🛰️ Mind Map of the Month: Presenting your Competences From Every Angle 💡

Jens Brinch Moeller

Hey Community!

There are many mind maps available related to how you can create/ what you should include in your CV, but most of them follows the traditional view on your qualifications (the 4 colored topics).

With the intention of both recommending the Mind map technique and the MindMeister product, I prepared a traditional mind map for sharing at LinkedIn. At the same time, I had some interesting dialogues within my network about how we tend to underestimate the value of our individual experiences from the non-professional part of our lives.

Inspired, I re-engineered my Mind map using my CV at LinkedIn as reference, and started a series of posts at LinkedIn on how you could approach your CV from a holistic perspective using your life experience, hereby identifying your strengths and skills.

The intention in sharing my updated version here is to inspire the community to do a review of your own competences from different perspectives – you are capable of much more than you think of - so see this as your menu card when preparing the formal CV for an application (also as inspiration for the cover letter).

The latest (neutralized) version of my model:

TIPS 💡🙂🧐🤫

TIP 💡: You can duplicate the mind map here

TIP 🙂🙂: Remember to fill in as many details as you can remember (and later add what you missed in first round)

TIP 🧐🧐🧐: When using different perspectives, you will discover that a skill might be represented multiple times in the Mind map (which is to be expected)

TIP 🤫🤫🤫🤫: This exercise is never too late, nor too early in your life – I needed to be challenge by a dear friend before I made this Mind map and could finally identify the roles where I excel

Let's Explore the Sections in Depth 💡

Below you will find a simple guide on how to approach each element in this model (I have prepared a sub-structure for some sections as an inspiration to dive deep and list the experiences/ qualifications.).

The topics filled with blue come from a traditional Curriculum Vitae.

The topics with a dotted border are examples on the competence perspective. Replace content with your competences/ experiences.

The gold topic is an example of a topic I find underestimated when working in an international environment.

Education

In many scenarios we tend to forget that the educational system varies from country to country. Seen from my perspective, EDUCATION represents anything that involves mandatory sessions in a class room (physical or virtual) with an exam to pass.

Traditional: your national educational system.

Acknowledged Certification: certifications required in a professional role independent of employer, either due to the hieratical position or the functional role you have in an organization.

Open Courses: list of courses and/or training you have participated in sorted by what initiated the participation, i.e. personal, membership of an organization or professional.

Company modified: Some companies have a size, where they prefer to have control over the content used in the material or have so many employees that it’s a better business case to keep it as inhouse event.

Open Courses: Some like me prefer to participate in open courses as the exchange between the participants are more open. Some challenges have the tendency to remain unsolved if your only inspiration is from inside the company.

Work Experience

Work Experience includes some life experience too – and many of the skills you have are founded in events happening outside of your professional career, i.e. being an active member of a voluntary organization.

I suggest to separate this topic in 4 sections: While studying/ Finding your career/ Your career path/ Voluntary.

Project Management

Working with international teams I learned, that the Danish way of being a project manager turned out to be different from other countries.

I have here generalised some of my experiences from +15 years. I recommend you to see each position/ project individually – by doing so you will find a lot of useful knowledge popping up.

Customer Support

I was taught that a company have three levels of support, when delivering IT services; 1st, 2nd and 3rd layer. 1st layer is the staff at superuser level. 2nd layer is the staff having the role as application administrators (Product Owners). 3rd level is the programmers.

Sales & Pre-Sales Support

The sales team will from time to time have a need for some specialist support. There is a huge difference whether you are in a Pre-Sales scenario or a Sales scenario.

First scenario might not require you to have “strategic” communication skills, where the latter one will require you understand the scenario before answering the questions.

Training (Internal)

Having had multiple roles within the area of “Internal Training” in my professional career, I find that often people forget the competences achieved. I have prepared a structure for inspiration.

Key Account Management (KAM)

Once I though a KAM could only have customers at Enterprise level, but later I learned that a KAM is used to help with strategic customers, whether they are internal (Global Enterprises) or external.

In some organizations the role is labelled: Account Executive.

Technical Skills

Mainly this topic is related to competences within IT, but it could also be related to handing of equipment within constructions or transportation.

Cultural Experiences

Culture is much more than events happing at a museum, in a theatre or opera. We all grew up in an environment, influenced by our native culture (family driven), and for some living abroad, the local culture where you lived.

Where ever you have been a member of an organization or being an employee, you have been exposed to a culture, that has had some impact on you. You might even have been influenced by a culture you have meet while travelling.

Operating in an international environment I find that understanding and respecting culture is a valuable asset.

Manager Role

You are having the role as manager, when you are in charge of running and controlling a business or a similar organization or a part of one, i.e. your family.

I have put in three sections here as illustration – and yes, the experience from running a family can be valuable later in your professional career.

Business Development

Business development is more than just a CxO exercise or a department within the organization.

Product Development

Product development is more than just a department within your organization.

I have experienced that the people in the frontline (the ones with direct contact to the customers) have been capable of identifying, developing and put new products in to operations securing a potential revenue.

Personal Values

The last part is related to personal values.

I recommend you to list your values seen from more than just one perspective.

The three topics I have used here is just as inspiration – you might have a need for other headlines.

Interested in duplicating the map? - find the Mind map here

Interested in more details?

I intend in April 2023 to start a new series of posts (short videos) on LinkedIn using this mind map filled with details from my LinkedIn CV as reference. Please feel free to check it out.

Best,

Jens

CL Webb

Thanks @Jens Brinch Moeller. This a great case study (reaaly love the detail) and look forward to your continuation series.

CL 🙂
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Admin BSF.company

Hey, what a great insight @Jens Brinch Moeller!

Thanks for sharing such a comprehensive explanation on how to take one's CV to the next level.

It never occurred to me before to make a mind map of my career and experience, but now I'm seriously considering it.

Thanks again, and keep those good ideas flowing 🏆

I'm looking forward to that series of posts in April.

Cheers!

Andrés D'Andrea

Beata Mertyn

wow, great stuff! I am really astonished of this mind map and a complex article explaning what could be implemented inside each section. Congratulations and keep waiting for next materials from you!

Miša Hennin

Hi all,

I'm glad you all enjoyed @Jens Brinch Moeller's CV map. I really enjoyed reading this and love the creative and interesting approach to presenting experiences!

I believe this mind map would form a fantastic basis for discussions with potential or new employers.

Best,

Miša

Andrew Lapidus

Thanks for the inspiration @Jens Brinch Moeller — I particularly loved your comment about how it's never too late or too early to take a fresh look at your CV. It's often a topic associated with a lot of anxiety, so I love your system to piecemeal it together and bring a fresh perspective to presenting competencies. Excellent!!

Best,

Andrew

Cornelia Patscheider_is_Out-of-office

WOW - I LOVE THIS MAP!! Thanks for sharing, Jens!

Emily

Really cool idea @Jens Brinch Moeller. I think I'll share this with my students - It seems like a great way to get them started thinking about their skills and experiences. Even if they end up creating a more standard CV, a mind map like this would be a valuable resource. (Would also be useful to have open during interviews).

Miša Hennin

@Merbe I saw this on your LinkedIn and thought I should share it here too!

It's another great example of a mind map CV 😀

Emily

Way cool @Merbe !

Beata Mertyn

https://community.meister.co/discussion/comment/4430#Comment_4430

hahah, ok. I need to re-add it again as I made some changes at the LI account :D

Michelle Matus

Thanks for sharing! I love how you've uncovered a great way to stand out from the crowd and present your career/employment success in a creative and engaging way. I think it's also great to note that because of the ability to drag and drop, reorganize, and structure information in a mind map on MindMeister, it's so much easier than a text document. Very flexible and customizable for specific jobs. Very cool, @Jens Brinch Moeller !