Your Sales Pitch - You're Up!

Selling yourself can be the easiest or the hardest thing you ever do. It’s up to you. Think about it. Most of us have never really been encouraged to talk that much about ourselves and how talented we are. Clients tell me so many times about how hard it is to clearly state their value and accomplishments. Pam for example said the interview question she dreads is "tell me about yourself." She says she's always tongue-tied when she begins to answer. She knows that she's missing out on great opportunities to let others know what value she can bring to the market; however, the nagging word that creeps into her mind is “bragging”.

Let me give you the lowdown on this whole bragging notion......

If you were born and raised in the Midwest, you know exactly what I’m talking about. If not, chances are somewhere along the line parents or teachers drilled into your head that bragging about yourself was bad form. It was showing off and tooting your own horn and parents or teachers were on a mission to put you in your place. It's now time to understand and believe that telling the truth about yourself is a good thing. You've worked hard and you have every right to let the marketplace know! Start putting the marketing of yourself in a new context. Ask yourself; “What do I bring to the market?” “ What is my value to a company?” How do I impact the bottom line? What results have I delivered? Develop your marketing pitch based on the answer to those questions and you'll be ready to hit it out of the park!

"Lost in the Headlights"

New Job Realities

I met Vince for the first time at a networking event last year. He had that “lost in the headlights” look about him as he shyly introduced himself.

It was painful to listen to him stammer through his qualifications. I didn’t know anyone could blush that many colors of red. He told us that his specialty was “utilizing geographical analysis to develop corporate strategy”. None of us had any idea of what that meant and no one asked. The meeting broke up and I ran into Vince in the parking lot. I asked him exactly what his profession was hoping I’d get a better description and this time I did. He explained that he used geographic information and demographics to select store sights of his company i.e. where to put the next McDonald’s or Walgreen’s or Costco. He’s just been laid off and this was the first time he’d looked for a job since college.

He said this was the first networking event he’d ever attended and he was very uncomfortable introducing himself to people he didn’t know. He leaned against his car and shaking his head said that he was highly regarded in his industry, but he’d been in the job market for three months and still hadn’t gotten an interview. He said that people kept telling him that the rules had changed for a job search, but he couldn’t get a handle on what the new rules were. You can probably identify with Vince.

Chances are that the last time you thought about the Career Game, the rules were very different. If you are in a job search you could call the last recruiter you used or answer an ad online and get an interview. The recruiter probably remembered you and even had a file on you. You could get the pertinent information about the position and get scheduled for a face-to-face within a reasonable amount of time. You could probably interview once with the HR manager and once with the hiring manager and that was it. No more!

To be continued.....