Sell yourself

Know yourself better to sell yourself better
During the interview, the recruiter will evaluate your skills but they will also want to know your motivations, how you work in a team or how you work under pressure. It is easier to talk about what you know than to demonstrate your competencies and qualities. Make sure to prepare: the more you know your strengths and weaknesses to better you will convince the recruiter.

The inventory
Start by listing your strengths: your qualities, your successes etc. Then write about your weaknesses: your areas of improvements, your difficulties etc. It is important to have a concrete example for each of these areas. And remember what is obvious to you, is not necessary obvious for others. Then, try and answer this question ‘Who am I?’ and write a short biography of yourself.

To complete your profile, make sure to ask your friends, family and former colleagues: fresh eyes always bring characteristics you wouldn’t have thought of.

Learn how to speak about yourself
Well, by now, you should know your profile inside and out. The next step is to learn how to talk about it. Train yourself to avoid traps that interviewers will put in place to know how you react to certain situations. If you speak about your successes, always illustrate with facts. Or if you explain a failure, make sure you also say that your learn something from it.

Pessimistic, you always talk negatively about yourself? Shy, you have a tendency to look at your feet when the attention is on you? Be careful, these words and gestures are clues about your personality.
We have the solution for you: record your voice or film yourself. When hearing it or watching your self afterwards, it will all become obvious.

The impression you create : the qualities that make the difference
How do you react in case of conflict? Against criticism? Do you know how to be humble? Enthusiastic?  For employers, your ‘way of being’ is (almost) as important as your technicall skills. During the interview, do not elude personal questions. Just answer simply. And do not forget, do not talk about your listening skills if you keep interrupting the interviewer. And most importantly, do not create a completely different character, stay natural. Be punctual, do not sit down before your told to and ask if you can make notes. Remember to thank the interviewers at the end.