Directly and by influence.

Managing with direct authority is usually a stronger asset than managing by influence for 2 reasons: a) when you have direct reports it means that you are also responsible for their performance and development plan and so also responsible for a broader range of results and b) it means that someone in your organisation considered you prepared to assume the responsibility to directly manage a team, so that also increases your reputation. Having said that, managing by influence (e.g., cross-functional teams) is also good. You should have both in your CV and be ready to talk about both experiences.

Don’t overlook your past experiences. Success is much more than being analytical or precise. Creative people usually do a lot of stuff. To get perspective do the following (even if you find it a bit awkward): Grab some post-its. Get yourself up from the chair and put on the wall everything you did when you started working (companies, roles, tasks, activities, certifications). You don’t need to set the post-its in a neat timeline. Write them as you remember. Put them as close together as possible on the wall. When you write a post-it, include the month/year. Look at it today, tomorrow and the next day. Keep adding missing information. After 3 days, sort the post-its and see what you have achieved. With that mindset and perspective, we can start making a more informed CV and growth strategy.

It’s not about the elegance of the writing. You can polish it later. It’s about going deep inside your brain. You can sort them and make the wording better later. Hope you find it helpful and enjoy the process.