When you are searching for a job
and interviewing make no mistake about it, you are selling a product and that
product is you; your resume is your product literature and brochure. When you
get your head around this concept you’ll see the hiring and interview process
differently. What is a brochure supposed to do? It lists product features, what
the product can do and the benefits that can result from obtaining and
utilizing the product. But that is all a good resume is meant to do, to draw
attention to the product for further consideration. A brochure by itself is rarely
reason enough to attract a buyer and that’s where you come in.
How you present yourself is about
much more than what you wear to the interview. Too many people think a good
resume and some luck is what it takes to find a job and too many people rely on
luck more than anything else. It’s easy to blame bad luck when you should be
brave enough to look in the mirror for how to improve your chances. Sometimes
timing, good or bad is a factor but if there is luck it is because you create
your own. Don’t fool yourself and don’t pin your hopes on a lifeless piece of
paper, it’s just a piece of the puzzle. In the best case your resume can open
doors and help you gain access but once there is curiosity, when you enter the
interview process and it’s your turn, you’re up, what are you going to do with
the opportunity? How can you know if you are relying too much on your resume?
Ask yourself what happens when at the beginning of an interview when you're asked, “Tell me
about yourself”. If all you do is recite what’s already on your resume, then
you are relying on it too much. And if all you are doing is reciting back what they
already have, there isn’t much of a reason for you to be there, is there? It might
be good enough and work occasionally but in a very competitive job market,
relying on that strategy isn’t enough. Is this the best you can do? No, you can
do much better if you choose to. As any accomplished salesperson can tell you
selling is a process, there is a plan, you'll present your experience and abilities in the best possible manner while also watching and listening for
buying signs to react to, so that by the end of the process they recognize you
are the best solution.
Some people think applying sales
and selling logic is tawdry or cheap as they might have negative perceptions
about the concept of selling or sales people but I suggest that is a perception
based more on a bad past experience and a lack of developed negotiating skills
especially as it relates to closing the deal. Another attribute of a good
salesperson is resilience in the face of rejection. If you are interviewing it
is likely you will be told “no” more often than you will hear “yes”.
Provided that you are qualified
for any job you are applying for, there are valid reasons why someone else
might get a job offer instead of you. They might have more experience than you,
they might have more accomplishments than you or a better education and
experience combined, but losing in a close contest because they had better
presentation and negotiating skills shouldn’t be one of them. This is one area
you can absolutely influence and if you don’t invest a little time or are too
lazy to better develop your abilities, then you don’t want it bad enough.
There are formulas for how to
capitalize on a buying sign and other formulas for bringing a negotiation to an
effective closure and they are known as “closes”. Are you familiar with using
an Assumptive Close as a tool to help gain the next interview? Do you know how
to use an Alternate Close to get a commitment? When is it the right time to go
for a Direct Close? You might already be doing it without realizing it. In the
next series of blog entries well talk about some of these, just some of the
basics, how and when to use them.
Another good trait of an
accomplished salesperson; they believe in the product they are selling and have
confidence in what they claiming it can do. Do you have confidence and think
you are the best solution for the companies you want to work for? Prove it.
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