Personal Branding – What’s Your USP?
By Katie Dolgin
What is it that makes you choose one product or service over another? Ultimately there is something that differentiates it – it might be the price, the packaging, or its long-standing reputation. The bottom line is that it’s positioning has made the offering different from and more valuable than the competitors' offerings. All successful brands have to differentiate themselves to give consumers a reason to choose them – and so do you.
It’s the same when it comes to careers and job searching – it’s imperative that you differentiate yourself from the thousands of other people in your industry. Think of the recruitment process as the Hiring Manager shopping for the product (person) who will best fit their needs. Why are they going to choose you? We’ll show you how to stand out from the crowd and position yourself effectively in this competitive market.
USP Explained
One of the best ways to get noticed, more importantly to get interviews, is to market yourself with a Unique Selling Proposition or USP. What’s a USP? A USP is a point of difference in skills or abilities that you can offer potential (and current) employers, and will be seen as valuable, unique and attractive. The USP answers the question, "Why should I choose you instead of your competitors?"
If you don’t find a way of differentiating yourself, you risk blending into the pack and ultimately relinquishing control of the opinion people form about you. By properly branding yourself and bringing your Unique Selling Proposition to the forefront, YOU stay in control of the image you present to people. If you fail to do this, others could misinterpret exactly what unique skill you can provide.
Why is having a USP Important?
There are two major benefits in developing a USP. First, it clearly differentiates yourself in the eyes of your current and potential employers. Second, it focuses you to deliver the promise of the USP, helping to improve your performance.
Hiring Managers are faced with a multitude of choices when it comes to hiring for a given position. Some job postings bring in hundreds of resumes, with each one not getting much more than a few seconds of face time with the Hiring Manager many times. To make things even more difficult, many of the candidates often possess similar qualifications and experience. So the trick now becomes how to get yourself noticed and stand out from the pack.
Having a USP that is highlighted in your resume, clearly and concisely communicates exactly what it is you can provide the company with. The less time a Hiring Manager has to take to determine what it is you have to offer, the greater the chance your resume will end up in the “interview” pile.
Picking Your USP
So how do you figure out what your USP is? Many times we over-complicate things in trying to figure out what our USP is, when really the things we’re best at should be fairly obvious.
Ask yourself what are the things you are truly great at? What comes naturally to you? What is it that you do that could provide the most value to a company in your industry? Alternatively, ask other people who know you well what they think you’re best at, or where your core strengths lie.
We often overlook or don’t give ourselves enough credit for the things we are great at. This happens precisely because the things we’re very good at typically come easier to us, and we naturally assume it must be that way for everyone else as well. This isn’t the case though, and things that can seem near impossible for one person are a breeze for others. Be honest with yourself, and give yourself credit for your true strengths.
Another key point is relevance. It’s important to think of things from the Hiring Manager’s point of view. What will they value or be looking for? When you’re picking a USP, make sure that it’s something that is going to be relevant to Hiring Managers in the industry you’re in. It’s great if you’re amazing with Photoshop, but does it really matter if your goal is to get hired as Sales Manager?
Here are a few tips you can use to determine your own USP and properly brand yourself as someone with unique strengths:
- Make your point of difference relevant to the industry you’re in—what do you do and for whom?
- Make it something that is at least somewhat difficult for others to replicate—what is your biggest benefit?
- Prove it – unfortunately talk is cheap, and even more so when it comes to resumes and job hunting. Back up your USP with proof of how you’ve developed or gained it (experience, schooling, awards, and testimonials)
- Make it genuine
- Make it unique
- Be honest – Are you REALLY the best at x?
Once you’ve figured out what it is you’re best at and can uniquely offer, go back once more and ask yourself if this is TRULY your unique offering. Read your resume from a Hiring Manager’s point of view – can you tell what your biggest selling point is? Are the key things you can provide explicitly stated? And ultimately, will the way you’ve positioned yourself legitimately make the Hiring Manager want to meet you?
Again, objectivity is key. Get someone who knows you also review your resume – and put these same questions to them. Alternatively – ask a recruiter for their perspective. We review thousands of resumes every year and can definitely tell you which ones have clearly defined their USP.
Back up your USP with facts.
One of the most important things you can do after stating your USP is to back it up. It’s great if you say you’re an expert at something, but if the Hiring Manager doesn’t see any evidence as to why you might be an expert when they look down your resume, there’s a strong likelihood they’ll view it as all talk, and move onto the next person.
Use your education, work experience (or even volunteer activities) to back up your USP and show how you’ve obtained what it is you have to offer. Everything should tie together and help paint a clear picture in the mind of the Hiring Manager.
Be unique.
The worst thing that can happen when searching for a job is to blend in with the hundreds of other people also applying for that same job. People who get interviews stand out for one reason or another. By marketing yourself as a brand with a unique offering, you’ll make yourself that much more attractive to Hiring Managers - and that much more likely to land that job of your dreams!
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As Director, Katie Dolgin works in partnership with some of the brightest minds in the marketing, media, and online industries.
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