Online Business Ideas and Home Business Tips |
Self Marketing For Job Interviews Posted: 30 Apr 2012 12:47 AM PDT I've been in recruiting for Fifteen years. For people who don't know, a headhunter (exact same thing as a recruiter) goes out and finds very specific people to fill very specific positions at client companies. If we should pull that off, there happens to be nice commission built in, and of course if we don't, well, we starve. So, recruiters end up very capable of not only finding qualified people (the easier, not easy, part) but (the most important part) at preparing those individuals to talk about all the right things in response to their phone interview questions and later face-to-face meetings. I'm a great believer in marketing an applicant (That's recruiter-talk for the person seeking the position) utilizing a cohesive marketing plan. This involves three key components: The 30-second Elevator Pitch, The 180-second Tell Me a Little Bit About Yourself, and The Resume. All three are created focusing on the most impressive, specific achievements of the applicant. To start with, looking back over job history, and only the career history that corresponds to the job being sought, identify the three highest impact specific successes. These really need to be examples of going above and beyond that really stick out. Also, they should include specific numbers whenever possible. For instance, "I was the # 1 producing sales representative out of Five-hundred in 2004 for producing over $50 million throughout my territory. That was a gain of over 36% from the previous year." Most people probably don't have something that ideal, but get as near to that particular mark as you possibly can. It could be "I ran a $10 million dollar company with 87 employees for 7 years." Now, list out those three items in order from greatest to least. The Elevator Pitch is a short 20 to 30 second initial introduction that's used during a call when contacting a new person. In quick order, give your name, the number of years you have been in your profession, a single line version of the best accomplishment, and the reason you are calling. It might sound along these lines, "Hello, I'm Dean Jawarski. I've been an executive recruiter for 15 years. During that time I've placed over 200 software engineers at X company alone. I was wondering if we could speak about any positions you may have available?" If that goes well, that pitch might turn into a conversation or otherwise lead to one being scheduled. "Tell me a little bit about yourself", stands out as the beginning question of most interviews. It's a wide open opportunity to set the tone for what is to follow. Again, repeat the elevator pitch, but this time get deeply into all three of your major accomplishments in depth. It should take two or three minutes. Then end it with a statement that those accomplishments as well as your work history on the whole are what make you a very good fit. As far as the resume, it should also be made to highlight those three major accomplishments as well as perhaps two more. Many interviewers will use the resume as a general road map for that conversation going down it in order. If they do, this sheet of paper will lead them right to all the successes mentioned earlier. All things considered, the net result is an exceedingly concise and well put together presentation of all your best strengths that has been stated and restated several times. |
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