Are you a “me too?”
Does your prospective employer know why they should be hiring you rather than hiring someone else?
If employers can’t see any significant difference between you and other candidates you’re competing with, they won’t have any reliable data upon which to make their decision.
Offer Quality
Focus on your quality and value. If you focus on the right market with the right employer, and if your qualifications are aligned with those the employer is looking for, then it will be an easy sell! Furthermore, the employer won’t see you as an expense, but as an investment that will earn them money.
Look at how you stack up against your competition
What can you do that other candidates can’t? What do you do distinctly better? What can others do that you can’t? Look at your accomplishments and experience, checking your particular strengths against your competitors’ particular weaknesses.
What’s your brand? How well-known is your brand? By whom? For what? Who is traditionally attracted to hire you?
Become your employer
If you fail to consider the employer’s perspective, you’re doomed to failure from the start. Put yourself in the employer’s shoes and ask yourself, “What are the most valuable skills this employer is looking for?” Find out what they value in order of importance.
Decide how to differentiate yourself
Analyze your strengths and identify the highest and is the most compelling. Which one ranks second? Which is third, and so on? Now from your knowledge of the position and the employer, which of these strengths offers the best value to them? In which strength will the employer be most interested?
You know you’ll ace the interview when you’ve been successful in identifying your strengths, those the employer truly values, and unique attributes those candidates you compete with don’t have.
Focus your search through the lens of your differentiators
Learn to introduce yourself in a way that grabs the attention of the employer. Continually position yourself as the number one candidate, the expert in your field. Introduce yourself the same way on social media, on your cover letter and resume.
Follow that model and the employers will know what you do, how you do it better than other candidates, and why they should hire you. Highlight what’s in it for them if they do. This is your competitive advantage. Dare to be different and win the job!
