Superman can fly and leap tall buildings in a single bound. Captain America has super strength and speed. Captain Marvel can shoot photon blasts from her hands.
Despite how awesome flying and photon blasts are, I often find myself drawn to those superheroes who don’t necessarily have a supernatural power. Guys like Hawkeye whose only superpowers are accuracy with a bow and arrow and being a really great dad and husband. Or Batman, who’s really just a rich guy with some pretty cool gadgets and a mission to protect Gotham from bad guys.
Self-made superheroes like Hawkeye and Batman remind us that you don’t have to be bitten by a radioactive spider to have special powers. I like to think we’re all a little bit like Hawkeye and Batman with our own unique superpowers. We just have to figure out what they are.
Know your superpower
At AdamsGabbert, we believe so much in the idea that everyone has hidden (and perhaps unknown) talents that we ask this question of our candidates: What is your professional superpower? And after we get a chuckle from the candidate, the answers—or lack of an answer—are always revealing and can be incredibly helpful when evaluating candidates to find them a career and culture fit.
With the average corporate job attracting 250 resumes, understanding your own professional superpower can help you stand out from the pack. When your resume and interview answers are structured around your strengths – your superpowers – you can create a lasting impression on corporate recruiters and HR managers.
The benefits of identifying your professional superpowers don’t stop there. Knowing your core strengths is key to finding the best fit for both you and the company that hires you. For example, if you are one of those people who whips through your written to-do list every day, juggles many things at the same time and are the go-to person for bringing clarity to any situation, then you want to find a company that values and has a need for your hyper-organizational trait. Working for a company that isn’t affected by or even thrives on disorganization could be a poor fit for both employer and employee.
What is a professional superpower?
Professional superpowers might seem more mundane than being able to alter reality like the Scarlet Witch, but we often learn to identify them in the same way our comic book superheroes begin to identify theirs.
Just as fictional superpowers often manifest themselves slowly over time and practice, professional superpowers are often discovered through time, experience and self-knowledge.
Think about something you loved to do as a kid, and then think about things you do now that encompass those same skills.
Maybe in your youth, you loved to play soccer. You put in the hours of practice to be able to dribble a ball a hundred times, and you perfected your kick so you could perfectly place a ball in the top corner of the net. You gave up hanging out with your friends and missed events to travel to play soccer on top teams. You put in extra hours at the gym to get stronger.
Now, your grown-up body might not like playing soccer so much, but that same discipline that made you a great soccer player in your youth has translated into a professional superpower that allows you to ignore distractions and get projects done on time with a high level of attention to detail. Discipline is your superpower.
Our superpowers
At AdamsGabbert, we take professional superpowers seriously, so much so that everyone in our company is asked to identify their superpower – from the CEO to the office dog. Check out a few of our colleague’s superpowers.
HR Specialist Candis Crain’s superpower showcases her flexibility, which is integral to our success.
Senior Resource Manager Kendra Kruse reminds us that even the simplest of actions, like talking, can be a superpower.
And, last but most definitely not least, Chief Happiness Officer Sweeney Rose helps us to remember that the ability to bring joy to any setting is a superpower worth having.
Putting your superpowers to work
With the addition of 850,000 jobs to the economy this June, the pace of hiring is once again picking up, which means that there are plenty of job opportunities available. For job-seekers, knowing your professional superpower before you apply for your next job is more important than ever. And for employers, being able to identify the professional superpowers of those you hire can be key to helping you find the best person for the job.
Whether you’re trying to identify your own superpower or looking for a candidate with a specific superpower, let AdamsGabbert put our superpower expertise to work for you.
Denise Kruse is the CEO and owner of AdamsGabbert, bringing nearly 30 years of corporate general management experience, entrepreneurial leadership and a passion for making a difference in the Kansas City community. Surprisingly different, obsessed with innovation and creators of deliberate impact. We are the real deal. AG is a technology services firm where trust, transparency and collaboration matter. By investing in our people and community we bring our partners the best talent and strategic solutions. We are proud to be a certified Woman-Owned Business (WBE). We love Kansas City, and we have a lot of fun supporting our partners. We are AG.
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