College students, young professionals, and aspiring career builders often look for ways to make themselves more valuable and more viable hires. One of the best ways to improve your career potential is to find a specific niche for yourself. But what exactly does this mean? And how can you leverage this to create a better career path for yourself?

What Is a Niche?

What is a niche? A niche is just an area of specialization, defined by your responsibilities, skills, and position. For example, you might learn VMRS coding rather than a programming language or type of coding that’s well suited for a variety of applications.

In a practical context, a career niche could take many forms. You could do a highly specialized type of work that no one else can do. You could target an audience that no one else is targeting. You could even create your own industry with the right entrepreneurial mindset and a solid business plan.

But why is finding a niche so important and how can you find one that works for you?

Specialization vs. Generalization

The easiest way to consider the benefits of choosing a niche is to evaluate the benefits of specialization versus generalization.

Specialists and generalists each have unique strengths and weaknesses. As a generalist, you’ll open the door to far more opportunities and in many ways, you’ll be more versatile. But as a specialist with a unique niche, you’ll see the following benefits:

•   Differentiation. Having a niche set of skills is going to differentiate you from your competitors. Imagine you’re applying for a job with 20 other applicants. Most of these applicants have a similar background and a similar set of skills, but you have a niche set of skills that’s perfectly suited for the job. In most cases, this will give you a tremendous advantage in getting hired.
•   Limited competition. Along similar lines, focusing on a niche set of skills means you’ll deal with less competition. There are plenty of freelance writers to choose from if you’re interested in generic, entry-level topics, but if you want someone to write about a specific topic like freight shipping or volcanic activity, you’ll need someone highly specialized and knowledgeable.
•   Higher pay. For the most part, focusing on a niche will entitle you to higher pay. There are fewer people available for this work and this work requires greater effort and development, so it only makes sense that you’ll deserve a higher rate.
•   Greater focus. Most people thrive in jobs where they can focus their efforts on a single task or set of tasks. Having too many general responsibilities, or competing priorities, quickly becomes overwhelming and unfulfilling. As a niche specialist, most of your day will be occupied with your chosen area of specialty, leading to higher job satisfaction.

Finding a Niche for Yourself

So how can you choose a niche for yourself?

Some niches are more valuable than others, so consider the following when evaluating your options:

• Demand. Keep job demand in mind when selecting a niche to study. There are some niches that are so obscure and so rare that job opportunities are limited. Prioritize niches that are currently in high demand, with a trajectory of growth for the future. Look at current job availability as well as predictions for the next 10-20 years.
• Competition. Next, think about the competition that you’re going to face. How many people have this skill? How many applicants will you be competing with when a new job opens up? Will you have a way to differentiate yourself from these other competitors?
• Accessibility. Finally, consider accessibility. In other words, how easy is it for you or someone else to learn this set of skills? In some ways, if this niche is hard to learn, you can benefit – it means you’ll have less competition in the long run. But you may also prioritize learning a niche that functions as low-hanging fruit, offering few, if any, barriers to entry.
• Salary/wage. Salary is usually a byproduct of the above three factors, but it’s still worth considering independently.

If you’re not sure where to start, the best way to learn about new career niches is through other people.

• Mentors. Consider finding yourself a mentor in a general industry you choose. Mentors will provide you with guidance, advice, and direction, introducing you to aspects of the industry you’ve never considered before and helping you find your place in it.
• Coworkers. If you’re already working for an employer, you can ask your coworkers for some advice or to relay some of their experiences. They may have enough experience to recommend a niche with no competition or share their personal experiences.
• Thought leaders. Take a look at thought leaders in your chosen industry, reviewing their social media posts, their blogs, and their other content. Are they specializing in a specific niche that inspires you? Is there something obviously missing from the content being produced?

Choosing an edge isn’t always easy, especially if you’re not sure what you want to do in the first place. But becoming a specialist, rather than a generalist, has too many benefits to ignore. If you want to make more money, deal with less competition, and ultimately be more satisfied in your work, selecting a specialized niche for yourself is the best path.