Employers Want To Know Your Unique Selling Proposition

Join Isaiah as he reveals what a unique selling proposition is and what you should consider when crafting yours

Here’s a quick rundown of this week’s episode…

• First, Isaiah discusses what you should consider before crafting a unique selling reposition
• Next, Isaiah reveals the topics that you should avoid when talking to employers
• Finally, Isaiah explains how you will differentiate yourself by defining you true unique selling proposition

From This Week’s Show… 

How Your Unique Selling Proposition Will Help You Position Yourself In The Job Market

Before you can pitch yourself to an employer effectively, you have to understand what makes you unique in the job market. Then, you have to position your unique qualities as a proposition that will benefit someone else. In other words, you have to craft a Unique Selling Proposition.

The term Unique Selling Proposition or USP (sometimes referred to as a Value Proposition) comes from the world of advertising, marketing, and branding. A USP is a description of the factor or factors that differentiate a company’s product from its competitors.

As a job candidate, YOU are the product that you are trying to sell to employers. When employers are reviewing your application, they will be asking:
How will this unique candidate solve my problem and help my organization succeed?
What is different and better about this candidate that warrants my time and attention?
Why should I choose to work with this candidate and not the other job applicants?
Your USP should address these questions. In doing so, it will help convince employers that you are uniquely qualified and they should hire you over other candidates.

Topics You Should Avoid If You Want To Impress Employers

To arrive at your own USP as a job candidate, you need to consider 3 factors from an employers perspective:
What the company needs.
What you do well.
What other job candidates do well.
Imagine each of these factors as a circle in a Venn Diagram of three overlapping circles.

Consider the three areas of overlap in such a Venn Diagram. First, imagine the overlap of the “What the company needs” circle and the “What other job candidates do well” circle but NOT the “What you do well” circle. Clearly, you want to avoid this area altogether in terms of your resume, LinkedIn profile, or any networking conversations or interviews you have with employers.

Second, consider the overlap of all three circles – “What the company needs” “What you do well” and “What other job candidates do well”. You might think this is a safe place to be, but it’s not.

This is a very risky zone because at best, you’re calling attention to the skills and experience you have that many other candidates have and, at worst, you’re putting another job candidate with the same skills and experience back into the employer’s awareness. Unfortunately, this is the zone that most PhDs play in when trying to transition into industry.

What You Should Focus On When Crafting Your Unique Selling Proposition

The only way to differentiate yourself from other job candidates and to arrive at your true Unique Selling Proposition is to focus exclusively on the area of overlap between the “What the company needs” and “What you do well” but NOT “What other job candidates do well” circles.

This is where you win intelligently in the job market. This is your area of differentiated strength. This is your USP.

The only question that remains is which skills can be found in this particular overlap. The answer lies in your transferable skills and the unique combinations of your technical skills and transferable skills.

If you’re ready to start your transition into industry, you can apply to book a free Transition Call with our founder Isaiah Hankel, PhD or one of our Transition Specialists. Apply to book a Transition Call here.