Selling Yourself!
Tuesday, November 13th, 2007I taught interviewing skills today at Northeastern University as I have for several years now, but today was different. My class was full of Dean’s list students and leaders of their fraternities and sororities. The level of high achievement was astounding as was their level of sophistication for getting internships to begin their careers.
What struck me was how receptive they were to learning how to sell themselves in the interview process. The concept of embracing their individual uniqueness and communicating that with confidence resulted in some very cool presentations.
The idea of being conscious of word fills like “like…um..& so… struck a chord. Selling themselves through examples of past successes (behavioral questions) took the edge off of the unknown. Understanding their value to the client prospect - doing their due diligence to learn about the prospect prior to the interview made an impact as well.
And the controversy over MySpace and FaceBook was raised. Is it fair for employers to make hiring decisions based upon those? I could see by their eyes, and understand by their silence, how sensitive this issue is today.
Selling…whether direct or indirect- interviewing or hiring- presenting or buying- selling is simple. It’s all about presentation skills, listening and asking the right questions. I was asked if I could do it all over again what I would do different?
My answer is simple…nothing. Sales is my passion as it is yours. If I had had the opportunity to have sales & interview training at the college level who knows? But I celebrate you! Because you care enough to learn and relearn the fun of selling. Sell yourself today! Take a minute and record your unique pitch! It costs you nothing and think of the ROI… Word fills? Not you!