Do you have the feeling that you are somehow stuck in a hamster wheel professionally? Your rather sporadic attempts to find a new job or to develop yourself internally in a new task somehow come to nothing or are unsuccessful? Whenever you have the opportunity to leave a lasting impression on your superiors during short conversations, do you only think of small talk topics? When asked about you in talent reviews, people often have no opinion. Then it's time to think about your personal USP!
Only if you have a unique selling point/proposition (short USP) you can set yourself apart from all the competition out there. It has to be something that no one else offers. It’s the reason why people should promote, hire, reward you and not someone else.
Why is having a great USP so important?
Hiring Managers are getting numerous applications, senior managers are talking to many of their employees every day. A strong and memorable USP helps them understand within seconds what you are offering. It is about emphasizing the uniqueness of your skills, exposure and knowledge, gaining a clear profile, and showing them an immediately recognizable benefit. If you don’t know and can’t communicate your unique selling proposition, it will be difficult to convince your manager or an hiring manager why you are the best talent or the talent they are looking for and not one of your colleagues or the other applicants. If you don’t succeed, you skills are interchangeable.
That’s why it’s so helpful to create your ideal "(Hiring) Manager" persona. Unfortunately, many applicants or employees make the mistake of creating their unique selling point from their perspective and completely forget about the managers point of view.
The USP must be tangible and measurable for the hiring manager and or manager. Having various certificates and a great education is certainly an advantage for you, but this fact alone does not offer the manager any discernible benefit in most cases. Rather, you should ask yourself the question: Which characteristic makes "me" unique from the manager’s point of view compared to others? (The amount of years of experience you got is not unique, because that’s a thing that countless other applicants on the jobmarket also have.)
What is a great unique selling point?
A unique selling point is a benefit that distinguishes you and what you "offer" from all others on the jobmarket. This could be, for example, higher quality of your work, a special qualification, a better client relationship management, a special knowledge about an innovative method, or your approach to something.It should be short and succinct in just one or two sentences. The benefit for the manager has to be crystal clear and easily understandable. Your unique selling proposition must be also credible. Your personality is another thing that should come into play: What are your values? What are your unique skills?
Your USP could contain a special qualification, contain the knowledge of special method, highlight special characteristics, benefits, skills, or approaches.
Here are 5 small steps to write a unique selling proposition
1) Analyzing the job market
It has never been easier to take a look at your "competition" than in times of the Internet. Analyze the unique selling points of your job competitors. For example, visit pages such as LinkedIn and study the profiles of people in your industry. What kind of skills are mentioned? In addition to that take a look at job advertisements. What experiences are required? Make a list.
2) Think about your strengths, skills, and qualities
In this step, our self-exploration comes handy. Take a look at your answers and briefly summarize your strengths. What am I particularly good at? Have I completed any special training or further training/education? Was there a famous person who was my mentor? Have I gained special experience in a specific industry? Do I offer something that is only available from me? What additional benefits do I offer? What are the trends in my market? Do I have an edge over my competition here?
3) What wishes, desires, and problems does the manager/hiring manager have?
You have already analyzed which problems, wishes, needs, and expectations the job market has. These should be also addressed in your USP. Take a look at your notes you made earlier. What is his/her biggest concern or problem? How can I solve this? How much money/time/stress do I save the manager?
4) Let’s put things together
You just analyzed your competition, worked out your strengths, and qualities. You also know the problems and needs of your target group. Now it’s time to put all of this knowledge together like a puzzle. Let your creativity and imagination run wild and allow yourself enough time for this process. Filter your notes and sort out general phrases. Perhaps when researching, you have noticed that certain skills are mentioned again and again. These are useless for your unique selling proposition. Also always check your arguments and promises for credibility. Evaluate whether the argument sounds good only to you as an expert and maybe doesn’t tell your potential manager anything.
5) Short & Sweet
Imagine you’re writing a headline when creating your USP. Think of a magazine with your photo on the title page. What should stand there? Formulate clearly and conclusively in 1-2 sentences what unique benefits you bring to the employer. Your unique selling point should be easily understandable, credible, and memorable.
I wish you lots of success in developing YOUR USP which will make you stand out from the others!
