I was sitting with Katy during our 1:1 coaching session last month.

She was a final-year trainee, yet when I asked her to tell me about her unique strengths, she froze.

"I'm just a standard trainee," she said. "I haven't really done anything special."

Twenty minutes later, after some careful questioning, we'd uncovered three exceptional projects she'd led, a committee role where she'd made significant impact, and clinical expertise that set her apart from other candidates.

The transformation in her confidence was immediate.

Three weeks later Reader, she got the job.

This pattern repeats itself constantly in my coaching sessions. Trainees and locum consultants often underestimate their contributions. They think their work is "just standard" or "nothing special".

It's the biggest blind spot I see in consultant interview prep - and it's costing people their dream jobs.

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The "Nothing Special" Trap

When I ask candidates about their unique selling points, the most common response is some version of:

"I don't have anything unique to offer. I've just done the normal training pathway like everyone else."

This belief is not only false; it harms your interview performance.

The truth is that no two medical careers are identical. Your specific combination of experiences, projects, and approaches is unique to you. But you've been so close to your own journey that you've lost perspective on what makes it special.

Think about it: you've worked in over 20 different jobs throughout your training. Each post has influenced your clinical practice, teamwork, and view of healthcare delivery in unique ways.

Your challenge isn't creating uniqueness - it's recognising the uniqueness that's already there.

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The Specificity Solution

The key to discovering your USPs lies in specificity. Vague descriptions hide your achievements; details reveal them.

Consider these two descriptions of the same project:

Version 1: "I did an audit on improving pain relief given to people in ED."

Version 2: "I led an audit on analgesia in ED with a team of seven people. I audited 300 patients over a 30-day period and found only 20% of those requiring analgesia received it promptly. After implementing x, y, and z, this improved to 80% within six months, reducing ED waiting times and improving patient satisfaction scores."

The first version sounds ordinary. The second sounds impressive - yet they describe the same work.

The difference? Specificity.

When preparing your examples, include:

• Exact numbers (people involved, patients affected)
• Precise timeframes
• Measurable outcomes
• Your specific role and responsibilities
• Challenges overcome
• Lasting impact

This level of detail transforms "standard" experiences into compelling evidence of your capabilities.

Remember: the panel has no idea what your projects looked like unless you tell them. They'll fill in the blanks with their own assumptions, which are usually less impressive than the reality.

Specificity is your secret weapon against invisibility.

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The Hidden USPs in Plain Sight

Many candidates overlook valuable experiences. They often see them as mundane or "part of the job."

Committees you've sat on, guidelines you've contributed to, teaching programmes you've developed - these all demonstrate senior-level skills that panels are looking for.

One candidate I worked with dismissed her role as rota co-ordinator as "just admin." When we explored it further, it emerged that she'd redesigned a dysfunctional rota system for 15 doctors, negotiated with management to secure additional locum funding, and reduced rota gaps by 80% through creating good Clinical Fellow posts.

That's not "just admin" - that's leadership, negotiation, and system improvement.

Look for your hidden USPs in:

• Committee roles (how many people, how often, what impact?)
• Teaching responsibilities (formal and informal)
• Quality improvement work (even small-scale projects)
• Guidelines developed
• Service changes
• Resource management challenges

The experiences you take for granted often contain your most compelling USPs.

Your uniqueness isn't about having done extraordinary things - it's about articulating ordinary things extraordinarily well.

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From Invisible to Indispensable

Recognising and articulating your USPs transforms your interview performance. When you have a deep belief in your unique value, it radiates through every answer you give.

The panel doesn't want to hire someone who's "just like everyone else." They want someone who brings specific strengths to address their specific challenges.

When you highlight your USPs clearly and confidently, you stand out. You become not just another candidate, but the answer to their problems.

Remember Katy? In her feedback after getting the job, the panel told her they were impressed by her "clear understanding of her own strengths" and how she could apply them to departmental challenges.

The same strengths had always been there - the difference was that now she could see them too.

Your uniqueness isn't something you need to create. It's something you need to uncover, articulate, and own.

Instead of saying "I have nothing special to offer"...start recognising the exceptional value you've been building throughout your entire career.

Your USPs are waiting to be discovered. And when you find them, they'll change everything.

Want to join the waitlist for the next AYCI Academy? You can do that here - if you do...use your email address Reader

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Talk soon,

Tessa

P.S. If you haven't yet, check out my free 5 day email course to give you a Crash Course To Ace Your Consultant Interview.

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