The Pitfalls of Me Selling Me....

Tuesday, March 8, 2011....


Recently I interviewed for a large company in an industry I've never worked in. I knew I could transfer my skill set into this company, but am terrible at telling people how valuable I could be to them if hired.

I'm actually in awe of people who can do this. If able to really voice my skills without fear of being conceited, the employer would know I'd be a great choice to add to their team. Instead, I remembered my mom's words from childhood and downplayed my abilities.

My mom would constantly tell me that it is wrong to talk about how talented you are at something. Others should tell you, and for her, she wanted constant praising of her looks, abilities, etc... It was years later, in therapy, I learned that talking about your accomplishments doesn't make you conceited or arrogant, and at times I remember this, but not the other day.

I wish I had listened to the words my therapist taught me and gave myself the permission to really cite certain examples of why I'd be asset to this company. Instead, I didn't. It's stupid because I know I love to learn and when tossed into unknown territory, I learn everything I can and have a strange comfort in having to be on my toes at all time.

I also know, after going to the wrong gate for this interview, I will NEVER be able to take a job giving directions to others. Luckily, the gatehouse guard understood how directionally challenged I was and made the directions easy to follow. She knew North, South, East and West were terms I couldn't relate to and used 'left' and 'right' to get me to my final destination.

I hope it works out in the end. I'd be excited to work in a new industry and I really enjoyed the people meeting the people I'd be working with. I could tell our personalities would mesh and it was a drama free zone.