Selling Yourself
How to sell yourself face to face in an interview
The interview is your opportunity to sell your strengths, face to
face, to the employer of your choice. The job often goes not to the
best candidate, but to the candidate with the best interview
performance.
At the interview you need to create in the employer a strong
desire to buy your services. Use the interview to feed the
interviewer's needs and make them determined to buy from you. In
general terms sales meetings go well when:
- You know what you want to sell
- You know what the other person wants to buy and why
- You actually have what the buyer wants and can present it in
ways that appeal to the buyer
Each interview needs careful preparation in advance and a style
of presentation that is flexible enough to respond to what you find
out about the buyer at the meeting.
Selling to Different Types of Interviewer
The Personnel Manager
Personnel Managers are often the first to see you and usually
recommend which candidates are short-listed and which fall by the
wayside. They also usually have a say in the job offer.
Their role is to present a strong shortlist of candidates to
the line manager, to check cultural fit with the organisation and
to weed out unsuitable candidates.
The Line Manager
This is the person who will hire you and who you will work for.
They will want to pick someone who they and the people who work
for them can work with; can make an immediate contribution; can do
the job well; won't cause any trouble; and can help them solve
their problems.
Your approach to Line Managers should be to:
- Listen to them.
- Talk their language.
- Find out their problems and show how you can help to solve
them.
- Remember that they may not be very experienced at
interviewing. Feed them the information they need. Don't make
them search for the right questions.
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