hi there I'm Miriam and I work at Google we're so glad you're here and that you've chosen a Google career certificate to move towards your goals one important step to help you meet those goals is building your career identity but first what exactly is career identity you can think of it as your North Star it encompasses who you are and what you have to offer professionally and guide you as you navigate towards your goals and vision today we'll share activities to help you explore your career identity and write your own career identity statement let's dive in your career identity is the unique value that you bring to the workforce based on who you are and what you have to offer now and in the future it's informed by all of your life and work experiences and shaped by your strengths motivations and values it's also is something you cultivate based on your direction and goals and here's why it's important the more you know about who you are what makes you thrive and where you want to go the better equipped you are to choose a path that aligns with your strengths values and goals plus employers and colleagues will have a better understanding of what you have to offer and it's good for you research shows that having a strong career identity leads to posit positive outcomes such as improved job performance greater commitment to a meaningful career and even enhanced well-being and health remember no matter what your life and work experiences are we all have value to offer let me start by sharing a little bit about myself and how I first started to develop my career identity I've worked at Google for more than 10 years but I discovered facets of my career identity in my first role here as an email customer support representative helping business owners solve problems I quickly realized how much I enjoyed working with sales engineering and product management teams to solve those problems I also discovered that I had a talent for distilling complex ideas into simple written language for the customers I supported fast forward to today I work in digital marketing and my job still depends on communication and collaboration skills that bring me joy over the years I've moved from one project to another Chang jobs and worked for different companies but these truths about what is core to me and what I value have always remained the same make sense one of the best ways to explore your career identity is to write your own career identity statement we'll start by breaking it down into three key components that will act as the building blocks for creating your own career identity statement your strengths your motivations your values let's talk about each of these three components in more detail first up your strengths your strengths are tasks and activities that you do well there're the skills knowledge and talents you've gained throughout your life and work experiences for example maybe you're very detail oriented or you're great at building relationships maybe you're amazing at repairing cars or maybe you've developed skills like patience empathy and problem solving as a result of caring for a family member according to Marcus Buckingham an expert on strengths and Leadership at work a strength is an activity that strengthens you for something to be a strength you must be good at it but it also should make you feel stronger more capable and energized for me writing has always been a strength I read Charlotte Bron's novel Air at age 9 and I fell in love with writing I was like that girl is me and I want to write books like this I then invested a lot of time in developing this skill throughout my life and it's one that has always energized me making it a core pillar of my career identity from strength we'll move to the next key component your motivations your motivation stem from your passions and your purpose knowing what fuels you is so important because that's what keeps you going like I mentioned I am passionate about storytelling with the English language I Can Lose Myself for hours in writing but I don't just enjoy telling stories I am also motivated to help others to express their own truths through authentic storytelling it's a defining aspect of who I am and thus my career identity so now we've covered strengths and motivations lastly let's discuss the third key component your values your values reflect what's most important to you they guide your approach to decision-making developing relationships and overcoming challenges you may not always be aware of your values but they are always with you even if they shift over time these are things like Integrity responsibility and kindness some of my core values are efficiency and service to others I don't like messes when I see a mess I see people suffering my mind goes to how can I help clean this up how can I make this more efficient in my first job I realized that no one was documenting how to use the products Google was developing so I decided to build a knowledge base of common questions and answers that my team could use to not have to start from scratch each time now that we understand the key components let's work on building your own career identity to start all you need to do is get curious Begin by asking yourself these three questions about your strengths motivations and values what skills knowledge and talents set me apart what fuels and motivates me most what values guide me it might be helpful to pause the video here grab a piece of paper or a journal and spend 10 minutes reflecting on these questions there's no need to overthink it just write what comes to mind you can always refine or expand your answers later once you've answered these questions there's more you can do to dig into your career identity for example assessments can help you learn more about your unique skills strengths preferences and values many of these assessments are available online and consist of a series of short multiple choice questions focused on you and immediately produce your personalized results if after this you still want to explore more you can interview a handful of your peers they could be current or former colleagues classmates or even family and friends choose people who know you well and who you trust to be honest and thoughtful ask them questions such as how would you describe me to someone else what stands out about me how do I inspire you remember there are plenty of other ways to learn about yourself but once you've reached a point where you're comfortable and confident that you understand your strengths motivations and values you can bring them together in a career identity statement it should be three or four sentences that go beyond just listing your qualifications you want to also reveal your passions and purpose here's a basic template to help you get started I am a rols with number of years experience doing accomplishment my greatest strength is strength and I have a talent for strength I am passionate about motivation and I value value here's mine as an example I am a Content strategist and product marketer with over 10 years of experience helping businesses use new technologies to drive success my greatest strength is collaborating and driving efficiencies across teams and I have a talent for crafting stories and creating marketing programs to successfully launch technology products I am passionate about empowering Brands to find and use solutions that work for them and helping Builders of new technologies develop even better more effective products and most importantly I value having fun and being collaborative inclusive and authentic while I do it now is another good time to pause the video and grab that piece of paper or journal to start working on your career identity statement remember your statement is a work in progress you should revisit and refine it as you gain new experience and insights about yourself like after you complete a Google career certificate for example so now that you've written your career identity statement what should you do with it writing your career identity statement is a powerful way to add Clarity and energy to all the other Career Development tools you carry with you you can incorporate parts of it into your resume LinkedIn profile cover letters and elevator pitch this will help you clearly and consistently communicate what's important to you and help you stand out from others in the same field it can also guide you to be more intentional and purpose ful when searching for a job or choosing a career path exploring and creating a strong career identity for yourself is a journey that takes time and effort but trust me it's worth it the more you know about yourself and what you want the better choices you'll make for your career and as you continue to grow and strengthen your career identity your North Star will shine even brighter moving you towards your goals here's to the next step in your amazing journey Journey