Ace the Job Interview: Know Your Value Proposition
Don’t ever forget when you are on a job search that you are in business for yourself, or should I say the business of self. Yes, you represent your own corporation, i.e. YOU, Inc. As the CEO of your start-up company you must also put on all the hats that a solo business owner must wear, including the marketing hat.
Any savvy business owner knows that he must not only produce the product or service, he must also have a clear picture in mind of just who needs/wants it and be able to sell the customer on just why his particular offering is better than that of the competition. In other words he must craft the value proposition for his product or service.
For you, the customer is the hiring manager. She may be scanning scores of resumes to decide whom to interview. She will likely interview a number that meet the basic qualifications that have been determined for the position. So what will make her hire you over those others who may be equally qualified? In other words, what makes you better than all the other people who are competing for the same job? That’s what the hiring manager wants to know.
When a business owner is marketing his product or service he takes time to research his market. Have you researched your target company so that you can specifically answer that implied (if not directly posed) question being asked by the hiring manager? Did you check out websites and other information about your target company before sending the resume? You must find out who they are, how they think (company culture), their challenges, and what they need or want. Did you then customize your resume to highlight what you can deliver to that customer to fulfill that specific need? When you were called in for the interview did you use that research to plan how you would communicate your value in their language?
You know, your competition for a job may not even be equally qualified, but may be great at marketing themselves and attracting an employer’s attention. That can give them a real advantage.
Be not only the best qualified, but also be the candidate who can best articulate her unique value and benefit to the organization, thus showcasing her assets. Now that’s a sure fire job search strategy!
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Defining Your USP: Marketing Yourself In Your Job Search
In the marketing world the term USP is often used. USP refers to the Unique Selling Point of the particular product or service being offered. Before a product is put “out there” the USP is defined and utililized to position the product in the market place, creating it’s niche.
When you embark on a job search you, too, are entering the world of marketing and must also begin to think in those terms. The product is of course YOU. Before you get “out there” you should define your unique assets and be prepared to sell them in relation to a specific job opportunity.
The question that may not be put directly to you, but the one in every hiring manager’s mind is “What makes you different from the other people being interviewed for this position?” To put it more simply “Why should this company invest in you?”. You see, you are a commodity that the company hopes will ultimately increase the bottom line by adding value in some way.
So how do you go about defining your USP? Well, everyone is unique in some way. Your strengths (abilities, skills, personal style) are like a fingerprint that differentiate you from the competition, No two people have exactly the same combination of success factors. So what’s unique about you? How can you benefit this organization you want to join in a way that no one else can? Put that into words and you have your USP.
Of course it may not be so easy to find those words for several reasons. We have becomed conditioned to think that to talk positively about ourselves is boasting. Another barrier could be that you don’t have the precise language needed to describe those assets. Beyond that, you could even have a blind spot regarding our attributes. Therefore, to be really successful in framing your USP you may want to take some specialized assessments like the Highlands Ability Battery and the DiSC Personal Profile assessments I offer on my website. With those tools you will have the words you need to shine in the interview and enable you to answer that unspoken question with clarity and confidence.
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