What's Your USP?
While Unique Selling Points (USPs) are traditionally associated with businesses, USPs are equally true of individuals.
I regularly help students at a local school with their CVs and it always interesting to identify their USPs and supporting stories. Qualifications are a great start but it’s the rounded picture which is important, discovering the key points which help their CV stand out from the crowd. Take the young man who dreamt of being a football coach but was struggling with his grades. After talking it became apparent he loved football, taking every opportunity to play and also coach younger children while holding down part-time jobs. The bigger picture revealed a dedicated sportsman and possible future coach which boosted his self-belief and he’s now studying for a Sports degree to follow his dreams.
Similarly, one young graduate was recently looking for a new role and had a good CV but he wasn’t landing a job. While discussing his experiences he mentioned his MA Dissertation with the Home Office following a highly competitive selection process. After adding this USP and working on his background stories he successfully landed his next job application, proving those golden nuggets of information can make all the difference.
Just as businesses grow and change, our individual USPs also change as we learn new skills and have new experiences. Several Managers have recently commented their face-to-face stage recruitment is taking longer than planned as they are keen to find the right people with the right dynamic and USPs to fit into their teams.
The same approach applies to Project Teams where a mix of team members with the relevant USPs is paramount to successful delivery. Projects need people who have the right mix of experience to make required decisions, undertake key tasks, lead the change across the teams and business and have the necessary operational, technical, legal, HR, training and finance skills as required. Some people will cover several roles thanks to their previous experiences while others will have specific skills that are needed at certain points in the project.
Being part of a Project Team is a great opportunity to develop and hone new skills and help support promotion prospects, particularly as most operational and strategic projects are run on top of the day job. It’s also important at the end of a Project to reflect and document the key achievements and deliverables, both as a team and personally for promotions and reviews.
So, what is your USP? Next time you are recruiting, joining a new team or updating your CV, consider your USPs and what you can bring to the table. We all have them!
Helen runs operational and change management projects with consultancy to support growing and / or changing businesses, tailored to requirements. For more information please contact [email protected].