How to Sell Yourself In a Job Interview.

What is the most effective way to communicate during a job interview? For starters, realize the biggest problem most people have in job interviews is not that they said something stupid, it's not that they stuck their foot in their mouth. The biggest problem most people have is they just don't leave any impression. The person doing the interview is maybe talk to 5, 10, 15 people and you just get forgotten because you blend in. Nothing stood out because everyone had a good enough resume to warrant an interview. Now you got the interview and just nothing stood out. So you've got to spend most of your time figuring out how can you not avoid saying something wrong, but how can you proactively go on the offensive to make a strong positive impression? For starters, do your homework on the organization. If it's worth that person's time to see you, and it's worth your time to go see them. Spend some time doing research on the company. Don't just go to their website. Of course, go to the website, look at their recent press releases, but also google the company. See what has been in the news about them so you can really be up on it. Google their competitors. Be ready to talk about it intelligently. Next, come in with an agenda. A strategy I've used with clients that's highly effective is not in an arrogant way, but go in as if you've already been hired as a consultant. Talk about what you like about the company, why you are excited about the company, and then focus on one area and it could be a government agency as well. Talk about what you like about the organization and then come up with specific proposals on how you think you can help something be even better. I would even go so far as to have a memo, a couple page memo on ideas you have to do the job even better. Now, is it possible you step on someone's toes or they think, oh, these aren't original ideas? It's possible. But it's also possible that the person interviewing you says, wow, that took real initiative. This person's thought about us. This person is already giving us value. Let's hire them, or at least let's bring them in for the next round because they're really a cut above. So give it some real thought. Think about how you can actually help this organization. Because here's the reality. The person interviewing you doesn't really care about you. That person cares about himself, herself. Cares about the organization, is looking for ways to help the organization accomplish its mission, whether it's make more money or solve a housing crisis. If it's a government housing agency, you're looking out for the interest of the organization. So the sooner you can make the case that you've really given thought to this organization's mission and how you can help it, the more likely it is you've elevated your position in the interviewer's mind. So go into this proactive. Have something interesting to say. Have something intelligent to say. Come up with ideas. Even bad ideas are better than no ideas in a job interview.