Career "Unique Selling Points"

Do we have career “unique selling points”?

Why some people are headhunted, and others are not?

To answer such question, we need to analyze our capabilities, on two dimensions: personal and professional, and benchmark the results against current market’s standards, by going through the below assessment system:


Personal dimension

1). Define your core values.

o List your core values in life: success, challenge, health, loyalty, professionalism, ….etc

o List the values that you feel wrong about: cheating, lying, ….etc

o Prioritize each list, and select top 3 values, and think about them and how they influence your life.


2). What are your interests?

o What do you enjoy doing in you spare time? why?

o What benefits are obtained from such interests?

o What inspires you?


3). Do you have any personal achievements?

o List your personal achievements. Examples: social activities recognitions, volunteering, ….etc

o Are they related to your career? How?


4). Personality

o What is your personality type: are you introvert Vs extrovert? You can use psychometric assessments for 
    this purpose.

o What kind of people you enjoy socializing with? Why?


5). What is your vision?

o How you will achieve such vision?

o Do you have an action plan for it?

o Is there a time line for such vision, to be accomplished?

o What is the follow up mechanism?


Professional dimension

6). Do you have business achievements?

o Key business projects accomplished

o Promotion awarded for an outstanding achievement(s)

o Raise or bonus for exceptional performance

o Outstanding performance evaluation


7). Certifications

o Are you professionally certified: PHR, CFA, PMP, ….etc

This is a critical factor because it indicates that you have a robust

knowledge in your field and less “risky” to be hired.


8). Professional affiliation.

o Are you a member of any professional group or association: such as
  Chartered Institute of Marketing.


9). Competencies

You need to assess your competencies on a scale of 1 (very weak) to 5 (very good).

(You can add as much as you want to this list - this is just for example.)

Communication, Working with others, Presentations

Problem solving, Decision making, Time management

Stress management, Supervisory skills, Leadership

Coaching, Planning, Team work / building


After you finish the assessment:

- Group all competencies with 4 and 5 rakings together. This is your strength points, which you should
  capitalize on – This is what i call the green zone.

- Group all competencies with 1 and 2 rakings together. This is your weakness points, which you should
  focus on and improve – This is what i call the red zone.

- Competencies with 3 rating are boarder line ones, and with some attention, they will be in the green zone –
   This is what i call the yellow zone.


10). Reference & Recommendation letters

o Do you have credible references / recommendations?

o If yes, are they recent? Since when?

o Are they signed by an authority person?


11). Knowledge

o What are your academic credentials?

o Which school you graduated from?

o Which major / minor? Is it related to your career?


12). Languages

o How many languages do you speak?

o Define your proficiency level?


13). Networking: “who you know, NOT what you know”!

o Do you have up-to-date networking list?

o How often do you communicate with your network?


14). Training

o Do you attend training courses?

o Are they career related?

o Frequently or rarely?
o When was the last time you attended training?

o Do you attend traditional or certified training?


After finishing the above analysis, go through the answers, and identify your strengths and weaknesses: are your strengths aligned with your career objectives? how will you improve your weakness? SMART goals are an effective tool to start developing yourself, to accomplish your objectives. 

Hope you will find this blog useful. My next blog will be about how to write a "winning" CV.   Until then, have a great day.

Nizar Baidoun