… And You Are?
Beyond the looking glass
If you’ve been searching for a job for any length of time and if you’ve been paying attention, you’ve probably come across the notion that during this process what you’re actually doing is selling yourself.
At one recent jobs program, the presenter starting by asking for a show of hands: “How many of you are in sales?” he asked. Despite only a smattering of hands going up, the correct answer, of course, was everyone. All job seekers are in sales and the product that they’re selling is themselves.
Do you want to buy a… Me?
Inherent in the actual sales process and critical to sales success – and this is true no matter what the product is, if you’re selling shoes, cars or nuclear power plants – you must believe in your product. Before you can convince any prospective customer to make that purchase, you have to convince yourself that your product is the best possible choice.
So then, let’s go back to where we started. A job search is a sales effort and the product is you!
This sales process is no different from any other sales effort. Before you can sell yourself to a prospective employer, you must believe that your product (you) is the best choice for that prospective buyer (employer) to purchase (hire). And this may be the hard part. Before you can successfully sell yourself, you have to know what you’re selling. What are your strong points? What are your weaknesses? The answers to those questions will surface at one time or another.
If you can’t convince yourself that you’re the best possible choice for the job, how can you expect that employer to make that leap of faith? This may take some soul searching, some mock interviewing, some job coaching – otherwise known as work – to make it happen. But if you don’t believe in yourself, no one else will either.
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