🤦♀️ Are you talented but unhireable?
Jul 29, 2024
Sarah is amazing, but…
I wouldn’t hire her if she were to apply for a job I posted.
Harsh, I know, but let me explain.
When I first spoke with her before she joined the Career Accelerator Program, I knew she’d be a perfect candidate. Someone a recruiter would want to talk to immediately.
She’s ambitious, hardworking, smart, clear on her goals, experienced, and skilled. Not to mention just an all-round awesome person.
So, I couldn’t understand why, out of 30+ applications she’d sent, not one company invited her to an interview.
When we got into it further, I realised what had happened, and to be honest, I wouldn’t have called her either.
This exact thing usually sits in a person's blind spot, and probably in yours too.
They have no idea what they’re doing wrong until someone points it out to them.
Want to know what it is? Keep reading, lovely lady!
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Todays Topics
- That’s Interesting: Are you talented but unhirable?
- Monday Mindset: Know your worth
- Career Hack: Be a winning candidate
- Get Ready: Something exciting is coming tonight!
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Are You Talented But Unhireable?
Sarah was unhirable, and yet she was an amazing candidate.
Doesn’t seem fair, right?
But she was doing something critically wrong that you might be doing too.
She was “trying” to sell herself, and it came off terribly.
But honestly, Sarah is no different to most people.
You’ve probably experienced this phenomenon thousands of times.
Have you ever had a friend or colleague who constantly talks about how good they are? How much they’ve achieved, and it just sounds … you know… “cringy”?
It doesn’t even need to be a lot, just a little?
For most of us, when people boast, our reaction is automatically negative.
In fact, it’s a natural human response to have a negative reaction to people who boast, especially when you can see they have insecurities and are trying to convince others (including themselves) that they are worthy.
These traits are amplified when writing your CV or interviewing.
Why?
Because you think you need to convince your future employer why you are amazing.
Instead, recruiters see this every day, and have the same reaction everyone else has - yuck!
However, they do see others who don’t boast. Here are the three types of people out there:
People who are…
- Trying to convince others of their worth, born out of insecurity.
- Avoiding it at all cost, because they struggle to see their own value.
- Humble yet self-assured.
Don’t Sell Yourself
If you remember one thing, remember this: don’t try to sell yourself.
It feels icky for you and weird, and it doesn’t allow your natural personality to shine through.
Here’s how it looks among the three groups:
The “convincers” do this: “I am the best candidate because I work the hardest, I do late nights, I am the most experienced, and I have the most qualifications…”
The “trying not to be boasters” do this: “I… um, well, I think I’m the best for this role because, ummm… Well, I’ve got a great proven record and I think my work is pretty good.”
Or they simply give their team credit for all of their own hard work (this was Sarah's problem!).
Both of these responses lead to disastrous results. You walk out of the interview dejected.
Worse yet, you’ve written your CV this way and you don’t even get calls.
Let’s talk about group 3: The “humble yet self-assurers.”
These are the ones who write the best CVs, who win interviews, and they do things throughout the whole application process in a way that works.
They’re able to articulate their value in both their CVs and their interviews in a way that is empowering and trustworthy.
That is our aim here.
In the career hack section, I'll teach you how to be a group 3 (winning!) candidate.
Sarah learned how to do this and had job offers coming out of her ears!
(I'm curious, which category are you in? Hit reply and let me know!)
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Know Your Worth
Keep this one pinned to your desk this week!
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Be A Winning Candidate
So, Group 3 (the humble yet self-assured group) are the ones who typically win the jobs.
Of course, we all want to be naturally confident, but what if we don’t have that confident vibe just yet?
We bypass it!
But Em, how do you sell yourself, without selling yourself?
Great question. The answer is to demonstrate your value.
Here’s what I mean.
If you’re a salesperson and were asked why you would be a great team leader, instead of replying with:
“I was the best salesperson in my team, no one has ever sold more than me. As a leader, I teach my team my strategies, etc.”
What I’d rather hear is:
“Last year I sold 3,000 programmes, creating $400k in revenue for the business. When I was selling, the rest of my team averaged 2,000 programme sales. Since taking on the team leader role, I've implemented a programme for my team whereby they now have increased sales by 300% with a total increase in revenue per person of $120k ($600k across the whole team). I’m really proud that we’ve been able to achieve all that in just the last 9 months.”
To a recruiter, this is almost all the evidence they need to know you’re great at your job.
It was not designed to convince anyone. No word spin at all.
You simply articulated your value through what you accomplished.
In the first response, the recruiter had no idea if the candidate was actually the best sales person or not, or if they were selling 5 or 5,000 items. They didn’t even know if your sales would cover your salary. And they had no way of understanding if your sales training, as a manager, was effective with your team.
If they were going to hire you, they would have to take your vague answer with a lot of faith!
Demonstrating your value by talking through your results works for ANY role. It doesn’t matter if you have exact metrics or not. With a little training, there is always a way to show the recruiter how you delivered value. Your mindset first needs to shift away from trying to sell yourself.
This is what Sarah did during the Career Accelerator Program, and within 3 weeks Sarah had received 2 job offers.
Stay tuned, because I want to tell you more about the Career Accelerator Program, and how you can join it.
Look out for my email tonight….
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Cheers & Claps: Our Success Stories
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Wrapping up another fantastic week! A huge thank you for subscribing and diving into our newsletter. 
We trust it sparked some inspiration, motivation, or perhaps offered a delightful distraction.
Em & the PY Team
P.S. Whenever you’re ready... here are 4 ways I can help you accelerate your career:
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2. Join my FREE Career Clarity & Confidence Group
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