How to Set Yourself Apart

Students often come to LAS Career with questions about how to set themselves apart in the search for jobs and internships – particularly in the more quantitative and tech-y segments of LAS, where there are abundant openings, but also many other students competing for the same roles.

The answer?

Forget scalability, forget the hordes of students with similar qualifications, forget the vast anonymous labor marketplace that you’re entering. Above all, forget the “shotgun” approach to job/internship applications, where a single dazzling resume gets fired off to every plausible opportunity.

There is only you. You can’t set yourself apart by focusing on the multitude that contains you. You set yourself apart by being insistently, resolutely, confidently yourself.

1. Know what you want and why. Be precise. “A high-paying job at a prestigious company” doesn’t set you apart. Dig deep to find the more interesting version of yourself. What do you care about? What kind of difference do you want to make in the world?  What issues or problems do you care about? What skills do you have that you want to use and expand? What do you want to understand better or know more about?
2. Use your smarts and research skills to identify companies that are relevant to your unique interests and strengths. Rather than limiting yourself to posted job ads, seek out organizations that are confronting challenges that interest you, solving problems that require your strengths, embarking on projects related to issues you care about. Then find people at those organizations to talk to who can help you learn more and perhaps connect you to opportunities.
3. Embrace your niche. It can be terrifying. Your niche may limit you to a handful of jobs, as opposed to the hundreds that you see being advertised on LinkedIn. That’s the point. Focus on the specific employers for whom the things that set you apart will matter.
4. Lead with your curiosity. It’s okay if you haven’t figured out exactly what your niche is. Ask questions. Recognize the gaps in your knowledge and seek out people who can fill them in. Professional relationships often begin with shared commitments and interests. People may not be interested in helping you absent a prior personal relationship, but they are interested in helping people who care about the same things they do.
5. Make your essential skills visible. When you apply for posted job ads, write cover letters. When you send someone your resume, attach it to a thoughtful and purposeful email. Recognize the advantage that these rhetorical occasions offer:
   1. Connecting your experience directly to the requirements for the position and the needs of the organization.
   2. Demonstrating your ability to understand and respond to the employer’s priorities.
   3. Embedding links to relevant samples of your work.
   4. Communicating your enthusiasm for the position and your motivation to do this specific work for this specific organization.

External markers of success (GPA, honors, selective RSO involvements) may loom large, but they lose their power as you move forward. Identify what drives you internally and recognize the value you contribute. These things are not always easy to discern, but they are the things that will set you apart.

LAS Career Services is here to help with all five of the steps listed here. Come to our drop-in hours to get the conversation started (Wednesdays and Thursdays, 1 – 3pm) or make an appointment on Handshake for a deeper exploration.

For more ideas on navigating your future career path, visit our LAS Career Services Blog.