Yesterday we identified your unique traits. Which were business, career, personal or other. Identified accomplishments for each.
Today we are wrapping that into your Unique Selling Proposition.
Step Four
What is your career goal? Next 5 years? What position do you want? Your current industry or something different?
CTA: Write it down. Don’t just think about it. Writing it down makes it real. To strive for.
What type of position? Leadership? Or a position that allows you to shape the business? Research? Operations? How important is creativity?
What is the personality type of people you want to work with? What management styles best fit you? (What is your management style.)
CTA: Write those answers down, including your management style.
Step Five
Time to step back. To reflect.
Go back to Step Three (yesterday).
Look over accomplishments that make you unique. Check which fit your Career Goal?
Some will, some won’t. Look at those that don’t. Save them. They will be worth review when looking at next job. This is about your unique selling proposition. Those other accomplishments are strong. Just don’t fit this task.
Step Six
Your unique selling proposition should be 4 sentences or less.
You want something you can write, but can also speak in 30-45 seconds. For interviews. Or for your bio and introduction when speaking.
Step Seven
Last step. Writing your unique selling proposition.
Take a sigh of relief. You’ve already written it.
Take your accomplishments from Step Three. Look at traits they are tied to. Now look at your goal.
Telling your story.
You want the combination to sell you. Not just your skills. Not just your goal or accomplishments. You as a whole.
Shooting for 4 sentences or less makes this easy. Words to shorten it are the challenging.
Employers and listening audiences want to hear about results. They want to hear the end. Not what happened during the story. They may have questions. About parts of story that lead to the conclusion and impact their careers.
How do you write this proposition to sell you?
Don’t make it hard. Take no more than 15 minutes to write draft.
People want to hear results. How have accomplishments supported the traits that lead you to results?
Start with first accomplishment and how it supported trait that lead to result. This is draft. Make support for each accomplishment 3 sentences long. (1.) State accomplishment. (2) State how trait supported accomplishment. (3) State result.
Do this for each accomplishment.
You’ll end up with several paragraphs.
Go back to Step Four from yesterday. Your goal. If you had to pick one accomplishment, which would best support your goal? That’s lead sentence for Your Selling Proposition. What’s second strongest accomplishment? That’s next sentence. What’s third? Stop at three. Then have summation sentence that tie it all together.
Step back. Set your incomplete selling proposition aside. Return to it in 3-4 days. Is your first sentence still most important? Now start to shorten it. Think about words you use.
Will they excite and energize your audience. Do they motivate? Inspire?
Work with each sentence of Your Selling Proposition. It won’t be complete first time you write it. Leaders I talk with tell me their Selling Proposition takes several hours of time. Over bunch of days. Each time they read it or speak it, they see way to make it better.
You are trying to summarize your career in 50 words or less. Words you select are important.
(See Leadership blog article What is Leadership in 50 Words or Less.)
Your are a leader. Leaders hire other leaders who clearly and succinctly express themselves. Who lead with results that tell their career story in compelling way. Is it worth spending some time thinking, reflecting and working with words to achieve your 5 year goal?
Questions? Thoughts? Need assistance? Let us know. Schedule call at your convenience from website.
Tom Ferree is the founder of Ferree & Associates and SecureEmploy, organizations focused on helping companies find exceptional talent and helping professionals advance their careers. Since founding Ferree & Associates in 1977, Tom has worked extensively with hospitality companies, executives, and rising leaders across the industry. Through SecureEmploy, he shares practical career strategies, leadership insights, and real-world advice to help professionals grow their careers and help organizations build stronger teams.
