What You Need to Remember
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Stop Using Complexity as a Shield Don't use overly technical words and jargon just to seem more senior. Real leaders communicate clearly. Hiding behind complex language only confuses people and hides how much you actually know.
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Focus on What You Achieved, Not Just What You Did Don't just list what you did day-by-day. Instead, prove your worth by showing the positive changes you caused. Start by explaining the benefit ("the why") first, so people don't get bored listening to a long list of tasks.
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Do the Hard Work of Explaining for Others Figure out how your daily work actually helps the business’s big goals before you speak. When you translate your actions into high-level business benefits for the listener, you make sure your work is understood, not ignored in the details.
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Be Simple, But Powerful Stop thinking that saying more means you are better. Being able to summarize your value clearly shows you are in command of your area and respect that people have limited time.
What is a Value Proposition?
A value proposition is the unique combination of skills, results, and benefits you bring to a company that solves their specific problems better than other candidates.
Unlike a resume that lists what you did, your value proposition explains why those experiences matter to the employer. It answers the hiring manager's core question: "What problem will this person solve for me, and why should I believe they can do it?"
Career coach Ellen Fondiler notes that "Your personal value proposition should be at the heart of your career strategy" because it sets you apart from equally qualified competitors and demonstrates your return-on-investment to a new employer. If you need help identifying your unique value proposition, start by analyzing what specific problems you solve better than others in your field.
A Simple Plan for Showing Real Value
The habit of hiding behind technical complexity is a major career mistake. It’s when smart people secretly use complicated language because they worry that if they speak simply, they won't seem senior enough. By treating confusion as depth, they bury the real value of their work in too much detail, hoping to appear essential but only ending up sounding confusing.
This usually leads to just listing everything you did, from start to finish: a dull history lesson that makes the listener work hard to figure out why any of it matters. This forces listeners to use up their mental energy just trying to understand what you did, and they often stop paying attention before you even get to the important results.
To succeed, you must change your approach to showing Proof of Results. This key method shifts the focus from tracking your time to proving the positive changes you created. The following guide gives you the clear steps to stop using complexity as a crutch and start delivering high-impact messages. Once you master verbal communication, consider reinforcing your value with a written value proposition letter that hiring managers can reference throughout the selection process.
How to Change From Causing Problems to Showing Leadership
| The Problem/Common Mistake | The Smart Change | The Result/What It Shows |
|---|---|---|
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Hiding Behind Jargon
Using too many technical words because you worry simple words make you seem less experienced.
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Focusing on the Big Picture
Turn complicated methods into one clear, important business goal that everyone can understand.
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Shows True Skill: You prove you truly understand the subject by turning its complexity into simple, useful steps for leaders. |
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Listing Tasks Day-by-Day
Describing the long history of your work, forcing the listener to search for why it matters.
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Tell the Story Backwards
Start by stating the final, measurable result, and only use your past work as proof of how you got there.
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Shows Business Sense: Proves you care about money and results by respecting how little time listeners have to focus. |
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Justifying Work by What You Did
Talking about "what was done" to look busy, instead of "what changed" to prove value.
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Showing the Change You Caused
Clearly show the difference in numbers between how things were before you acted and how they were after.
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Unique Value: You stand out by showing clear, measurable improvements that are repeatable in the future. |
Your Action Plan
List Your Results, Not Your Duties
People notice value based on the final result, not the long list of tasks. If you just list duties, people have to guess the benefit.
Change "doing" words (like managed, attended) to "success" words: "I sped up projects by 20% by simplifying the way approvals were handled with leaders."
Quick Tip: If you can't find a result, ask: "What bad thing would have happened if I hadn't done this task?" That negative outcome is what you actually prevented.
Start with the Big Conclusion First
To avoid just listing things chronologically, state the final result of your career or project before you explain how you started.
Start with: "The main success I bring is [Main Result]; I specifically focus on making [Type of Change] happen for [Target Group]."
Quick Tip: Never start your value pitch with "I began my career doing..." because that immediately makes the listener enter a passive mode of just receiving history, instead of actively looking for a solution.
Filter Jargon for Real Usefulness
Overly complex talk hides a lack of clear thinking; real leaders show their skill by turning technical details into clear business benefits. This skill is especially important when communicating your work preferences or explaining how remote capabilities add to your value.
Find three technical terms in your pitch and swap them for "Money Words" (For example, instead of "Improving team coordination tools," use "Cutting down the time spent on paperwork by 10 hours every week.")
Quick Tip: If you cannot explain your value to someone who doesn't know your field in 20 words or less, you are probably using complicated words to hide that you aren't clear on the main point.
Prove Your Value with Evidence of Change
Value isn't just something you have; it’s the measurable gap between the "Bad Situation" (the problem) and the "Better Situation" (your solution).
Use this contrast: "The team was stuck with [Specific Cost/Issue]; I introduced [Your Method], which changed things to [Specific New Metric/Ability]."
Quick Tip: Spend only 20% of your talking time on the "How" (the process) and 80% on the difference between "Before" and "After"; the listener cares about the fix, not the recipe for the pill.
Understanding How the Brain Processes Your Words
What Cognitive Fluency Means
The Idea: Pay attention to how easy or hard it is for someone's brain to take in what you are saying (Cognitive Fluency).
The Danger: When your pitch is messy, it creates mental strain, and the brain sees this as a sign that the idea is untrustworthy or risky, just to save energy. Interview data from 2024 reveals that 39% of candidates create negative impressions due to confidence issues, voice quality, or lack of a smile, which means non-verbal communication failures compound the damage of unclear verbal messaging.
Best Result: Messages that are easy to process lead the brain to think the idea is true, good, and reliable automatically.
Moving to Clear, Step-by-Step Communication
The Idea: Stop just dumping information. Instead, use a clear structure: name a specific problem, then give one strong answer.
The Danger: If you don't have a clear structure, the audience spends all their energy trying to figure out what you mean instead of judging how good your idea is.
Best Result: Clear speaking lowers the "price" of paying attention, making the audience feel mentally relaxed, which makes them more open to your ideas.
What Happens When You Make It Easier
The Idea: Cut out everything that isn't absolutely necessary from your message.
The Danger: If you oversimplify, people might think your idea is actually too simple to solve a big problem.
Best Result: By skipping the confusing decoding process, the listener moves straight to judging your value, making your idea feel natural and correct.
Tools to Help Job Seekers
For Impact
Generic Resume HelperChanges your normal duties into measurable successes by asking smart follow-up questions about money, team size, and final results.
For Relevance
Resume Matching ToolMakes sure your resume is relevant by checking it for key words and skills that hiring managers and software systems look for first.
For Delivery
Interview Practice ToolHelps you structure your past experiences into proven story formats (like STAR) so you can deliver them clearly and confidently.
Common Questions
What if I am changing careers and don't have experience in the new area?
Stop focusing on your old job titles and start focusing on the results you can move to the new job. Figure out what problem the new industry has and explain how your old skills (like planning projects or looking at data) can solve that problem better than someone with typical experience. Your strength is your different point of view, not just your past.
What if I am quiet and feel like I'm "showing off" when I state my value?
Change the focus from yourself to the other person's problem. Instead of saying "I am great at X," use a structure like "I help [Who] achieve [What Result] by fixing [Common Problem]." It stops feeling like bragging when you are offering a clear solution to someone who needs it.
How do I keep my value statement short if I have many different skills?
Find your "Main Connection." Look for the one skill that connects all your different experiences (like "making complicated things run smoothly"). Start with the one result that matters most to the people you are talking to right now. Only mention your other skills if they support that main point as extra proof you are versatile.
Should I use "I" or "we" when describing achievements?
Use "I" for your personal contributions and accomplishments. When discussing achievements, skip the "we" and let the interviewer understand your personal value proposition. You can acknowledge team collaboration while still clarifying what was your specific contribution and responsibility.
How do I communicate value if I don't have metrics or numbers?
Focus on before-and-after contrasts. Describe what the situation looked like before your involvement (the problem) and how it improved after (the solution). For example: "The approval process was taking two weeks and causing delays; I redesigned the workflow, and it now takes three days." The contrast itself shows value even without exact percentages.
What format should I use to present my value proposition?
Prepare three versions of your value proposition: a three-to-five-word tagline (for introductions), a three-to-five-sentence summary (for interviews), and a three-to-five-paragraph story (for deeper discussions). This flexibility lets you adapt to different situations while keeping your core message consistent.
Stop Hiding Behind Complexity
Real professional power isn't about how many complex words you use, but how clearly you can state your Proven Results.
Log into Cruit now to remove the confusing details and create a short, high-impact story about what you achieve that leaders will immediately understand.
Stop hiding your talent behind unnecessary clutter and start talking about the successes that matter.
