Employers, hiring managers, and recruiters expect to find more than one candidate with the skills and education they are looking for. How can you stand out from a crowd of applicants with similar qualifications? Through your value proposition.

Your value proposition embraces the unique details of your career and your individual approach to challenges and opportunities. Are you the strategist in an organization or the implementer? Do you build teams through mentoring or savvy recruiting? Are you interested in the voice of the consumer or in selling to executives in other companies? How do you approach technology, the supply chain, or corporate silos? Have you survived or contributed to or led a merger, acquisition, or joint venture? Have you won awards, promotions, or roles denied to your peers?

Your value proposition defines what you can bring to a potential employer that no one else brings. It should be clearly expressed in the executive summary of your resume and in the achievements you choose to highlight.

You cannot possibly be all things to all companies. You have specific strengths, goals, roles, and expertise that you are comfortable with and would like to develop. Your value proposition is your chance to match your needs to the company’s needs, to your mutual benefit.