The pros and cons of winning awards for your work- and how to leverage an award win
Many people call themselves award-winning, either on their website, their CV or their LinkedIn profile. I have, in my time, entered many awards and won a couple of in-house ones at work.
There are definitely pros and cons to entering and, indeed, winning.
Do you enter awards for your work? Are you keen on winning them, and do you feel they bring a level of kudos to you and your career? Do you like the feelings that come with winning awards?
Or are you the kind of person who shies away from entering - too nervous to even contemplate putting yourself forward? It might be you're more in the middle, where someone nominated you.
Awards are a way of someone saying 'You're good at what you do' and that's never a bad thing. It's about being the best, which can often seem 'showy offy' but, wherever your feelings about awards lie, there are some clear reasons why they're good for your career:
🏆 Awards can open doors to new contacts and opportunities
Being shortlisted can see your name, face and company name on a website of a large organisation, and that's no bad thing! Entering awards has helped me build relationships, as well as connecting me with people who have become everything from a podcast guest to a good friend.
🏆 Losing builds resilience
There's no avoiding the fact that not winning an award can smart. We enter to win, right? Well, I do, and it's important to own that, I think. I don't enter because I don't want to win! Dealing with the 'feels' of losing out on an award can be a slow process, and losing can put us off entering any more awards.
But I do also feel that entering awards is a key part of the great push and pull of our career journey. You might still be able to say 'shortlisted' which can be huge in itself (For example, shortlisted for the Booker Prize).
🏆 Winning is something you can harness!
If you are lucky enough to win, you then need to think hard about how that can help your career. Is there a winner's logo or promo material you can share on your profile? Where can you add it on your CV? Once the award is yours, can you leverage it to reach out to new clients, or for promotion?
Be careful, too - saying ‘I’m award-winning’ every time you network, or introduce yourself, can start to feel a little bit forced. Think: Does the person you’re speaking to also value awards, or might this seem very self-centered when they are the potential client, not you and your trophy?
🏆 They push us out of our comfort zone
With awards, it can feel like we're being self-indulgent, but I do believe they are a key part of work life. Entering awards is a good challenge to our comfort zone, and if you're self-employed, awards in your niche, industry and industry are a way of saying to clients - old and new - that you excel at what you do, and that you care enough about your work to enter it.
One caveat I've been told - and agree with - is to be careful when describing yourself as award-winning. You see, really, you should say the award. Eg Grammy Winning. If you won 'best new employee' at your company back in 2002, it might be time to apply for something new.
I won my in-house award 15 years ago. Am I ‘award-winning’? Arguably, yes. But it’s not an Oscar, so it’s not really worth shouting about anymore, in my opinion.
Are you are keen to enter awards as part of your career happiness journey? A good place to start can be levelling up your LinkedIn before you apply. You might also want to consider one on one help with award applications and the confidence around them as part of a career happiness coaching package.
