Hello everyone! It’s DeAnne here. Today, I am coming to you from my back porch in Texas, my sanctuary, my oasis. I jokingly say that I bought my back porch, and the house came with it. Yep, I spend a bunch of time out on the porch, and it adds so much joy and value to my life and the lives of my family. There have been many pumpkins carved, watermelons eaten, coffee consumed, and birds spotted, in addition to laughter and tears shared. From this spot, I want to see if I can decode the concept of ‘Features vs. Benefits’ for your career or job search journey, using my back porch as a simple, relatable analogy. After all, it is very important when establishing your unique value to understand the difference between your unique features and the benefits you bring to “show what you know”.
**Understanding Features: The Back Porch**
My back porch is more than just a part of my house. It is a feature that adds immense value to my everyday life. It’s spacious, probably as big as my living room, with great views of the pink Lafter roses, kitchen garden, all kinds of trees, the old treehouse, and a dear path through a dry creak adorned with artwork, comfy chairs, and a few small tables. However, it’s important to remember much like your qualifications, skills, or experience, and the back porch is just a feature – a tangible fact.
Understanding Benefits: The Back Porch Experience
What are the benefits of this back porch? Ah, there are plenty. It is spacious enough to host birthday parties, countless barbecues, and a battlefield for kids’ water balloon fights. When I am alone, it becomes my serene place to read, watch the birds, listen to the rain, or enjoy some coffee and leave the hustle and bustle behind. Those are the benefits, the experiences, and the value that the feature, my back porch, brings to my life.
Similarly, as a job seeker or business owner, your features might be your years of experience in a field, degrees, or sales skills. But what’s equally important is highlighting the benefits these features can bring to potential customers or hiring managers regarding the problems you solve, the meaningful results you provide, and the differences you make to the stakeholders.
Applying the Features and Benefits Concept in Your Career
For instance, if you have been with a company for ten years, that’s a fantastic feature. But what’s the benefit of that tenure? Have you made a significant difference during those years? Have you won sales competitions or consistently been the top salesperson? Thanks to your features, those achievements are the benefits you bring to your employer.
Or consider your degree. It’s a feature, but unless you can articulate the benefit of that degree, it’s just a line on your resume. For example, a medical degree’s benefit is that it qualifies you to provide professional healthcare services.
Here’s a short table example showcasing features and benefits you would find in a resume or an executive brief:
| Feature | Benefit |
|---|---|
| Strong analytical skills | Ability to analyze complex data and make informed decisions |
| Excellent communication | Effective in conveying ideas and collaborating with team members| |
| Strategic thinking | Capable of developing long-term plans and achieving goals |
| Proven leadership | Ability to inspire and motivate teams to achieve success |
| Adaptability | Quick to adjust to changing circumstances and new challenges |
| Multilingual proficiency | Enables effective communication with a diverse range of clients |
In this example, the features represent the specific skills or qualities of the job seeker or the consultant. The corresponding benefits explain how those features can add value to the organization or project. This table helps highlight the competitive edge of the job seeker or consultant and provides a concise overview of their strengths and the potential benefits they can bring to a role or project.
Combining Features and Benefits for Your Professional Narrative
As you craft your resume, proposal, or letter of interest, remember you are essentially a product. You need to illustrate your features and, more importantly, the benefits of those unique features. Doing so showcases the problems you can solve, the skills you bring, and the accomplishments you’ve achieved for other companies or clients.
So just to recap, the feature is my porch. Still, the benefit is the difference it makes in the experiences and value it brings to my life – the great conversations over coffee, the peaceful reading sessions, the raucous water balloon fights, and the rain, even a snowflake or two. Similarly, your career features are essential, but the benefits of these features provide proof that makes you stand out in your career or job search. I hope this analogy helps you understand the significance of features and benefits. Cheers from my back porch! Have a great day!