When I coach clients, one of the questions I always ask is, "What value do you bring to an employer?" This often results in a somewhat perplexed face looking back at me. I ask this question because it is the one that an employer is going to be assessing during the recruitment process. If you do not know the answer to this question, how will a future employer know your value?

So let's talk about what value is for an employer. Employers pay a salary for you to do work, plain and simple. If they pay you $75,000, but the employer feels that your work's quantity and quality are only worth $60,000, you are not providing the value for the cost. If instead, they pay you $75,000 and your work value is assessed at $100,000, then they are getting a lot of value from having you in the position. No one wants to pay any more than they think is of value, and we are all delighted to get more value than we spend. Employers are no different. 

That means that as someone looking for a job, you need to prove that you have a high value. By the way, this does not mean that you underprice your services. Instead, you will market yourself as someone that provides more value because the work you do exceeds what is being asked for in the areas that are important to the employer. That last part is critical. Value is not what you want it to be. Value is what the employer says it is. 

Not All Employers Value the Same Thing

Let's say your next-door neighbors are Laysha and Nick. You notice they have a new car in their driveway. You just bought a new car yourself, so you are interested in their experience. As you talk to them, you find out that their priority was a roomy car (they have two teenage daughters who seem to have a lot of "stuff" always with them) and the latest safety features. While safety was important to you, your last car was ten years old, so you wanted safety features better than what you had, but the basics were okay. What you prioritized was good gas mileage because your commute is long. Also, it had to be comfortable for the same reason. 

What you valued and what your neighbors valued in a new car were two separate things. It works the same for employers.

The Fallacy of Value = Tenure

When I review resumes, I often see the same mistake in messaging. Job seekers often equate having tenure in a position with more value. Just give this some critical thought. We all know a person that is just okay at their job. They do what is in the job description but not with excellent quality or quantity and certainly not as well as others. They may have been with the company 5, 10, or 15 years - often in the same job. Does this person bring value to the company? Yes, some, but not a great deal. You simply cannot sell yourself as bringing a lot of value by having done the work for many years. No. Value comes from demonstrating that what you do is significant and worth something to an employer.

Don't Just Say You Have Value - Show It

Many job seekers think that it is enough to put a list of job duties on their resume, which shows they are valuable to an employer. They equate being responsible for a task with two things: 1) it being a high worth activity, and 2) just doing something means you do it well and with impact. Just as in the car buying example, what is of value to one employer may not be of value to another employer.

Let me give an example of a fallacy that every activity is high worth to others. I had an employer, let's call them Employer A, that valued HR compliance - specifically the ability to make sure that all breaks were taken as required and accounted for, and that payroll errors were minimal. I worked at another employer, Employer B, where compliance and minimizing payroll errors were wanted but not a focus. Instead, this employer wished to focus on staff retention and diversity and inclusion. For employer B, compliance was not a high worth activity. If I wrote a lot about compliance in a resume for Employer B, they would have moved my resume to the "no" pile. They did not value that experience and expertise. 

Also, just showing you have experience in a high-value activity is no longer enough. The employer doesn't just want to know that you have the experience. They want to know how good you were doing it. You have to add accomplishments to a resume to demonstrate that you can do the work, but you can do it at a high level - that you bring real value.

Where Is a Company Looking for Value?

It is helpful to understand how to match the value you can provide with what an employer values. A simple way you do this is to think about the areas that are important to a business. I like to divide value into four different areas:

The Money

In a capitalistic society, most organizations will be looking at the money coming into the organization. Even a not-for-profit or government entity has to be concerned about funding. Most companies are going to be looking at the top line of the profit and loss statement (revenue), the bottom line of the profit and loss statement (profitability), and also future revenues (retention). Attention to this helps address the needs of shareholders or owners.

Customers

Customers are the lifeblood of any company. Building the customer base is always an important activity. Companies are also interested in customer happiness because a happy customer will often remain a customer and even buy more.

Employees

Employee morale and having a workforce that is engaged in the work leads to company success. Activities that help build employee morale, such as training, positive employee relations, or effective benefits practices, are often valued.

Community

Depending on the organization, having positive relations with the surrounding community may be of value. This could include government relations and even volunteerism.

When writing your resume, think about showing value in any or all of these areas. 

Skills Often Valued By Organizations

Now that you generally know what an organization might value, it is essential to show you not only get results in those areas but also how you do it. Employers want to see that you provide value because you get things done using skills, both hard and soft, to do it,

Below is a list of skills that employers often will find are valuable in their organization:

Personal ownership and self-motivation

In many organizations, the corporate culture is one of a strong emphasis on individual responsibility. Employees that take pride in delivering quality work on-time are highly prized. Additionally, if managers are stretched and have limited time to spend with each of their direct reports, having employees who can be given an assignment and relied upon to get it done with minimal follow-up is extremely helpful. Often associated with these skills is the ability to take initiative, also important in most businesses.

Positive Mindset

Some people are just positive in their outlook. They are not discouraged by challenges and can work through obstacles without being negative and bringing down the people around them. Having a can-do attitude is helpful, especially when the problems are hard or complicated and need someone tenacious to address them.

Emotional Intelligence (EI)

Having an ability to control one's own emotions and deal positively with many types of people is a skill not all people have. Workplaces run smoother when individuals can tempter their feelings, especially when upset, and deal with others in an empathetic manner. People with good EI are also able to hear feedback and use it to better themselves. EI may be one of the skills most highly desired for success.

Communications Skills

The ability to get across your thoughts is an important skill to have, especially in business. Whether doing so in writing or verbalizing your thoughts, many jobs have this skill as a requirement. Being able to present to others, advocate, and negotiate all take well-developed communication skills. 

Problem Solving

Your business career will be full of situations where you need to solve problems. Some people enjoy this and are excited about the challenge; others are flustered when a process does not work, or an outcome does not come to fruition. Being able to problem-solve effectively is a skill that can be the difference between an organization that thrives or just survives.

Creativity

When it comes to the arts, we think of creativity, but many positions also need a level of creativity to move the business forward. While knowing best practices is good, sometimes you have to throw away what was done before and create something new that will work for this specific organization. Being able to demonstrate your creativity could mean you will be deemed to have a higher value than other candidates.

Flexibility

If the Covid-19 pandemic demonstrates anything in business, having a flexible workforce can be extremely important, especially when the organization is experiencing extreme stress. Those employees who could embrace change and be flexible have often fared better in contributing to the company during challenging times. 

Teamwork

Collaboration and working within a team together toward a common goal are often essential for an organization. Many people do well on their projects but struggle when having to work as part of a team. An organization may find value in finding individuals who can support their co-workers and subjugate their personal goals to those of the team.

Analytical Thought Process

Can you look at data and figure out the story that it tells? In our digital world, there is data all around us. Those that can distill the data into a story and the story into a strategy can be pivotal to a business's success. 

Tech Savvy

It is not just the software programs you know or the hardware you can operate. Tech-savvy also means being able to use and embrace technology to make your work more productive. Saving time and effort is important, and using technology and learning new software and emerging tech is valuable to an organization. 

Your Resume Needs to Show the Value You Bring to an Employer

Your resume is a marketing tool to tell your story to an employer. The story has to be one that speaks to that employer. Therefore, you want to understand what that employer values and then show your relevant successes to that employer. Read the job description thoroughly to understand what the employer values. It should be there, both in the job duties section and the job requirements section. What is the purpose of the job? Who does the job impact directly and indirectly? What does this employer list as important skills for success? These are what this employer values. 

 To understand what value you can bring to the job, ask yourself these questions:

What did you do that made money for the company? 

What did you do that saved money for the company?

Did your efforts help to retain customers? Did you help to impact customer satisfaction?

Did you come up with a new procedure or process? If so, how did it help you, your team, department, or company?

Did you help the company become more efficient? 

Did you come up with an idea that was implemented?

Did you do something that had a positive impact on clients, customers, or suppliers?

Did you save time for others?

What were the problems that you solved? 

Were you asked to do any special projects or be on a task force? What were the successes of the team?

Were you honored for something or received a special award?

If you quantify the results, that is very helpful to understand the magnitude of your success. Your story will be more persuasive if you illustrate what you were able to accomplish and how - by showing the skills that the employer values. Again, refer back to the job description to see what is written in the job duties or requirements section. Is the company looking for creativity? Ability to problem solve? Emotional intelligence? Weave that skill into the story of your accomplishment.  

For an organization that wants someone who can increase customer satisfaction through problem-solving while also having a team focus, this would be an excellent way to show you would bring value to this employer.

Improved community satisfaction with the police department by 18%. Completed an organizational change with the development of a four-year leadership program based on the West Point Leadership Program. Created a team environment between leaders and rank and file staff and mentorship. Received honor for this program.

Conclusion

What value do you bring to an employer is a crucial question to ask yourself. When you do this (and you need to do this for each employer since your value may be different), you will write a targeted resume that addresses that employers' needs. If you have not been getting interviews, it may be because your resume is not reflective of the value you bring to this employer. Read the job description and determine what the employer values and put that on your resume. Focus on what you have accomplished and how. You should have better job search success.

For more information about preparing a resume that focuses on the needs of an employer, please read the following blog posts:

Get Better Job Search Results with a Focused Resume

Shelley Piedmont is a job search coach. She wants to help job seekers put their best foot forward by providing the tools for a successful job search. If you need career coaching, resume preparation, interview skills assessment, or LinkedIn profile assistance, she can help. Schedule a 15-minute no-obligation consultation.