How to Explain Your Value to an Employer, with Laura Knights

What sets you apart in a job search isn’t your credentials; it’s the specific value you bring to a position. Hundreds of applicants can have the required experience and skills for the job. But Find Your Dream Job guest Laura Knights says how you communicate what you uniquely bring to the position sells you as the perfect candidate. Laura suggests beginning with learning about the company culture, sharing how you would fit into that culture, and how you have had an impact in previous employment opportunities. Don’t be afraid to “toot your own horn.” 

About Our Guest:

Laura Knights is an executive coach, a speaker, and a trainer. Laura is also the founder and CEO of two companies: Black Woman Leading and Knights Consulting.

Resources in This Episode:

• Is your company ready to invest in team development and leadership? Find out more about how Laura can help you by visiting Knights Consulting.
• Connect with Laura on LinkedIn.
• Use promo code DREAMJOB at the link below to get an exclusive 60% off an annual plan at incogni.com/dreamjob.

Transcript

Find Your Dream Job, Episode 498:

How to Explain Your Value to an Employer, with Laura Knights

Airdate: April 23, 2025

Mac Prichard:

This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life.

I’m your host, Mac Prichard. I’m also the founder of Mac’s List. It’s a job board in the Pacific Northwest that helps you find a fulfilling career.

Every Wednesday, I talk to a different expert about the tools you need to get the work you want.

You can’t rely on your credentials alone when you look for work.

Employers also want to see you have a track record of solving problems.

Laura Knights is here to talk about how to explain your value to an employer.

She’s an executive coach, a speaker, and a trainer.

Laura is also the founder and CEO of two companies: Black Woman Leading and Knights Consulting.

She joins us from Atlanta, Georgia.

Laura, here’s where I want to start – why is it important for you, when you’re looking for your next job, to explain your value to an employer during the hiring process?

Laura Knights:

Yeah, Mac, I think there’s so much competition, right?  There are a lot of people who have skills. There are a lot of people who can, at an eye’s glance, hit all the bullets on the job description. So, really being able to communicate your unique selling proposition and what you can bring uniquely to the situation, it might be your stand-out factor as you’re looking for an employment position.

Mac Prichard:

In your experience, Laura, do most candidates understand the need to do this?

Laura Knights:

You know, what I’ve found in my experience as an executive coach is that there are people who struggle with putting the contribution that they’re bringing into messaging. And so, they can run it down as a bullet point, but rarely are you just speaking in bullet points in an interview. So, I think, having some prep time to really put the messaging together is an area of improvement for a lot of job seekers.

Mac Prichard:

When a candidate has done that preparation and is talking to a hiring manager, in an interview or perhaps they’re thinking about how to convey that value in their application materials, what matters most to the employer? What is someone screening a resume or listening to a candidate looking for?

Laura Knights:

I would say, and I say this both for my conversations I have with hiring leaders at organizations and also a large stint of my career when I was the hiring manager in different organizations, I think what organizations are looking for is not only do you meet the criteria, but they’re also trying to see “is this a cultural fit?”

I know there’s sometimes some controversy around that, but they’re trying to see if people can connect those skills and those traits and those things they did in previous places to what they will do for them and really be able to communicate that in a future-forward manner.

Mac Prichard:

How do you talk about cultural fit in a way that communicates value to an employer?

Laura Knights:

Well, I think one of the things lies in your preparation and the preparation is two-fold. So there is, of course, doing a little bit of research on the employer. Most employers, most organizations have their values on the website. They might even have a little bit more about their high-level priorities for the year. If they’re a larger organization, you might be able to find that information. So, if you can pull some aspects around their mission, vision, and organizational values, that is some great intel for you.

The other piece is the prep work about you. So, taking some time to really assess – how do you align with those values? What is the overlap between the company’s values and your values? And how can you connect some of the skills and experience that you have to what that organization says is important for them?

Mac Prichard:

Talk more about the preparation you encourage your clients to take. You mentioned doing the research, being able to talk about your results, and the connection to the culture. What else do you encourage your clients to do before they send out that application or walk into that interview room in order to demonstrate their value?

Laura Knights:

Yeah, just to deepen a little bit on the prep work about themselves first, right? So, I like to think of it as having a receipts files, that’s what I call it. And so, thinking about these ways that you have added value in your previous positions and that you have evidence of those things.

So that evidence could be in quantifiable terms, you know, increases, reductions, errors that you were able to remove, things you could really quantify. The other ways you can think about receipts is, you know, performance evaluations and feedback you received, initiatives you were able to implement, transformation that you had a direct hand in helping to bring to pass at the organization.

And so, it’s not just “I do this,  I do that. I have this skill. I have this certification,” but how did you see the evidence of those things really bringing value to the organization? And for many people, especially if you’ve been working for a while, you don’t have a lot of those things top of mind because you’ve done so much, so it may take a moment for you to do a little brainstorming, a little note taking on those values that you brought, the value that you added, to be able to talk about that in a really concise way in an interview.

So, that’s your part that I think is really important.

Mac Prichard:

How many examples do you recommend having in your pocket?

Laura Knights:

I would say a strong six would be good because you don’t know how much time you have. You don’t want to be too long-winded, but if you have time to give two or three and they ask for one more, you have some options to pull from based on how they may have positioned the question to you.

Mac Prichard:

Listeners who might be mid-career or further along in their career might have many examples to draw on. How do you recommend prioritizing them?

Laura Knights:

So I think this then goes with the preparation that you’re doing of the organization. So as much as possible, and sometimes I know it’s hard when people are doing those blanket job kind of search, where you’re applying to 50 jobs at a time, it may be hard to do this kind of customized prep but if you can, you want to go to that organization’s website as I said. Pull what you can, there are the different websites you can go to get information about the organization.

You have the job description that, hopefully, gives you some detail in particular. So, as much as possible, connecting your body of experience to explicitly what’s on the job description, but also any top-of-mind things that you are able to glean from your research. So, fresh, current things about what might be happening with that organization.

Mac Prichard:

What are some common mistakes you see candidates make when they’re trying to showcase their value?

Laura Knights:

Well, I think one mistake that I’ve seen, and I have my coaching clients ask me to help them with or practice with them, is the kind of getting off on tangents sometimes because of the nervousness.

So, you had a question, it was focused, you started strong, and then you went some other places that were not as relevant. I think the other thing, just in the delivery piece, is the not being able to really hit the bullseye with it.

So kind of talking run-on, going on too long, where you lose the potency of the particular example that you were bringing. So you want to be concise. You want to really bring the value to the example but you also don’t want to kind of drone on and on and on about it. So, there’s that middle piece of kind of being able to hit that bullseye.

Mac Prichard:

How do you help people be both strategic and concise? What has worked, what kind of preparation produces the result you want?

Laura Knights:

Yeah, I think one, just the tactical piece of what exactly, if I think about the top three things of my skills, of the contributions that I’ve brought, of things from my receipts file that I think are really relevant to this position based on the information that I have. So, knowing that, your top three things and maybe a fourth possible if you have time, I think helps you to go in a little bit more focused.

The other thing I think is really having time to, I don’t know if practice is the word, to be able to verbally say the thing out loud that you want to say. We can have a concept in our mind, but if nervousness is a thing for you or getting flustered is a thing for you, the verbal communication of it can be very different than what’s in our mind.

So, I would encourage people to kind of say some of those points out loud. If you have a partner that you can share it with, a colleague that you can share it with, that’s great. But even if it’s just with yourself, to feel how that is to say that, to communicate that, that brings a considerable amount of value to people when they’re preparing for interviews.

Mac Prichard:

That can be hard for some people. But Laura, tell me why, in your experience, does it help to say these things out loud, to know what your top three most important accomplishments are, and to prepare for interview questions in advance. Why does that preparation make a difference?

Laura Knights:

Well, I see a few things in my work. Sometimes, it’s just the tactical skill of translating thought to language that is sometimes an easy skill for people, and, for other people, that’s more difficult for them to find their words in what they might consider a high-stakes opportunity or high-stakes environment.

The other thing, so that’s the tactical piece of just kind of saying the thing. The other piece though, I find comes up quite a bit is this kind of mindset piece.

So, depending on your cultural background, for some people, it might be a faith orientation that humility is a value for them. So being able to talk about themselves in a way that might feel like it’s bragging or tooting their own horn is not comfortable for some people.

And so, for many people they may have the language but the confidence to be able to say the thing out loud, to be able to say it in a way that they are not using limiting language, but really using assertive language is something that they might need to practice.

Mac Prichard:

We’re going to take a break.

Stay with us. When we return, Laura Knights will continue to share her advice on how to explain your value to an employer.

We’re back in the Mac’s List studio. I’m talking with Laura Knights.

She’s an executive coach, a speaker, and a trainer.

Laura is also the founder and CEO of two companies, Black Woman Leading and Knights Consulting.

She joins us from Atlanta, Georgia.

Now Laura, before the break, we were talking about how to explain your value to an employer. One of the final points you made in that first segment was about the challenge, or the difficulty rather, that some of us can have in tooting our own horn.

Why does tooting your own horn help you explain your value to an employer? It sounds like an obvious question, but why is that important?

Laura Knights:

Well, I think, you know, you only get a certain moment. You get one chance, sometimes multiple, but the follow-up interviews still depend on that first one that you did really good in.

And so, what you’re trying to do is not only connect that you can do the job but that you’re the best candidate because they’re might be multiple people they’re talking to that can do the job.

So it’s that opportunity for you to say, “Hey, here is what I can bring to your organization,” and that might be the make-or-break of if you get to continue on in the process or not.

Mac Prichard:

How do you coach your clients to do that? To toot their own horn and to be confident in interviews?

Laura Knights:

Yeah, it’s two parts. I call it heart work and head work. With the heart work, if we find that it is about a confidence issue, or it is about kind of challenging maybe a cultural script or a cultural norm, that they’re pushing against, it’s more about not disrespecting those values or disrespecting those cultural norms.

But more about helping them determine what are new rules they can create for themselves that helps them to accomplish their goals. So, that sometimes requires a little digging, a little identifying where that came from, where the resistance comes from. That’s why we call it heart work.

But then the other piece, the head work, which is the tactical thing, is really about practicing. Sometimes, it’s about giving people a framework for how they can talk about things in a way that communicates the value to the employer. And we talk about it, the “what’s in it for them” factor.

And so, I think those two things together really helps people to overcome some of the challenges around that “tooting your own horn.”

Mac Prichard:

Say more, Laura, about that framework that you coach your clients in.

Laura Knights:

Yeah, so, it’s essentially kind of a core marketing framework. As being an entrepreneur for over 15 years, a lot of the things that we learn in entrepreneurship around marketing and sales are also transferable to when you’re selling yourself in an interview.

And so, thinking about, we call it, if you think of the hero’s journey, that kind of story script, how do we make the employer the hero, in that they have a problem, there’s a problem they have to solve and present yourself as part of that solution that they can choose to help them to solve the problem.

So, it requires some active listening in that interview and listening between the lines to see if there are pain points that you can pull out for the employer. You can also ask explicit questions around what some of their pain points are. And then position your skills, your value, your contribution as a solution to what they’re looking for.

Mac Prichard:

In your experience, do most candidates do that in an interview? Ask an employer about the organization’s challenges and listen and think about how they might help the employer solve those problems?

Laura Knights:

I don’t think so. I think a lot of it is people feeling like they have to convince, that they are the best candidate, and yes they do have to do that. But what I tell people is that this is really a two-way conversation, because you’re bringing value as well. So you’re also trying to assess, is this the right place for you?

You’re interviewing them just as they’re interviewing you. Now, of course, we want to present that reality in humility and a professional way but asking those questions, especially of things that are really important for you in a place where you want to work, helps you to get that additional intel to position yourself properly in the interview.

Mac Prichard:

Talk about storytelling. Why can that be a valuable tool, Laura, for showing your value to an employer?

Laura Knights:

Yeah, storytelling is really powerful, and when we look at kind of the neuroscience behind storytelling, when we just give facts and figures, which is, you know, the bullet points, we access about two parts of the brain.

But research shows that when we use a story, which brings in emotional content that usually allows people to find themselves or resonate with that particular experience, we actually light up eight parts of the brain when we use a story.

So, it’s a way that you can build influence and use influence in an interview to really connect on a human level. To show the trajectory of how a skill, or a trait, was used in a real-time way that people can relate to. And we also find that people remember stories more than they just remember the facts and figures.

Mac Prichard:

What kinds of stories should you tell in a job interview that convey your value?

Laura Knights:

Yeah, I love a turning point story, which is, something was happening, maybe a particular process wasn’t working, maybe “we almost were about to lose a customer”, whatever that thing that was going downhill that you may have contributed to. And then, talking about what the turning point was and your contribution to that turning point. That’s a great story arc.

Another story arc that I love to kind of help people craft when they’re looking for opportunities is also thinking about the kind of, this was the path that we were going on,  something happened that caused us to pivot, and here’s how I contributed to that new way of looking at things. So it’s a bit of an innovative kind of storyline, what’s the newness that I brought to the situation? Those are always good ones to use.

Mac Prichard:

As you share those two examples, I’m really struck by the simple structure of both of those kinds of stories. They have three parts and does knowing and remembering those parts help your clients both create and tell those stories?

Laura Knights:

Absolutely.  And I would tell people that it’s not about doing it on the spot, just have two or three of those kinds of stories already crafted out in your back pocket that you know is relevant to the position, so you can be prepared to tell them in a way that really connects to the discussion.

Mac Prichard:

What mistakes do you encourage people to avoid when telling stories in job interviews that show their value to an employer?

Laura Knights:

I think, same thing as before, getting too long-winded, adding too many details about the context, the setting, who was involved, that’s not really relevant. You might give a high-level context but it’s really about how did you contribute to whatever that turning point, that transformation, that solution, that you’re hinting at in the story.

Mac Prichard:

Do you have a recommended length for stories?

Laura Knights:

Oh, that’s a good one. Well, given that you may not have a lot of time in an interview, I say that you should be able to tell it in, you know, like maybe 2 minutes or less. Three minutes if it’s really juicy.

Mac Prichard:

That probably takes some preparation, too, doesn’t it?

Laura Knights:

Yeah, it does. It does.

Mac Prichard:

Finally, I just want to go back to a point you raised about tooting your own horn, how important it is. What advice do you have for somebody who worries about coming across as arrogant when explaining their value?

Laura Knights:

I think what’s important is to present some balance when you are sharing that. So, it’s not all “I did this, I did that, I did this.” When you can provide some context to the situation, when you can share how you may have rallied with other colleagues, how the team also contributed, but what was your part on the team.

That also shows your ability to do that work in tandem with other people but still have an impactful role in it. So you can, you don’t have to, you know, overlook the contributions that other people made, you can share that, but you want to make sure that you have highlighted your contribution as well.

Mac Prichard:

Well, it’s been a great conversation, Laura. Now tell us, what’s next for you?

Laura Knights:

Well, at Knights Consulting, we have the honor of working with organizations to help them develop internal programs for their leaders. So we’ll continue to do that, helping organizations create those leadership development programs for their employees.

And we also do quite a bit of team development work, so when we see an organization really wants to help a team work better together, maybe improve their collaboration, their communication, we do a bit of coaching, and facilitation with those teams to help them bring that value as a group out.

So, we are continuing to do that work this year and really excited to support our clients in that way.

Mac Prichard:

Listeners can learn more about you and the work of your companies by visiting your website: knightsconsultinggroup.com. You also invite listeners to connect with her on LinkedIn. When you do reach out to Laura, I hope you’ll mention that you heard her on Find Your Dream Job.

Laura, given all the great advice you’ve shared today, what’s the one thing you want a listener to remember about how to explain your value to an employer?

Laura Knights:

I mentioned before, but I’d like to just reiterate: you have value whether you have been able to tease that out for yourself. And the mindset piece of, yes, you need a job, yes, you want this position, but the employer is getting a deal, too, when they get you.

And so, I think going into these interviews knowing that there’s real value that I provide, that can really contribute to this place, helps you to enter in with a little bit more confidence and ability to share that value that you can add to the environment.

Mac Prichard:

Next week, our guest will be William Corless.

He’s an executive coach and a facilitator who helps individuals, teams, and organizations reach their full potential.

William also hosts The Workplace Podcast.

Laura has done an excellent job today explaining why and how to show your value to an employer.

But your needs matter, too.

And understanding your own goals will not only help you find a better job, it will also help you make a better case for yourself.

Join us next Wednesday when William Corless and I talk about how to know what you want and what you offer.

Until next time, thanks for letting us help you find your dream job.

This show is produced by Mac’s List.

Susan Thornton-Hough schedules our guests and writes our newsletter. Lisa Kislingbury Anderson manages our social media.

Our sound engineer and editor is Matt Fiorillo. Dawn Mole creates our transcripts. And our music is by Freddy Trujillo.

This is Mac Prichard. See you next week.