Don't Sell Yourself

Every time I hear one of the self-proclaimed human resources experts tell job seekers to sell themselves I cringe. Not to be crass, but the only people who truly sell themselves are prostitutes. In training that I provide to job applicants, I tell them that if they have to sell themselves, they are pushing the wrong product.

Nobody likes to be sold anything; they want to buy the things they need and want being sure to get the best values for their dollar. As wise consumers, we want to feel that we make good purchases. I have never heard anyone boast about how they fell for a snazzy sales pitch. Usually, such confessions are shared with a sense of embarrassment and a large dose of buyer’s remorse.

Similarly, as a purchaser of services from employees, I am tasked with making wise selections. The last thing I want to do is get fooled by someone passing themselves off to be something they are not. Hiring the wrong employee is expensive and draining to an employer’s resources leading to the worst type of buyer’s remorse.

Wise consumers do their research and make intelligent choices among the options they are provided. In the same manner, human resources professionals must make the best use of the most effective tools available to make intelligent choices among the applicants available. That includes maximizing the utility of the interview process.

Skillful interviewers are responsible for making positive matches between what applicants have to offer in terms of knowledge, skills, and abilities and those required in the job. Since good interviewers know the limitations of the interview process and that applicants are doing their best to represent themselves in the most positive light, they guard against being unduly influenced by glitzy pitches. A basic tenet of human resources work known among professionals is that any possible issues with a candidate identified in an interview will be magnified on the job.

Professionals want to hire hard working, well-qualified applicants who demonstrate a willingness to learn along with a willingness to accept direction and correction and get along with coworkers. These are the things that a job applicant needs to demonstrate in a job interview and they cannot be faked.

Products with good reputations are purchased for their quality. Weak products with poor reputations have to be pushed, or sold to unwary, unsuspecting, unprepared buyers. Good interviewers are not unwary, unsuspecting, or unprepared, so don’t try to sell them. Do a good job of assessing your qualifications and a realistic comparison of those qualifications to the job requirements and demonstrate that match in your application. Then when you get an interview, you don’t have to sell anything, you just continue to demonstrate how you match up with what the employer needs.