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Picture this: you're in a high-stakes job interview, your heart's racing, your armpits are sweating, and your stomach is in knots because you can’t help but feel like a walking billboard every time you open your mouth to talk about yourself. You know you’re supposed to flaunt your accomplishments and achievements like you’re the best thing since sliced bread, but you’d much rather disappear.
If that sounds alot like how you feel when job searching, join the club. Many of us shudder at the idea of selling yourself. But here’s the good news: You don’t need to become a salesperson to land your dream job. There’s a better, more genuine way to stand out and get hired. So, if you’d like to skip the “salesy” part and still land a new job, here’s an alternative approach:
How often do you skim a job description before clicking apply? If skimming and instantly applying is a normal routine for you, then it’s time to stop doing that. The truth is, there’s always a reason behind the job description. Perhaps the company needs a new strategy for business partnerships or a new leader to guide them along their team’s restructuring. Or, maybe they’d like to overhaul their customer experience journey and need a director to captain the change.
Whatever the need is, if you want to shift from awkward sales pitches to confident conversations, your job is to discover their challenges before you even apply for the position. Sure, you might find that many roles with similar titles have similar challenges, but it’s better to know that with certainty than to skim and assume. Average candidates assume all job descriptions are the same. Top candidates treat each job description uniquely.
When your main focus is selling yourself, you’re often left feeling like you have to put everything on the line–throw it all out there and hope for the best. However, slapping all of your experience on your resume or providing long-winded answers about your background in your interviews can leave recruiters and interviewers overwhelmed and sometimes confused. To truly impress hiring managers, become a memorable candidate, and land job offers, after recognizing the company’s challenges, you need to identify your track record of solutions.
Showing up with solutions, or at the very least knowing how you’ve solved similar challenges in the past, will make you a more compelling candidate than the average candidate who rambles about everything they’ve ever done. Even if you haven’t solved the company’s specific challenges yet, knowing how your previous roles have prepared you to excel in your desired role will still set you apart. Not to mention, gaining clarity on your track record and expertise will lead to more confidence in your skills and accomplishments. And, the more confident you are about your skills and value, the more effortless you’ll be able to speak about yourself without feeling like a salesperson.
If you constantly feel like you have to convince companies to hire you or if you’re always hoping they’ll take a chance on you or worrying that you’ll sound arrogant or boastful whenever you talk about yourself, then it’s time to shift your perspective. You have to take the focus off yourself and start focusing on them. Recognize that your responsibility during the hiring process is to help them make an informed decision about who they should hire, and of course, that person should be you. So rather than viewing talking about yourself as “salesy” or even as a burden or an inconvenience, see it as your way of being helpful and informative.
Think about it like this: the more they learn about your skills and track record, the better they can decide if you're the right fit for the role. Plus, the more confidence and trust they’ll have in you to meet their needs and thrive at their company. Before now, you might have been losing out on opportunities not because you’re not good enough for those roles but because the hiring manager didn’t have enough information or the right information to confidently choose you over the others. To fix this problem, you need to shift your mindset and recognize that sharing your accomplishments isn’t annoying; it’s informative.
So the next time you’re tempted to sell yourself to land a new job, take a deep breath and remember that when you understand the company’s challenges, recognize and believe in your unique value, and focus on sharing your skills in a beneficial way, there’s no need for awkward sales pitches or over-rehearsed spiels. Instead you can show up confidently and authentically and still land exciting job opportunities at companies that recognize and celebrate your value.
Adunola Adeshola coaches corporate high-achievers on how to take their careers to the next level. She is the author of the guide: How to Go From Zero Interviews to Dream Job Offers.
