Last week while speaking at a conference, one attendee took me to task when I talked about having a sales minded approach to your job search and your interview. Where the discussion went then is not important right now, but I confess it made me think a bit. OK…time’s up. No, I am not changing my opinion. Yet the point does deserve some clarification.
When I say “sales minded” I am not talking about snake oil or used cars on corner lots. I am talking about high trust relationship selling where the presenter (the job seeker) leads the buyer (the hiring manager) into a “buy” decision. People don’t like being sold to, but they LOVE buying.
This comes from making a solid connection with rapport, establishing a good understanding of the buyer’s need and your solution/value proposition. Then, as any good high dollar sales pro can do, LISTEN more for the rest of the need. Listen twice as hard as you speak; easy to do since we are equipped with two ears and one mouth.
