Lesson 2 – All About Me
Lesson overview
- My attributes
- My values.
- My aspirations, purpose, what motivates me
- My interests
- My strengths
- My achievements
- My transferable skills
- My channels – communication settings that make me effective
- My brand
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Autistic people have many qualities which you may not consider to be relevant to employment, which in fact represent your strengths, skills and talents and are extremely useful for many employers.
You will gain in confidence and self-awareness if you consider your various strengths, skills and attributes, and take time to consider how they are all valuable in the work place.
My attributes
We are going to use a few tools to create a few documents to help on the journey into employment.
It is important to understand your strengths and weaknesses, what makes you effective and keep you functioning at your best and what prevents you from being effective. We are going to explore this section by section and capture it all in the About Me document – your personal profile.
We are going to start with the All About Me section.
You can download the template for the All about Me now.
Filling out this profile will help with progressing in the Mentoring Programme and setting your goal. It will also help to build self-awareness that in turn will help to develop strategies for success.
My values.
Think about some key words that describe your character, that are important to you and make you feel proud.
They are likely to be your values.
List them in All About Me.
My aspirations, purpose, what motivates me
You are more likely to be successful in your role or job search if you are genuinely motivated by it, write a few thoughts about what your aspirations, purpose and motivations are.
A helpful exercise could be considering Why have you joined the Tool Up programme, what are hoping to achieve?
Write these aspirations in All About Me, it will help you further in the programme.
My interests
List at least 5 of the topics you like to follow, activities you enjoy doing.
For example: gardening, cooking, helping people ,doing research on the internet, financial markets, big data.
Please fill in these sections in All About Me
My strengths
Consider what skills are you using when you engage in your interests?
Download the scoring card for strengths now.
Go through the list and tick the boxes that apply to you. Ask a trusted family members or friends who know you well to do this exercise with you.
Strengths
- Problem solving.
- Intense interest in the subject.
- Technical ability.
- Specialist knowledge.
- ability to innovate.
- Creativity.
- Ability to look at problems from a different angle.
- Systematic thinking and methodical approach.
- Learning agility (fast learner).
- Resilience.
- Resourcefulness.
- Accuracy and precision.
- Reliability.
- Loyalty.
- Attention to detail.
- Honesty.
Are there other strengths you posses that are not on this list? Add them to your list.
My talent profile
We are going to use a few tools to create a few documents to help you on the journey into employment.
We are going to continue with creating your personal profile. We are going to complete All About Me with two sections of the profile: strengths and differences. The differences are not your weaknesses but things you do differently due to environmental triggers that may put you at a disadvantage due to your autism. You already reflected on this in the Activity 2 of the Lesson 1. So you may consider the list again and reuse it here.
The template is within the All About Me document.
Filling in this profile will help with
- Progressing in the Mentoring Programme
- It can be used to communicate with supportive allies such as your mentor or even your employer.
- it will help to develop your own strategies for success in the workplace
Please fill in your profile and repeat the exercise with a trusted family member or friend.
My achievements
Think about achievements you are proud of. They could be from academic success in education, ideally, they should be from your work experience. Your achievements could be in sport, in pursuing your special interest, even overcoming your own difficulties. Think about the problem you had to solve with innovative or creative ideas that made a big difference. Think of obstacles you had to overcome and possibilities your achievements unlocked.
Think about the moment of your achievement, how did you feel? What did you do. What were your thoughts and actions?
Now describe your achievement in All About Me.
It is important that you think of your achievements as results, stated in a specific, measurable way, for example “I learned photography” .
Think of the list of 5 achievements. Make a note of them in the Achievements section of All About Me
Take advantage of the forum and support group to seek advice and discuss how your achievements in non work related environment could be beneficial for an employer.
You Brand is the sum of impressions you create and accumulate in the eyes of other people. Whether you are aware of it or not, you have a brand. Later in the programme we will explore how you could actively manage and control it.
