Who does not want to make more money doing what they already do on a daily basis? This is why the online job search engine business is booming everyone is looking for a better gig, with better meaning higher pay.
If you could begin right now on re-purposing yourself in order to make more money at your job, would you take the chance? That is what this guide is about: how to market yourself to your current or future employer through daily, repetitive hard work and improvement. You may not be able to completely reinvent yourself in one day, but with consistency and effort, it will not take long before you receive your reward. And if the company you work for does not value your efforts, time to start looking around for a company that will.
Individuality Pays Off
Maybe you felt like you had to snuff out part of your personality in order to do your job or to even get your job in the first place. Unless you are talking about an extreme quality of yours, this is not a good thing. You should fully be yourself in every role you have. It is how you live an authentic, fulfilling life. More than that, it is how employers see the difference and the value in you. If you are constantly trying to blend in, trying to cover up your individuality and trying to follow the crowd, you will not get noticed. In other words, you will succeed and remain a wallflower.
Employers notice the people who let their true selves shine through and they value that. Why? Because they can truly believe you are who you say you are and your values will be on display. If you are an honest, hardworking person who cares about the future of the company, the employer will be able to tell. If you are spouting lines you think will “get you in good,” you are just another one of the lowly underlings who will never climb the ladder.
Do not be who you think your employer wants you to be. Be yourself. Focus on letting your individuality take center stage and don’t be afraid to be different. That’s the sign of a leader, not a follower, and every company could use more confident leaders on the path to success.
Know What Sets You Apart
It might be easy to “be yourself” and “embrace your individuality,” but after that it is time to go a step further. You have to know the differences between you and your fellow workers. You don’t have to try to better than everybody else, because different doesn’t always mean better. But you do have to get in touch with what you are good at.
You are the person who lives with yourself every day (duh!). You are constantly in touch with your own thoughts and feelings. You assume much about your own self because it might take too much brain power to be introspective for a vast period of the day. That’s normal. But it also pays to reflect. It pays to meditate and daily review your feelings and your goals.
Think about how it feels when you are preparing for an interview.
You stumble over the practice questions, “What is your greatest strength? What is your greatest weakness? When was a time you faced adversity?”
Instead of waiting until the dreaded formal interview at your next new job, ask yourself these questions on a regular basis. Know who you are. Know what motivates you. Once you know the areas of your personality you need to work on, you can get to work. Once you know the areas where you excel, you can clearly communicate this to your employers.
Learn a New Skill
If you know who you are and what you’re good at, it will probably become more and more evident to you where you can improve and where you can add to your resume. Learning a new skill can sometimes help you make more money directly, or it can affect your overall performance indirectly. Learning how to operate a new computer program can immediately and directly help you do your job better. If your weakness is public speaking, take a course on the subject and it can indirectly help you perform at a higher level you’ll communicate more confidently overall.
You can also look around at your company’s needs. If you have worked there for any extended period, chances are you are fully aware of where they are lacking in support. 
Maybe they are trying to hire someone new to address these issues…but could that someone be you, who already works for them?
If you make it your aim to fill the job description they need by learning a new skill, you can make more money in the form of pay raises, which will automatically come due to your willingness to work hard and expand your role. It can be a lifesaver for a company that would rather not hire outside help, but use the resources they already have, but maybe didn’t know it yet until you opened their eyes.
Make Yourself an Invaluable Asset
Along with developing your individuality, knowing what you have to offer and constantly expanding your skill set, you should always be delivering an end result that no one else has the ability to achieve. You should always focus on how to make yourself invaluable in the sense that yes, the company could replace you, but they will never replicate you, your work ethic or your achievements.
There are multiple ways to make yourself invaluable, but one method stands out above the rest: become an expert on a topic that means success to your company. Learn new skills and be a jack of all trades yes but have a specialty and don’t be afraid to communicate your knowledge. Your managers don’t have the time to research a topic and know everything there is to know? You do it for them and always be on hand to offer the facts when they need them.
Another way to make yourself invaluable is to work on your spoken and written communication skills. There are not many people who can be an expert on something, but then break down technical subjects for a layman’s audience successfully but you can become that person. Work on drafting emails, letters and memos that are to the point and easy to read and understand.
Work on summarizing your thoughts in succinct bullet points. Your boss wants someone who knows the value of time don’t waste time explaining something in 100 words when 20 will do. As you make yourself more and more invaluable to your company, you will also make more money, since you will be the first employee they think of when they consider a wage raise.
Volunteer for Additional Responsibilities
It also helps to volunteer. Don’t wait for your boss to assign you a job. Do it before they ask, or volunteer for the task that no one else wants to do. Don’t overwork yourself and set strong personal boundaries between work and personal time, but do not overlook the advantage you will have over your competition in the ranks or outside the company if you are the volunteer for extra work that they can count on in a pinch.
With that being said, do not just volunteer for anything. Volunteer specifically for roles that give you additional work responsibilities. The more of a chance you have to prove you can handle a leadership role the better. Any time you have to manage a deadline, a budget or a team of other people, take the chance and do your best. At the very least, it’s an experience you can use as a talking point in a future work interview. At most, it’s a way to show your managers you are the person they should come to when they are looking for someone to promote internally.
Keep Track of Your Successes
Do not only spruce up your resume when you have an interview to attend. Every three to six months, review your resume and add job responsibilities, training and experience. 
You should also keep an interview document up to date with short anecdotes about ways you have overcome challenges in your work life. You can list possible future interview questions and write down bulleted answers based on what you’ve gone through in the past few months. It is much easier to stay on top of this consistently and have all the resources in hand when it comes time to job search you will make more money at your new position if you are prepared with solid, comprehensive answers.
Keeping track of your successes in this manner can also help you in your current job. If you are determined to keep rising in the ranks, you must always be prepared to explain how you have helped the company in the past and how you can help the company in the future. It is easy to forget a completed project once it is in the past, but writing down your accomplishments will keep them fresh in your mind.
State Your Goals With Confidence
When it comes time to present your case for a raise or advancement to your boss, do not ever second guess yourself. You have worked too hard and too long at improving your performance to let this opportunity pass you by. This is your chance to make more money, take more satisfaction in your work and make an impact in your current and future role.
Many negotiating experts say it is best to always state what you want first. If it’s a salary bump you are interested in, lay it out clearly at the start of the conversation. If it is a new, higher position you want, state it without hesitancy. Next on the agenda? Explain in detail how you have made positive changes in your current role, at your current pay. Give reallife examples of what you have done and your boss will be reminded of your individuality, what sets you apart, your skill set, your initiative and more.
Then, go into detail on why you should receive these new benefits and what you can bring to the table. Don’t threaten to leave the company always assume you will come out on top when negotiating a salary raise or new promotion. Make eye contact, speak clearly and believe in yourself.
Don’t Be Afraid to Say Goodbye
After you meet with your superiors about how to make more money in your current role, highlighting your past successes and clearly stating what you can and have done to expand their business, you could be walking away filled with satisfaction or defeat. Just because you work hard and focus on marketing yourself and improving your service offerings does not mean they will appreciate what you do. It’s sad, but true. It is best to expect success but prepare yourself for disappointment. It’s a business transaction, so keep your emotions in check and keep your poker face in place.
If they turn you away for a raise or a promotion, you will have gathered and prepared everything you need to make a career change to another role in another company. Do not be scared to wish your current employer well and ask for a recommendation, but then leave with your head held high, knowing you did your best but you deserve better.
Marketing yourself takes work. It takes time. It takes dedication. But in the end, working daily towards being the best “you” you can be pays off not only in the form of helping you make more money. It helps keep you centered in an emotional sense. You know who you are and you are not afraid of growth, change and development. You can leave work every day with the knowledge that you did your best. Any rewards that come your way as a result will be that much sweeter, because you will know you earned it the good old fashioned way: through hard work.
