Communicating why you are the best fit

- "Jenna, I hate selling myself." Now if I had a dollar every time someone said that to me, I'd be a millionaire. Selling yourself in any interview can feel really stressful and it can be doubly stressful in an internal interview because these people already know you. Some questions I've gotten from clients, "How do I come across as humble, yet confident?" "What do I say to convince them I'm the person for the job, "not some external candidate?" And, "How do I make sure I don't sound sleazy?" All valid questions. Now here are tips to move you away from the fear of selling yourself and into excitement about telling your story. Number one, review the research and job description. Before you start worrying about selling yourself, you want to think, "What does the company "really care about?" Go back to your notes that you did in the research stage and whip out that job description. Get really clear on what the main objective of the role is and what value an employer needs to see in a candidate. Then you can start thinking about how you fit into the puzzle and what makes you a differentiated hire. Number two, write down your transferable skills. Now we may know in our head what transferable skills we have for a new role but it's really, really important that we write them down. Whether it's leadership skills for a promotion or technical skills for a lateral move, creating a list will help remind you to connect the dots for your interviewer. Don't assume they know what transferable skills you have. It's your job to make it crystal clear. Number three, don't lie. Now most of us don't lie intentionally. We have a little bit of an exaggeration here, a fluffing up of numbers there, but when you're interviewing internally, you have got to double and triple check what stories and quantitative metrics you're using to prove your worth. You obviously want to do this if you're interviewing externally as well, but there's a bit more of a magnifying glass in an internal interview. Be honest, truthful, and don't embellish. Number four, get ahead of any objections. Now none of us are perfect in our jobs and when you interview internally, the people who are interviewing you probably know that as well. If you have had some hiccups in your career, whether it's not getting a project done on time or missing some revenue monthly metrics or having some conflict, you have to get ahead of that in the interview. Share how you're constantly working to improve and give examples of how you would handle things in the future. You also want to make sure you're thinking about skills they make think you don't have. Often times in internal interviews, there is a preconceived notion about what you can or can't do. By getting ahead of these objections, you will set yourself up to be a top candidate. All in all, selling your skillset doesn't have to be uncomfortable. You can still be successful in telling your career story with humility, grace and gumption.