Have you ever seen an unusual couple and wondered what did she see in him? It’s not always the best looking guy who gets the girl. So what did he do right? He managed to sell his best qualities, diverting attention away from his poorer attributes to the point that they didn’t matter. His confidence and personality will have drawn her to him.

In the same way, the “best candidate” is not always going to be the one to get that ideal job. So having the best skill set, knowledge and experience won’t always ensure you get the job unless you are able to demonstrate that you are the person that an employer should hire. Less qualified candidates could sell themselves better, and pip you at the post.

To sell yourself to an employer you need to highlight how your skills, experience and knowledge will improve their company. Yet it’s not just this information that’s important, your demeanour will count too. Employers want confident and competent people for the job on offer, but they won’t give you a chance to join their company if you come across as being self-important, boastful and arrogant. Your presentation skills are a key to success.

How to sell yourself successfully:

1. Think about your past work experiences

Take a step back before the interview to analyse your professional accomplishments. Ask yourself questions about what made them so special. Consider how relevant they are to the employer and the role you’ve applied for. In an interview you need to show why your accomplishments matter, and what you’ve learned from a particular experience. If you had targets to meet, tell the employer a concise story of how you managed to reach them.

2. Turn weaknesses into strengths

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It’s good to work hard, but you shouldn’t miss out on other aspects of life. The world offers a number of opportunities beyond your career, so you could choose to take some time out to go globetrotting or to work as a volunteer in the UK or abroad. You don’t have to be a student to do it – nearly anyone can!

Taking a gap year is often seen as something you do before going to university or after leaving it, but it can also be a useful opportunity to explore what you want out of life, to learn new skills and gain new experiences. A number of people are choosing to have a break in their careers, and there’s nothing wrong with that at all. Some are doing it with the blessing of their employers planning to return to their jobs afterwards.

Check out your options

If you are considering a gap year, take some time to think this through before you go ahead with it. Once you have made your decision, find out if you can either request unpaid leave, take a sabbatical or whether you will need to resign from your position. In the current economic climate employers seem more ready to keep key staff on their payroll while allowing them to go away to develop new skills, gain new knowledge and experiences.

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Put simply – cover letters can set you apart from other candidates.

A number of candidates put a lot of time into polishing their CV, forgetting that cover letters are a great chance for you to sell yourself in more detail for that specific job. In your letter you can draw attention to your most saleable attributes whilst explaining why you are applying for the role.

What Should you Include?

If you’ve worked in a customer services environment you may have excelled against your targets to answer a certain number of calls, or perhaps you were measured against their outcomes. Did you succeed in helping your employer’s customers, and did you help to improve customer satisfaction? You may also have undertaken some training to increase your abilities in solving customer queries that will be useful to your new employer.

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It’s not just skills and experience that keep you in your job but how you click with your boss and colleagues. Here’s how to keep the chemistry alive…

Chemistry – whether it’s between lovers, friends, colleagues, or you and your boss – if you don’t have it, then your relationship could suffer. Unfortunately, it’s not something you can magic up or fake – you either have it or you don’t. Those relationships that thrive most easily are ones where there is a natural spark, a connection that is reciprocated, and it applies equally to work relationships as it does to personal ones.

You may have all the skills, experience and qualifications in the world, but if there is no chemistry, the relationship is likely to fizzle out. It’s what attracts employers to you in the first place – right from your first meeting in the interview room – if you click, you could be on the road to employment.

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20 April 2010 – Jobsite.co.uk are proud to announce the launch of an interactive version of its job search and careers advice service on Freesat, the subscription-free digital satellite TV service.

The new Jobsite service can be accessed by Freesat viewers who connect their HD receiver to their home broadband connection. The Jobsite service can be found on Teletext Channel 986 and offers job seekers a quick and easy job search, together with careers advice.

Users can search for jobs by job title, location, contract type and date added to the site – from the last two hours to the previous seven days. The service will soon be enhanced to include an interactive video interview practice with leading business bosses, such as Duncan Bannatyne.

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