Last updated: 13 October 2026
You might know you’re organised, good with people or able to solve problems. But when someone asks what you could bring to a role, it can be surprisingly difficult to explain.
Being able to communicate your value is about the difference you make: what you’re good at, how you use it and why it matters to the people you work with.
A list of skills only tells part of the story. Saying “I’m organised” tells someone much less than explaining how you helped a team manage competing deadlines or made a process easier for colleagues to use.
In this article, value means your contribution at work. The aim is to find specific examples and language that help others understand what you can offer.
Identify the contribution you make
Think about occasions when your work has helped someone else. You might have solved a problem, explained something complicated, improved a process or helped a colleague do their job.
Ask yourself:
- What do people regularly ask for my help with?
- What knowledge or experience do I draw on?
- Which contributions have I found most satisfying?
- What became easier or better because of what I did?
Choose two or three examples and note what you did and the difference it made. Feedback from colleagues, clients or managers can help you identify contributions you might otherwise overlook.
Connect your contribution to what others need
Consider your organisation, prospective employer or client’s aims:
- Who benefits from your work?
- What pressures are they under?
- What problems are they trying to solve?
- How could your skills and experience help?
- Why would that matter to them?
For example, “I’m a good communicator” is a broad claim. An illustrative example makes the contribution clearer:
“I rewrote the instructions we sent to new customers after noticing that the same questions kept coming up. Customers could follow the process more easily, and the team spent less time answering repeat enquiries.”
This shows how someone used their communication skills and why their work was useful. For an employer trying to improve customer service, it also provides relevant evidence of what they could contribute.
You can use this approach in a CV, a job interview, a conversation with a potential client or a discussion about your responsibilities at work. Choose examples that relate to the needs of the person you’re speaking to.
Communicate your value in an interview
The STAR method helps you structure examples when answering interview questions:
- Situation: Briefly describe the context.
- Task: Explain what you needed to do.
- Action: Describe the steps you took.
- Result: Explain what happened and the difference you made.
You can add an extra R for relevance: explain how that experience relates to the role you’re applying for. Here, relevance means connecting your example to the employer’s needs; it is different from reflecting on what you learnt.
For the customer instructions example above, you might add:
“I understand that improving the customer experience is a priority for your team. That experience would help me identify where customers are having difficulties and work with colleagues to improve the information they receive.”
You don’t need to add this to every answer. Use it where the connection would help the interviewer understand what you could contribute.
For more help structuring your examples, read my guide to using the STAR method.
Try it with one example
Choose one line from your CV or an interview answer you’re preparing. Does it simply name a skill, or does it explain how you used it and why it mattered?
Rewrite it to include what you did, the difference it made and, where relevant, how it could help the employer you’re approaching. Use details you can support from your experience.
If you’d like help identifying and explaining what you can bring to a role, find out about my application and interview coaching.
