HR expert shares the biggest mistake people make when talking about themselves during a job interview
Britt Jones
Featured Image Credit: Getty Stock Images
A HR expert has come out to explain the number of mistakes job seekers make when attending a job interview, and her advice is golden.
It’s hard being a candidate these days, with the economy looking like a sea of uncertainty, the job market on its toes and unemployment yet to reach pre-pandemic levels.
It can be difficult to know how to sell yourself to a company that has hundreds, if not thousands, of other applicants.
That’s why getting it right the first time around is essential.
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One of the most important aspects of the recruitment process is the dreaded interview.
When you have to appear in front of one or more people who pick the most difficult questions to ask you about your credentials and experience.
This is where you need to be on your A game.
According to Tessa White, a career coach with over 20 years of experience as a HR professional, as well as being the founder of The Job Doctor, you need to be ‘crystal clear on their value proposition.’
This is the first thing she does when she works with her own clients.
White explained that selling yourself can lead to the number one mistake you can make.
She shared that thinking your value proposition is weighed by the tasks you’ve done before in other roles that can be transferred to this job, is wrong.
This is because it can limit your negotiation power as ‘your leverage is in your outcomes’.
White said: “When somebody goes in to get a job and they say, ‘I’ve done this before and I’m really good at it,’ that doesn’t mean anything. That’s just white noise.”
Instead, you should realize that ‘the language of business is numbers.’
She went on to explain how you need to explain problems you solved in your previous role, and what the outcome was.
If it’s backed by numbers, then you should show them off too.
For example, if your interview is for the role of someone who needs to have experience in introducing a company to a new market, show them the numbers of before your last company entered a market and after.
White shared: “In my last job, I did this, and I was able to gain 12% penetration in this particular target market with a 98% retention rate of customers.
“All of a sudden, I want that [candidate].”
White went on to say: “If I’m applying for a job and I go and say, ‘I’ve done HR for 20 years, and I know how to do business succession planning and recruiting and training’ — everybody on their resumes has that experience.
“But if I go in and I say, ‘I’m the person that you hire if you’re a company that wants to go fast and go public, and you need to build up your departments and make sure they can scale quickly’ — I’m all of a sudden the top candidate for the job, instead of just another person who has 20 years [of experience].”
Essentially, she wants you to ‘give me your professional highlights reel, not your job description.'
The expert concluded: “If you’re clear on your value proposition and you can clearly articulate what the company gets if they hire you, and the problems you can solve and the skills you have to solve those problems for the company, you will be able to negotiate much higher pay.”