How To ‘Sell Yourself’ On A Job Interview

How To ‘Sell Yourself’ On A Job Interview

The problem with the phrase “Sell yourself at an interview” is that it makes job-seekers think they have to praise themselves,  push their qualifications on the interviewer, and beg for the job. That is not a good approach.

The only people who will be pleased when you throw yourself at them are interviewers looking for fearful, self-esteem-challenged candidates.

Most managers are looking for a person who believes in himself or herself.

They want to know that you are confident you can do the job — and confident people do not grovel!

Here’s how to “sell yourself” at a job interview: Ask smart and thoughtful questions that show your hiring manager you’re a strong contender for the job.

Your questions will make it obvious that you’ve done these five things:

1. Researched the company online
2. Thought about the job description and the most likely issues and challenges you’ll face in the job
3. Put yourself mentally in the role and imagined what it would be like to do the job day-to-day
4. Anticipated likely questions your hiring manager will ask and are ready to answer each one; and
5. Prepared questions of your own to ask your hiring manager.

Here’s a script that illustrates how Alicia asked questions of her hiring manager, Petra.

Petra: So Alicia, I’ve talked a little bit about this Client Care Specialist role. Do you have any questions for me?

Alicia: Yes, I have a few. My first question is, why do customers get escalated from Customer Care to the Client Care Specialist?

Petra: Great question! Our Customer Care folks are great and they handle a huge volume of phone, web and email inquiries very capably.

However, they cannot help customers with complicated issues. They can quickly determine when a customer needs to talk to a Client Care Specialist, and that’s usually because the problem involves more than one order, there’s a technical problem beyond the level where Customer Care can assist, or the customer is especially angry or upset.

Alicia: Thanks, that is very helpful! So the reason for escalation could be the level of technical complexity involved, the fact that the customer is having an issue with more than one order or the level of anger or emotion the Customer Care person is picking up on the phone.

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