What’s Your Value Proposition?
By Kurt Schmidt In Blog On January 5, 2017
Why anyone does what they do at work, strategically, is their value within their organization. It’s more than a mission statement or a goal in that value is a precise term and has context. Extracting and understanding value is the true first step to identifying the right kinds of organizations and positions to pursue. Value is the beginning. It’s objective, measurable, communicable and transferable. Our society and economy operate on the exchange of value. For example, as a corporate headhunter, here’s how I define the value proposition of my work:
In a typical hiring scenario, particularly in cases where the position requires very specific expertise, the normal hiring process might consist of placing advertisements in a variety of media, having the human resources staff review resumes, schedule interviews, both telephone and in-person, and ultimately, hopefully, identify a well-qualified candidate then blindly make them an offer.
In terms of time and resources, the interviews alone can be very expensive. Conducting a lot of interviews to find just the right candidate can be prohibitive. For example, on-site interviews for most of my projects require flying candidates and sometimes even managers into a central location to meet. From a total cost standpoint, it is easy to see how simply interviewing; including candidate selection, staff setup time, short notice plane tickets, hotel rooms for both candidates and managers imported from other divisions, and everyone’s time, can be pricy. Therefore, reducing the number of interviews required to fill a position is one way to create value.
In many cases, the fee paid by a company to a corporate headhunter is really a cost savings when compared to the amount of time and money that might otherwise be spent on advertising, logistics, travel and other expenses, including on-site interviews. Instead of creating, placing and paying for advertisements, reviewing hundreds of resumes, scheduling series of telephone screens, inviting multiple candidates in for on-site interviews, and finally taking chances on offers; my clients save money by only having to look at two or three resumes, schedule two or three telephone interviews and maybe only fly one candidate in for an on-site interview. Since I help negotiate their offers, we are also able to greatly reduce the risk of turn-downs and failure. Add to that the potential for getting the whole thing done a lot faster and there’s a pretty good case for going to an outside expert.
This is the value I deliver as a headhunter. I save my clients money by reducing the time and effort required to fill critical positions. My compensation, the fee I charge, is derived from both the value the market places on the service provided and as a reflection of the costs avoided.
What’s your value proposition?
As a job seeker, one of the first things you need to do is figure out exactly how you bring value to your employer and how that value can be demonstrated and communicated to other potential employers. This first step influences not only what to include on your resume but also which type of jobs, companies and industries to pursue.
Want to learn how to figure out your own value proposition and find employers that need your help?
Modern Job Search can help. Get your copy today and learn how to extract a concise and tangible value proposition and put it into language that hiring managers want to see.
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(Photo: Zlatni Rat, Brac, Croatia 2013)
