How to market yourself for your dream job!

Applying for jobs can be stressful, especially if you consider the number of people vying for the same position. The competition is tough and that is why it is important to be able to sell yourself to potential employees. This could be daunting. You don’t want to come across as arrogant or desperate. However, there are 5 easy ways that you can show off your skills and prove that you are the best candidate for the job! 

1. Understand the job requirements

It is important to know what the position you are applying for entails. This ensures that you understand the role and are sure that you have the relevant skills and experience to apply. You can then tweak your CV to highlight the specific skills that are relevant to the job you want. 

You should also do your research on the company you are applying to. You need to make sure that the company and its policies align with what is important to you. Being able to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of the position and company to the interviewer will show how serious you are.

2. Look the part

Many potential employers will form their first impression of you based on how you look. A good image will set the right tone for the interview. Dressing appropriately and looking neat and presentable will show that you are serious about clinching the position. Charlotte Quenet-Meintjes, General Manager at Workaway International South Africa says, “You should avoid bright colors and patterned clothes – try sticking to colours like grey, white and blue as these are more professional and show sophistication and maturity. She also recommends not wearing excessive jewellery, ensuring your hair and nails are clean and neat. 

Looking good will also make you feel good and this will help you project confidence. Pay attention to your body language which sometimes speaks louder than words. Eye contact, hand motions, posture and tone of voice—are critical when selling yourself.

3. Identify your strengths and weaknesses

This question is guaranteed to come up in an interview. This is also one of the most difficult questions to answer. Most people don’t want to admit to their weaknesses, as this might undermine their standing. And most people shy away from talking about their strengths, for fear of coming across as conceited. This is, however, the perfect opportunity to define yourself! 

An employee would prefer to hire someone who knows what they bring to the table and can recognize what they need to work on. They need to see that you are capable of self-reflection and can understand and leverage your strengths and acknowledge and learn from your weaknesses. 

Coming up with a list of strengths and weaknesses ahead of the interview is crucial. Consider where you shine in the workplace, tasks that you perform well and get the most compliments on. These will all assist you in defining what your strengths are. Consider illustrating how that strength would be relevant in the particular position. Then look at the areas where you struggled previously and the steps you took to work on them. Look at how you have grown and what you have done to learn from it. 

When you are in the interview, keep your list short and to the point. Focus only on the points that are relevant to the position. 

4. Develop a script to show your experience 

It is always in your best interest to identify your skills and experiences so that you can illustrate how suited you are for the position you are applying for. Look at the list of jobs you have had before and identify what you have learned from each of them. 

Once you have listed your experience, look at how your experience accommodates the position you are applying for. Make sure that you rearrange them from the most relevant and create explanations for each example. Use this as guidelines so that you are clear in the interview. 

5. Using scenarios or anecdotes when talking about your skills

In your interview, you can expect to be asked behavioural questions. These are posed as questions about what you would do in certain scenarios. These questions are essential for the interviewer to determine how you would react in certain situations and whether you can think on your feet. Examples include how you would handle a difficult customer or co-worker, what would you do if there is a delay in the food service, etc. 

Be sure to explain what you would do and support it with examples of how this worked in the past. Do not forget to share the feedback you received from managers and fellow staff and how your solutions or recommendations benefited the business.