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What can Kamala Harris learn from Donald Trump to win the 2024 presidential election?

Julia Ivy, a Northeastern expert on “boutique employability,” says the vice president needs to find her “edge” by leaning into her unique skills and experiences.

Kamala Harris gestures at a podium while speaking during her campaign.
Vice President Kamala Harris can lose the 2024 elections if she tries to be a good “fit” for the role in traditional sense, a Northeastern expert says. Erin Schaff/The New York Times via AP, Pool

Running for president of the United States is like interviewing for any important job, a Northeastern University expert says.

Above all else, you must distinguish yourself from the competition by emphasizing your unique skills and experiences — and not try to fit a given profile.

Julia Ivy, a professor of international business and strategy at Northeastern University, calls this finding your edge, or “boutique employability.”

Ivy says Vice President Kamala Harris would be smart to use this strategy if she wants to defeat former President Donald Trump.

“She must play her own game,” Ivy says.

Whether a candidate is vying for the Oval Office or a corner office, landing your dream job has changed, according to Ivy, author of “Crafting Your Edge for Today’s Job Market.”

A traditional approach that career counselors still use is to advise their clients to “fit” a given profile, Ivy says.

In this case, president of the United States.

Portrait of Julia Ivy, associate teaching professor at Northeastern University.
Julia Ivy, a professor of international business and strategy at Northeastern, says If a person wants a job — president or otherwise — they must believe they are the No. 1 person for the job. Photo by Matthew Modoono/Northeastern University

In the traditional sense, a president must have a specific list of qualifications — a certain look, level of education, experience, knowledge and skills.

“I would say she [Harris] is in a losing position from a traditional point of view,” Ivy says. “If she’s trying to be a good ‘fit’ for the president, she’s going to lose because our minds believe that this is still a man’s role.”

Hillary Clinton made this mistake eight years ago, Ivy says, by trying to be presidential in a traditional way. 

The traditional approach of trying to convince an employer — in this case the American public — that you’re the right person for a job is becoming obsolete, Ivy says.

Instead, she says, a candidate should use the “boutique employability approach” — pitch oneself emphasizing unique skills and experiences that come from “accumulated personal, social or professional capital.”

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