How Are You Communicating Your Value?

I am amazed at career clients that don’t take advantage of showing their value in their communications as they craft their next career move. This is key in showing others how you can bring value to their organization and builds their confidence in you as the ideal candidate.

I had a client named Pat who was going for an executive role in a large company. Most executive roles are found by who you know and in the “hidden” job market. Pat knew several people he was interviewing with in this organization, and he was very interested in a Divisional President role. One day I asked Pat about the content of the thank you emails he sends after an interview. Pat said the email consisted of a few sentences about how he is a good fit for the role and is interested in moving forward.

Pat hadn’t yet heard back from the company when this topic came up. We had a conversation around the importance of always showing your value in every piece of communication when you are in a career search. The interviewer has to see you in the role and hear how you can solve their pain. We coached around how to structure and to bring his value out in the thank you note. Pat decided to send another more in-depth thank you message the next day to try to recover and see if they would respond. Pat sent this note to all of the executives he had spoken to in his last round, and one of the interviewers replied to all instead of just to his colleagues, which included Pat. The reply? It stated Pat has moved up to #3 candidate for me.

When Pat received this correspondence, he was shocked! It verified they had decided he was not in the top 3 until he sent that email showing his value. Pat was relieved that he was able to recover his stance as a final candidate and continued to keep this top of mind as he completed additional interviews. Pat ended up landing the job.

I can’t emphasize how important it is to speak to the organization’s pain and how you can bring value regarding a career position, a client or anyone else you want to work with. Stating how you can solve their pain is important for companies to know. Think like a consultant with any interview, listen to what the company needs, and share your value as it relates to them. To engage the company, it is important for the conversation to be focused on them and how you can help.

Share your value,
Katie