Are you selling yourself in an interview?

Throughout my corporate career I have attended many sales training courses and the ”3 step sales process” always stuck with me....

1.   Sell – sell the features and benefits

2.   Give the detail

3.   Sell again – remind them of the key features and benefits and don’t end on a negative

It has always made sense to me and even if you are not a sales person you follow this process daily in your lives, you just don’t realise it!

Unfortunately, most people forget this when it comes to an interview......it all goes out the window as we start to prepare and we forgot that the main purpose is to sell ourselves.

You easily forget that in an interview you are selling yourself and not simply regurgitating what’s on your CV. So most people focus their preparation on the detail and the things they have achieved in their career. Most people don’t prepare well for the start and the end of the interview when you really need to sell sell sell. This is the key bit.... if you don’t sell yourself at the start and the end then they will quickly forget the bit in the middle.

Research tells us that interviewers make their decision on these factors...

•      45% based on appearance and the impression you make

•      35% on being organised, prepared and clear that you really want the job

•      10% on your work experience

•      10% on your education and training

So 80% of the decision is based on how you act, what you look like and how you come across in the early part of the interview. How many people focus 80% of their preparation time on these factors?

I have never rejected someone at interview based on whether or not they have the experience to do the job. That’s what their CV is for and I have decided that in advance. I base my decision on whether they have prepared, if they really want the job and if they will be a good fit with me and the team.

Focus on being yourself, selling yourself and the rest will fall into place.

Matt

matt@jaylewla.com