Competitive Analysis and Benchmarking

Candidate Benchmarking

In the business world, companies obsessively study their rivals to improve their products; in career management, we must do the same.

Benchmarking or comparative analysis of candidates consists of researching the public profiles (mainly on LinkedIn) of professionals who already occupy the position we want.

The objective is not to copy, but to understand what standard of excellence the market has accepted.

If a corporate lawyer wants to make the jump to a prestigious international law firm, he or she should look for profiles of associates currently working there. What is their background? Do they have specific masters degrees, in any country? How do they describe their achievements? Do they use a formal, academic tone or a more modern, business results-oriented one? By analyzing 10 to 15 of these successful profiles, patterns of success can be detected.

If all of them highlight their experience in international arbitration, our candidate will know that any experience, however small, in that specific area must be valued in order to be competitive.

Identifying opinion leaders

Beyond peers, it is crucial to identify and follow the opinion leaders or "Top Voices" in the sector.

These figures, who can range from big tech executives to renowned consultants such as a modern-day Peter Drucker, are trendsetters and often define the language to be used in job interviews.

Keeping abreast of what these references publish and discuss allows the candidate to "sound" up to date.

If global leaders in the logistics industry are discussing "supply chain resilience" and "green logistics," a candidate who incorporates these concepts into their professional statement or during an interview will demonstrate superior strategic vision.

It's not just about having the technical skills for the position, but demonstrating an understanding of the macroeconomic context and global trends affecting the industry, positioning yourself not as a simple implementer, but as a professional with judgment and vision.

Detecting hidden skills

Sometimes, what is essential is invisible in job offers but evident in successful professionals.

Competency analysis allows us to discover "hidden" or tacit skills: those competencies that companies assume or value highly but rarely write explicitly in the job description because they consider them obvious or difficult to define.

Let's imagine that we analyze several successful Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) and notice that most of them mention experience in "Change Management" or "Investor Communication", even though the job offers are focused on accounting and finance.

This tells us that the ability to tell the company's financial story and manage stakeholder expectations is a critical skill for success in that role.

By spotting these competencies in third-party profiles, we can incorporate them into our own resumes, differentiating ourselves from other candidates who merely meet the offer's list of technical requirements, thus showing a much deeper and more sophisticated understanding of the role to which we aspire.

Summary

Candidate benchmarking consists of researching successful profiles on LinkedIn to understand market standards. Analyzing the background and language of professionals already in the desired position reveals patterns of success that we can adapt.

It is vital to identify and follow industry thought leaders to learn about current trends. Incorporating the modern concepts and debates that these references manage allows the candidate to demonstrate an updated strategic vision during the process.

In addition, this analysis allows to discover hidden skills that offers rarely mention explicitly. Detecting these tacit competencies in third-party profiles and adding them to one's own resume helps to differentiate oneself and show a deep understanding of the role.