Much current education focuses on teaching a level of general transferable skills needed for many jobs, such as communication, teamworking and time management. As these skills are crucially important for all of us, it’s sensible for education to focus on them.

However this focus on general skills and the basic qualities required for a range of jobs may lead some to overlook the desirability of also having specialist skills and something unique to offer. And in a market where everybody has been taught the importance of good general skills, it will be specialist skills and those things that are unusual about you that can make the difference.

Much is made of uniqueness in business education when thinking about products and brands; businesses are asked ‘what is the unique selling point of the product or brand?’ and told ‘Without a unique selling point, there is no reason why the customer should buy the product. How can they know it is any different from the others?’.

In the same way, you need to have some idea of where your potential is for distinguishing yourself from all those other workers who have good general skills.

This following exercise asks you to consider that.

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