WiTH

Women’s Code Founder to Job Seekers: Be Unapologetic in Your Value Proposition

Job applicants should be unapologetic in their value proposition and that matters now more than ever before, according to Beate Chelette, founder of The Women’s Code, a strategic business and balanced leadership development company.

“The number one question that everyone always has – and this is whether it’s men or women – is about confidence: ‘Why would anyone want to listen to you?’” she said Feb. 12 during the Women in Technology Hollywood (WiTH) webinar “Create Your Unapologetic Value Proposition.”

The reasons why anyone would want to listen to you are because you know facts, data and statistics, and you did your research and know how to present it, she noted.

During the interactive webinar, she provided participants with the formula for how they can create a pitch reflecting their unique unapologetic value propositions. And – whether it is for a job they want, a project at their current job, or if they want to get a raise – the same formula can be used for what they say as part of that pitch, Chelette said.

Four Key Elements

She also highlighted four key “elements” during the event. First up was Element 1: Why you? And Chelette’s answer was: “Very simple: Because you are bringing something to the table that only you can bring to the table. Only you. Think about that. And own that.”

What makes each applicant special includes their experiences, skills, gender, generation, innate personality, values and more, she noted.

The way things are designed in our education system, “people that can remember certain things get good grades… but you are not trained from a very early age to be yourself,” she said. People often tell you to just be yourself but “that’s the first thing they beat out of you,” she added.

Noting that she recently interviewed CEOs and chief human resources officers and asked them what they wanted, Chelette said: “They all said the same thing. They all said: ‘I wished somebody would come into my office and tell me in clear, succinct, specific terms, who they are, what they’re bringing to the table and where I can put them and where they can shine.’ That’s what they want.”

Up next was Element 2: Goals and objectives. Chelette urged participants and viewers to be very clear about what their goals are.

She pointed out: “There’s nothing wrong with opening [a] conversation by saying ‘I wanted to talk to you because I want access to this opportunity.’ Or ‘I want you to promote me.’ Or ‘I want you to mentor me.’ Or ‘I want you to pay more attention to me.’ Or ‘I want you to tell me what I need to do to really show up on your radar.’”

One challenge is that women have traditionally been raised to believe “well-behaved girls are seen, not heard” – or “let the quality of your work speak for itself” and don’t brag about it, or don’t draw any attention to yourself, she said, adding: “That ends today.”

The third Element she cited was how your pitch benefits the other person or company (a prospective employer or current boss, as examples) and Element 4 is the reason why your pitch matters to them/the other side.

“Assuming leadership isn’t about walking into the room and bragging, and saying ‘Look at me and all the great things I can do,’” she cautioned. Rather, “assuming leadership is switching it over to the other side and thinking about ‘what is it that they need that I can provide,’” she noted, adding: What’s important is the skill you have that the other person or company “can benefit from – that’s what you’re selling; that’s what you’re pitching.’”

At that point, “it’s no longer about you – it’s about them and that is so much easier to tell them why they benefit,” she noted.

Don’t Give Up

Chelette went on to tell her own story of being an “eight times disaster survivor” and why nobody should give up.

Everything bad that happens to other people happened to her, she said, noting she ended up flat broke in 2003. She wrote to President George W. Bush and told him her story and the White House put her in touch with the Small Business Administration, which in turn helped her find a bank that helped her restructure her debt, she recalled.

She broke even three months later and, 18 months later, she wound up being the “world leader” in image licensing and then sold her business to  Bill Gates for millions of dollars, she said.

Resilience really comes from the audacity of not giving up,” she told participants and viewers, adding: “I know you are here to make an impact and no matter what is going on in your life, I know that you have a message and an impact to make and, no matter what, you cannot give up.”

She went on to help participants on their pitching skills.

Changes Have Led to Opportunities

“I think we are in a powerful moment in time where we are being called to do something that we really haven’t done before, which is we get to showcase who we are,” Chelette went on to say.

“Remember not too long ago there was the work life you and there was the private you,” she noted. However, “now work life and private lives have all but melted, she said, explaining: “Things have really, really changed in what’s become acceptable and it allows you to define who you are more than you have ever been able before.”

She concluded: “I want you to take advantage of that. I want you to own that. I want you to step into that and encourage you to say the rules have been completely rewritten. Take advantage of that.”