for all parties. I look forward to learning more about the opportunities you may provide me.