From Job Seeker to Empowered Candidate: How to Articulate Your Value in Interviews

Debra Coleman [00:00:10]:
Hello, friend, and welcome back to another mini cast episode of Have a Seat, Conversations with Women in the Workplace podcast. I am your host, Deb Coleman. Welcome. Welcome. It is another solo episode. And to get you familiar with what those are, if you don't know, yes, Have A Seat is primarily an interview style show where every week, I sit down with beautiful and wonderful and amazing women who are just doing their thing out in the work world. But every once in a while, about once a month or so, I will grab the mic myself and do just this, have a little private conversation, just you and I. And, I try to do it about once a month.

Debra Coleman [00:00:51]:
Excuse the noise. My fur baby's behind me making all sorts of noise. But, anyway so, this is one of those shows. Welcome to my minicast. And this week's show, or this episode is dedicated to a listener submission. And the basically, the listener said, how can, what are your thoughts or what are some advice? What's some advice you can give to help me articulate my value when interviewing for my next opportunity? Wonderful submission. Thank you. You chose to remain anonymous, and I wanna respect that.

Debra Coleman [00:01:30]:
So thank you very much for submitting a topic. I think that is lovely, and I celebrate that. What a great, great question. Because recently, though, as luck would have it, or unluck, well, whatever, as circumstances would have it, I, have been engaging lately in conversations with my colleagues and peers and people just in my inner circle about finding their next opportunity. And first of all, I wanna celebrate the the, listener who used the word opportunity. I think that is a lovely way to say my next job. You know? I think that's just it just sounds better and rests better in my soul. So thank you for that new lingo.

Debra Coleman [00:02:11]:
I I with your permission, I'd love to borrow that. And, also, I just I don't know I know there's a lot going on work wise right now with organizations doing reorgs and r I p or, rifts and reduction in force. And, just there is job loss, whether our own making or somebody else's making is very real. And so I think that based on the conversations that I have been having and this submission, it just felt like the time was right to maybe just chat about this for a few minutes. But as always, you will find a link in the show notes to the Havasheet website where you can also submit some future topic of conversations through the contact me link or register to be a guest yourself. And come on, and let's continue the conversation about articulating your value when interviewing, or maybe there's some other topic of relevance to you that you would like to call attention to and have a little chat on. So more than willing to do that. Or as a last resort, I get it.

Debra Coleman [00:03:20]:
I get it. Being on a podcast may not be your thing. There is a little microphone on the bottom of my website, you may or may not have noticed it, where you can submit a voice mail. And that is lovely because with your permission, I will center an episode around that topic and possibly use your a snippet of your voice mail into the episode to help convey the message. So lovely many ideas. I welcome any and all input and feedback and ideas. So have a seat link in the show notes. Check it out.

Debra Coleman [00:03:52]:
Alrighty. Moving on to the topic at hand. I just have a few thoughts on this. I promise not to take up too much of your time. That's really how I try to design these solo episodes, these mini casts. I go into these with no script, just this, basically a topic, and I hit record. And this is what will happen. So in fair warning, sometimes colorful language is dropped, and, also, I can get a little bit sassy.

Debra Coleman [00:04:17]:
I put on my my my crown, and it goes a little tilted, and I get a little sassy. So, fair warning if I am on speaker and if there are sensitive ears about, just let you know. But in our in this subject, articulating your value when interviewing, hopefully, we won't get too colorful, language or sassy. But my knee jerk reaction to this was, first off, please remember please remember your value. This is actually what I told a friend of mine who is, as we speak, as of this recording, looking for her next opportunity to to no fault of her own. She was unfortunately laid off, and so here she is. Now she's taken on a new role, which is job seeker because I firmly believe looking for a new role is a job in in and of itself. So she is now doing that, and we got to chatting a little bit about this.

Debra Coleman [00:05:08]:
And she was sharing some of her frustrations and her concerns, of course. And one thing I wanted to I really, you know, was hoping I conveyed to her is that you are of value, right, when interviewing. You bring so much knowledge and experience. You are in a value add for any organization, and they would be lucky to have you. That's my first my first takeaway. That that is my knee jerk is that you are a value. Please don't believe please don't believe you aren't. Just because you are in candidate mode does not lessen you or make you any less than.

Debra Coleman [00:05:51]:
If anything, you should feel empowered, and this is why I say that. Because I also feel that we are in the age of the worker. You see it everywhere. Workers these days are looking for transparency, honesty, equality, diversity, inclusion, belonging, and empathy among others, other items, other things from their employers today, from their future employers today. So please remember that you are also interviewing them as much as they are interviewing you. So make sure that your job alignment or your career alignment matches what they are offering. That is my first kinda knee jerk. You have power here.

Debra Coleman [00:06:43]:
You are a candidate, but that does not make it any and make you any less. You are you are a value, and you have power. And you should walk into that interview ready and prepared. One way to help you feel like you can articulate your value more is to do a thorough read and a thorough analyzing of that job description. And the reason I say that is because if you have a really good understanding of what it is they're looking for, that will go, I feel, a long way in helping you articulate your value and what you can do to help fill the need that they're expressing that they have through that job description. I have even been known to have other people look at the job description for me as well just to get their feedback because they don't have a dog in the fight. So another person is going to be able to read that job description and maybe offer some feedback as to what they feel this organization is really looking for or what this role really entails. You know, we're looking at it from a candidate's eyes and a and a candidate mindset.

Debra Coleman [00:07:52]:
And so to be fair, there may be things that we might miss or little behind not behind the scenes, but, like, in between the lines type of messaging that somebody who doesn't have a dog in the fight may see. And so feedback on a job description and a thorough thoroughly analyzing and reading it frontwards, backwards, and every way in between to really get a handle on what it is they're looking for will help, I feel, will help you articulate your value. So when they're asking questions pertaining to their opening, to the job itself, to the responsibilities with a better grasp of what or, you know, as as much of a grasp as you can, right, honestly, as a you know, from that side of the desk, is if you have the best understanding of what they're looking for that you feel you have you have done you know, you're you've done your homework. This is the best I can equip myself with. That helps when you are then articulating how you can best, how you are the best person to meet their needs and to fill this role. And that's what I wanna move on to my 2nd point really quickly. I'm trying to move through these quickly because I I like my mini cast to be on the shorter side. So, my second point here is to believe that you do have value.

Debra Coleman [00:09:08]:
The key in that question, how do I articulate my value? First of all, believe that you have it, first of all. It's a mindset thing. You are an incredibly you are an incredible value add. Any organization would be damn lucky to have you. You bring with you a wealth of knowledge and experience. So tap into that and go in with that mindset because it's true. It's true. I'm not I'm not sitting here trying to be a Hallmark card.

Debra Coleman [00:09:38]:
Right? I know it. It's it's absolutely true. You have a lot of value, and you would do wonderfully in this role. It's just, unfortunately, you've gotta get through an interview. Right? So, but just my my, you know, my my advice here is to remember that you do have value, and don't be afraid to let that shine. If you know something, own it and express it. If something seems a little questionable in the job description or unclear or too vague based off your knowledge and the and experience, you're going to call that into question. As executive assistants, we are it is it is just it's a running joke, really, that when we start a new role, sure, the job description may have said, you will pro your primary responsibility will be to support the VP of yada yada.

Debra Coleman [00:10:30]:
Right? Great. Everybody knows, though, that that's hardly ever the case. Usually, there's, like, anywhere between 2 to 5 people or more sometimes behind that individual, you know, who you will be sidebar reporting, dotted line reporting, or just straight I'm supporting, excuse me, or just straight up supporting. Right? But they, oddly enough, failed to mention that in the job description or during the interview process. Here is exactly what I'm talking about. Or this is one way you can articulate your value by showing them you are you know? Hey. Give me some credit. I've been around the block.

Debra Coleman [00:11:07]:
I understand what's going on here. Based on the job description, I understand that you state my primary responsibility will be supporting VP blow blow blow. Right? Is there anyone else, though? It's been my experience that it usually doesn't just stop there. There are other leaders or other a dotted line supporting them or default also be supporting them or dotted line supporting them or one off supporting them with a few, you know, tasks here and there? Are there expectations in this role to support anyone other than the vice president or whoever it is that you're, you know, primary supporting primary supporting. And if it's a team situation, like, well, you're working within a team. Great. Is there any other team or any other external members to the team that I would also need to support? Right? Show them that is one way that you can articulate your value is by calling them out respectfully and professionally, of course, but calling out areas in the job description where you see an obvious gap or an obvious vague statement, clarify. Because guess what? Someone with your experience and your and your knowledge base would absolutely recognize that and call it out.

Debra Coleman [00:12:29]:
It's perfectly fair to question that, and I think that makes you look like an incredible candidate because you're pointing out things, and you're not afraid to ask those questions and to go there. Again, in your style, in your voice, the way you would communicate, of course, that doesn't look like how I would. I'm, you know, I'm me. I tend to be a little bit more, you know, direct and that sort of thing. So my style is certainly not going to be your style, but I think you get my messaging here. So one way I feel you can articulate your value with interviewing for your next opportunity is to do a thorough thorough analysis of that job description and have someone else do it well as well and pick out or find areas that you would legit like to call into question. There is absolutely no nothing wrong with you asking questions, again, professionally and courteously, but ask them. They're not messing with somebody who literally just, like, woke up yesterday and said, I think I'll go get a job today.

Debra Coleman [00:13:37]:
No. You know, you bring a wealth of knowledge, so don't be afraid to show that. Okay? So job description, thorough analysis of the job description, I I feel, and then composing some questions pertaining to where you see obvious gaps or not so obvious gaps or vagueness, I think that is one surefire way to help articulate your value when interviewing for your next opportunity. Another way another way that I and I reason my pause is because it is a little out there and it is a you know, it's probably not where you're thinking I'm going, is to be a bit more intentional with your job search. For example, I have a friend who is, as I said, is a job seeker right now. And while in the span of our conversation, she, you know, let it be known that she was she really loves and really wants to get back into human resource work, working with the human resources and people and talent team. Like, that's where her heart lies. That's where, you know, she that's what that's her wheelhouse.

Debra Coleman [00:14:50]:
That's what she enjoys in an administrative support role, but within the people and talent human resources world. So I and this may seem obvious, but I said, so then your job search should really focus in on that. So focus in on where it is that you truly are interested in. That is what and how does that translate to articulating your value? Because that, for lack of a better word, passion or interest in the area that you are you know, for the role that's in the area that you want to land in is going to show itself. It's going to present itself during the interview. Your interest, your fire, your desire to be in that world, it's going to shine through. And not only that, but I believe you can articulate that. That adds value.

Debra Coleman [00:15:47]:
Why are you a valuable candidate? Well, because, actually, people and talent is where my heart lies. It's where I know I spent some time in operations, but I really would love to find my way back into human resources. I was in human resources 5 years ago. I found myself, in operations to you know? But now I'd like to get myself back into the people and talent world. You know? Something like that. And then you can from there, you can incorporate that into your answers or into an answer or into the conversation if it's warranted. You know? That helps articulate your value. You're actually interested in the department that you're interviewing for, that you have an interest.

Debra Coleman [00:16:31]:
This isn't just a JOB. This is an opportunity for you. This is an this is a career move. This is a career move for you. This is a you are making a move to better your career. You're not just looking for something to pay the bills or to go clock in and out. You are being strategic and intentional. At this stage of my career, I am seeking intentionally seeking positions in human resources because that is where my interest lies.

Debra Coleman [00:17:00]:
That is where the bulk of my experience lies, and that is what brought me here to you today. You know, that helps. So niche down. Really be intentional with your job search. Try as best you can to get into the world that you are interested in when you are looking for your next role. Like, I would never and have never pursued a position in finance in the finance world. I have never pursued I'm an executive assistant, so I have never pursued an administrative support position that supports a CFO, that supports an accounting manager, that supports an analyst, that is in accounting, and and none of that. Like, I that is not intrinsic to me.

Debra Coleman [00:17:45]:
Am I interested in it? Sure. Absolutely. You know? And if I had to work for a CFO, would I? Of course. You know? Of course. But when I have control over my job search when I have control over my job search, that is not where I'm going. I am not looking for assistant to a CFO because that is not where my heart lies. That's not where my interest lies. I narrowed it down into the areas that of of that are of interest to me regardless.

Debra Coleman [00:18:13]:
Right? So that's another way you can better articulate your value is by niching down and being a bit more intentional, if you can, in where you apply. That way, when it comes to the interview, which I know you'll get because you are amazing, you can add that to your value, the fact that you are interested in the actual area that you would be working in. Okay. And so asking questions, doing a thorough m and analysis of the job description, having some questions at the ready, questions that need answers, niching down and being more intentional in your job search. Those are just a few of my of of my advice now of my advice to that to that, inquiry. My last piece of advice, and then I'll let it go because I try not to let these go too long. And, again, these are really conversations with you. I am not saying anything or sharing anything with you that if we were sitting down in Starbucks, right, or Pete's Coffee or Dunkin' or Dutch Brothers, this is not anything I wouldn't be telling you in person.

Debra Coleman [00:19:24]:
So, honestly, don't let the mic fool you. I'm actually telling you anything that I would tell somebody else. Sorry. My fur baby heard somebody at the front door. Okay. Just shutting my door slightly. Sorry, funds. Okay.

Debra Coleman [00:19:37]:
But if you have for babies, you get it. So my last piece of advice, in terms of being more or to to better articulate your value is to not be afraid to let your personality and your interest shine. Be you, in other words. Right? We all put on that nice happy face. I am so sorry, y'all. I my neighbor, I think, came over to pick up something, and so my dog is barking at him because he's picking it up off the porch. So either that or it's Amazon dropping something off. You know? Anyway, where was I? Yes.

Debra Coleman [00:20:22]:
Don't be afraid to show yourself. Okay? I understand that we put on these masks like, oh, I'm the candidate. Oh, I'm the, you know, organization or the company. Don't we look all pretty imperfect? But it's also okay to show a little bit of yourself, show a little bit of your personality. And I say that because that also, I feel, goes into articulating your value. It your value to me is this wonderful picnic basket of qualities that you possess. And your one of your objectives in this interview is to portray and show who you are. Right? It it no.

Debra Coleman [00:21:01]:
There's no sense in showing a fake you because if they hire based off the fake you, then that might be a recipe for disaster later down the road or sooner than you think. Right? So to help you articulate your value, don't be afraid to be you and to own and recognize and be honest about things that you know and you're familiar with. In other words, don't play dumb to appease somebody on the other side of that desk. Show yourself. Don't play dumb. And I know not everybody has this, and it's so easy for me to say. Right? Oh, sure. It's easy for you to say.

Debra Coleman [00:21:41]:
You're not, you know, interviewing. But at some at some somehow inside you, pull up pull up on that confidence pull up on that confidence string. It's in all of us, and it looks different. It's going to present itself differently, but you've got it in you. So exude that a little bit in whatever that means for you. Show this person that you are of value. You do have power in this interview. And so I my my, I guess, my my final takeaway is I want you to feel empowered.

Debra Coleman [00:22:15]:
And so that is how you are going to articulate your value. By analyzing the job description, having questions ready where you might see obvious or not so obvious gaps or where you legitimately have questions about something, don't be afraid to ask it because based on your vast knowledge and work experience, it's natural you would ask these questions. Also, don't be afraid to show yourself. Show your your your personality. Show who you are. Don't be afraid to share your knowledge. If you know something, expand on it. Right? Don't play dumb in order to appease somebody or to make you seem more likable.

Debra Coleman [00:22:57]:
You know? It's okay to show others your knowledge base. Be proud of that. Be proud of that. Pull up on that confidence string. Straighten up and show them that you are somebody who also has some questions and who also would be an incredible value add And that, you know what? Low key, they should be very excited to even be sitting here talking with you today. So, anyway, look. Articulating your value in interviewing, it really is so subjective, and it's going to look different for everybody. I'm just offering sort of some 30,000 foot view ideas or thoughts that I just wanna share with you that I would share with you in any setting because this is a different age we're in, friends.

Debra Coleman [00:23:45]:
This is the day and age of the worker, and you have every right to ensure or to find out as best you can that the organization that you are sitting down and having an interview conversation with exercises or where they stand on diversity, inclusion, equality, belonging? Are they transparent? Do they believe in professional development? How do they factor in work life balance? Like, it is your right to find all of that out also as a candidate. And all of that, I feel, by asking some of those types of questions or just asking questions to get to the heart of things and showing your true self and not being afraid to show confidence when warranted, I think that all goes into articulating your value to a potential employer. So you have this. You got this. And, again, I'm probably not telling you anything you haven't heard or done or believe already. It just takes a pal like me, you know, a girl with a microphone to kinda call it out to you and remind you of the of of some of these empowering statements and these empowering tactics that you can use to hopefully position yourself so you come from a place of confidence when you're sitting on the other side of that desk in that interview. So I hope this was some I hope this was of value to you to piggyback on, the listeners' topics she submitted. I hope this conversation was of value to you.

Debra Coleman [00:25:20]:
And, again, maybe you take away 2% of it, and if or maybe you take away a 100% of it. Whatever you do, I hope you found some value in this. It was a fun topic. Thank you, listener, for sharing that idea. Great, great topic. I'm always happy to explore it further, and I'm sure I will with future guests or on future solo episodes. So this is just the beginning. Let's let's just start the conversation and keep it going.

Debra Coleman [00:25:44]:
Alright, everybody. Well, as always, you can find as I as I said in the beginning of the show, there will be a link in the show notes to the Have a Seat website. Feel free to check it out where you will find more conversations just like this, where I grab the mic and share thoughts and ideas on a particular topic. But more importantly, there is a whole library of shows for you to peruse and check out. My show is not one that needs to be listened to in any sort of order. It is definitely, almost like a menu. Peruse, see if anything jumps out at you, see if a guest expertise resonates with you or something you wanna learn more about, and just click that play button. That's my goal of the show is to bring these conversations to you.

Debra Coleman [00:26:25]:
So as always, my beautiful friend, if you are a job seeker, you've got this. You do. And you may not know it, but you do have support and the community behind you. So they are just a click away, and I am one of them. So feel free to reach out to me if you need some encouragement or wanna do a mock interview or just need to explore some of my ideas further. I'm here for you, and I got your back. Alright. Well, until next week.

Debra Coleman [00:26:49]:
You know the drill. Stay safe. Be well. And remember, keep having those conversations.