ISHYAMO
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Five Strengths For Hire

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When I discussed with my Wife about job searching; she told me a good place to start is by identifying one's strengths. That might seem a bit basic, but it has been years since I job searched and any help was welcome.

Taking the Clifton Strengths test showed I have five, dominant strengths:
(Not in Order)

  1. Belief (Executing theme)
  2. Context (Strategic Thinking theme)
  3. Ideation (Strategic Thinking theme)
  4. Individualisation (Relationship Building theme)
  5. Learner (Strategic Thinking theme)

Strength - 1: Belief

Trust and ethics are very important to me. When things align with my goals, I'm all in (and the opposite is also true). I'm inspired by fulfilling a decent purpose which matters.

Keywords that can describe me with this strength:

  • Values-driven
  • Committed
  • Principled
  • Purpose-centred

Related: Trusting the people I work with is important, but equally, I hope to fully earn their trust too. If people can't trust each other, then how can they work together?

Strength - 2: Context

Learning lessons from past mistakes is important, to not repeat them. I can't stand repeating the same mistakes at work, and not proactively avoiding failure by learning from the past. I connect past events to make sense of the present, and the future - learning the history of things is important for this. I like to provide background information and context for decisions.

Keywords that can describe me with this strength:

  • Perceptive
  • Highlighter
  • Historical
  • Studious

Strength - 3: Ideation

I'm quite thorough, so I don't like it when people jump to execution before exploring ideas and possibilities. Anyone who shuts down the idea-generating phase fast because they feel too busy for creativity and innovation will frustrate me. Working with people who value innovation and are willing to explore new ideas excites me (and the opposite repulses me). I like being asked for my thoughts and ideas on things as a valued team member - this can help resolve team work obstacles.

Keywords that can describe me with this strength:

  • Discoverer
  • Insightful
  • Fascinated
  • Designer
  • Innovator
  • Brainstormer

Related: Antiquated, long-winded, backward, and inefficient work practices (with an unwillingness to improve) is a significant red flag for me. Organisations who considerately and willingly embrace the opposite of this, will appeal to my own approach to work.

Strength - 4: Individualisation

I highly value and appreciate the diversity among people, and all of their different views, so I balk a bit when a 'one-size-fits-all' approach is used for things. People's individual qualities and characteristics should be explored and embraced, not form-fitted to generic roles and limited understanding. I believe this makes me try and relate to each person differently, as individuals, and makes me a more helpful person overall.

Keywords that can describe me with this strength:

  • Perceptive
  • Customizer
  • Uniqueness-Spotter
  • Sees who people are
  • Intuitive

Strength - 5: Learner

If I'm not learning new things on the job, I'll lose motivation quite quickly. The opposite is also the case: if I'm presented with new things to learn, I'll be far more willing to engage with it. I LOVE learning new, interesting stuff generally, and across a broad range of things!

This can mean I get a bit 'too' focused on smaller details... (a bad trait among designers as well!) And I can get bored quickly if something becomes a bit repetitive and mind-numbing. This interest in learning new tools and skills has surfaced with any web design and web development tasks - I'm mostly self-taught on both things. I'm often the early adopter among teams I've worked with.

Keywords that can describe me with this strength:

  • Explorer
  • Growth-Focused
  • Open-minded
  • Continuous Improver
  • Expert/Expertise

Hey, if any of these strengths sound like a good good fit for your team and you have a suitable role available, please email me on matt@ishyamo.com

I'm currently looking for WFH/Remote roles on the U.S. West Coast, Pacific Standard Time (PST)