In more than 10 years in IT I have worked with a lot of different types of people. I have also read at least a thousand CVs. They always list the usual stuff. Programming languages, tools, years of experience. Never the rare skills.
I have always wondered how hard it is to describe the ones that actually separate you from the rest.
It is almost impossible to put them into words in a short way that means anything on paper and fit on a CV. You actually have to work with that person to experience it.
Even though you cannot really put these identities on a resume, I would honestly take them over anything else you put on a resume.
If people at your job identify you as one of these identities, you are more valuable than you realize.
Cogwheel
The most common corporate hero is the cogwheel.
The cogwheel's whole job is to transfer rotational motion and power from one part of the machine to the other. That's the cogwheel work.
The person who keeps the projects, initiatives, and whole business turning. They grind hard and everyone just expects it. Some of them grind harder, some of them are bigger, some smaller, some sit in the most strategic spots, but they all grind, and it's thankless.
Right up until the day the cogwheel is sick, or out, or a restructuring of the team happens. That's when everyone who never bothered to learn the name suddenly feels the whole machine seize up. If you are paying attention, you already know who your cogwheels are.
They never ask for credit. They just want the machine to run the way it should, whether anyone is oiling them or not. And that's the part worth noticing. The best ones keep grinding with no axle under them.
No one maintaining them, no one supporting them, and they still try to mentor the next cogwheel, so the whole thing holds together.
They deserve the oil. They deserve the maintenance. They deserve to be named while they are still here, and not just missed once they are gone.
So thank you, cogwheels, for the relentless work nobody sees. You are the lifeblood of the place, and daily heroes who essentially keep the lights on.
Fireproof
There is a line that usually gets attributed to Seneca: "The final test of freedom is this: can you remain the same person in praise, in insult, in gain, and in loss?"
It always reminds me of a colleague from my student job, technical support for one of the biggest telco companies in Croatia. The whole job is taking calls from angry customers and fixing their internet, and whatever else is broken.
He was always smiling, always calm. I never saw him angry.
I remember one call. The guy on the other side was spitting fire, swearing non-stop, no pause, for ten minutes or so. He just listened. Not a word.
After ten minutes, when the angry guy stopped, he said:
"Okay, now that you have sworn at me all you could, can you tell me how I can help you? Because I really want to fix your problem."
By the end of that call he had solved the issue. He had also upsold him a new service, which is an extra benefit for the company.
As an Eastern Slav, I have always been in awe of these people, because I am still learning how to hold myself in situations where my blood boils and I need to stay focused and professional.
So that is the fireproof in a crisis. The person who can take a step back, collect the information, collect all the opinions they need, and say, okay, here is what I think we should do.
Glue
This skill is especially valuable in bigger companies, where these "glue" people are essential. The bigger the place, the more work dies in the gap between teams that should have been talking.
Such an underrated identity.
This person is just really good at getting to know a bunch of different people, understanding their strengths, and pairing them together when it makes sense.
They are often saying things like, you know who you should talk to, or you know who would be great at this.
The ability to recognize what people can offer, and to think of them in the right moment. Most people meet someone useful and forget them by the end of the week. The glue guy still has the name when the specific work finally needs it.
That's a skill. An invaluable one.
Polyglot
After five or so years in a career you learn that very few people can talk to a director and a lady from marketing, and get both of them onto the same terms.
Most of us speak one language well and then nod through the other. The polyglot can do both in the same meeting, without picking a side.
This is the corporate polyglot. They speak sales, they speak tech, they speak marketing. They know how to help those groups understand each other.
It is a "Federico Valverde" identity. He can play midfield, defence, attack, full-back, wing, whatever is needed. Coaches pick him because the game will ask for two of those spots before the match is over, and the coach will not need a substitution to change his job.
A specialist is better at one position while Valverde is the one who keeps the shape when the position changes. The polyglot is that person in a company.
Not the best engineer in the room, nor the best salesperson but the one who can stand between them and still be understood by both.
This identity can also be a result of having spent time in different parts of the business. It can also be a result of having spent time in different parts of the business. Some of it is in you, the rest you learn by sitting in those rooms.
Verdict
Those are four underrated identities, hard to put on paper, hard to put on a resume, and they are the things that carry people through their careers.
In cards, four of a kind is four of the same rank, each in a different suit. Cogwheel, fireproof, glue, and polyglot.
It's a different suit but same value. If you identify as one of these, lean into it. Nobody folds four of a kind because it does not fit on a CV.