Stand Out By Being Yourself - Understanding Your Value

Throughout my professional career and having moved across a variety of companies from small startups to large corporations handling transition within a career is a major challenge for many professionals. It makes no difference whether the individual is just out of college graduate or a seasoned professional with decades of experience they all act the same.

The interesting thing is that most professionals try very hard to be what they think employers want. In truth they all ready are: they are valuable individuals. The challenge is making prospective employers understand their value enough to want to hire them. 

I have found the most effective manner to tackle this is looking at your own unique value. For example, you may have a title of "Software Engineer" or "Chief Technology Officer". There are certainly quite a few thousand at least in the various industries. Does this mean that every person with these titles are the same? Of course not. They are commonly understood titles to provide a general basis of communication. However, the individuals within these positions are far from common. They are in fact professionals who individuality, experience, creativity, and other traits make them invaluable to their organizations. Therein lies the key that most professionals miss... being invaluable.

Now this concept is always something elusive. People believe for any number of reasons that they are not invaluable. Some common examples are being laid off from their employer, being within a common level within an industry, or merely being humble. While all true, it is also true that these individuals happened to be generating value for their organizations in their own way. Circumstances may have impacted them in some way but overall they are still valuable and have a lot to offer.

It is the professional's individuality that is a big part of them being valuable to any employer. This is what is many times forgotten or never realized. By being who you are and by changing who you are over time, allows someone to be very valuable to others in a variety of ways. 

I often advise other professionals seeking new employment opportunities to take the time to really understand what they want to tackle next, why, write that all down, and then highlight key elements from their career that demonstrates their value towards their next endeavor. I also let them know it is something fundamental and takes some time to work out especially for professionals doing it for the first time.

Once a professional has these basic and powerful elements they can start to craft branding statements, value statements, cover letters, resumes, elevator speeches, and any manner of communications necessary to present themselves in the best light possible. Especially in today's hyper-competitive marketplace, being yourself and standing out is absolutely essential in being able to prosper.