A business's value proposition is the reason why a prospect should buy a product from that particular company. A value proposition includes three key points:

  • How your product solves customers' problems or improves their situation (relevancy)
  • What specific benefits your product delivers (quantified value)
  • Why the ideal customer should buy from you and not from the competition (unique differentiation)

If this value proposition model can work for companies, why can't it work for job seekers as well? If you were to explain how you can solve customers' problems, deliver specific benefits and persuade hiring managers why you are a better choice than other applicants, wouldn't you stand out as the higher-valued candidate?

In yesterday's issue of Promotional Consultant Today, we shared three questions to ask yourself to define your personal value proposition, from the online resume company, Pongo. Today, we share the last three key questions that Pongo recommends.

1. How did working with others affect your work assignments?

How you answer this question is critical because it can tell an employer if you have valuable "soft skills," which can indicate how well you might fit in with the rest of the organization. In order to answer this, think of your responses to these specific questions:

  • Did you have to share ideas and solve problems by working with others?
  • Was there a high degree of cooperation?
  • Did you pitch in when others needed help, such as to meet a deadline?
  • Was there a strong sense of camaraderie on the team?
  • Did they like working with you?
  • What might have happened to the project if you had not been on the team?
  • Were you able to work effectively with people from other parts of the organization who had very different areas of expertise?

2. Did any of this work help you realize something about yourself that you hadn't realized before?

Think of key moments when you realized something new about yourself. Maybe you discovered that you could work effectively as part of a team even though you thought you couldn't. Maybe you discovered that you could effectively deliver an oral presentation before a group of executives in spite of having stage fright. Maybe you learned how to effectively use a software tool to help you improve your organizational skills.

These moments of discovery are also moments of accomplishment despite a barrier or adversity.

3. What kind of recognition did you receive for your efforts?

Were your employers so pleased with your work that they gave you more challenging assignments? Did you receive any formal recognition for a job well done?

Consider this the icing on the cake. Recognition may reinforce your professional accomplishments. It may also be the point at which your value proposition comes into focus. In other words, if there's a moment of recognition that sticks out in your mind, it should lead you to the reason you earned it.

So, what does the end product— the value proposition—look like on your resume or online profile? Below is an example of a professional summary:

An experienced project manager with a strong track record of meeting deadlines on high-impact projects that have saved employers $10 million and boosted revenue by $15 million over five years, earning three corporate awards and widespread company recognition. A strong leader who has brought together colleagues of various professional disciplines to work as a team to achieve corporate goals.

It is good practice to take an occasional inventory of your skills, job accomplishments and personality traits. Together, they can serve as a marketing statement that can help illustrate the value you bring to an employer. Also keep in mind that if the employer sees a high level of value in you, you just might land a job that can boost your value proposition even higher.

Source: Pongo, a Massachusetts-based company, created the first online Resume Builder and Cover Letter Builder, with over 4.6 million members who have created over six million resumes. Their statistics show that 70 percent of their members surveyed get jobs after using Pongo.