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Why
Should I Hire You? Remember Your Freelance Skills & Strengths
By Mariette Durack Edwards
Being
out of work for an extended period is certain to erode even the
most
confident job seeker. That's why it's so important that you stay
focused on
your strengths and how your special qualities, skills and abilities
can
benefit a potential employer. Remember you are the only person
in the world
who knows everything about what you know!
Here
are a few suggestions to help you stay on track.
Never
argue for your limitations.
It's easy to start thinking
in terms of
what's missing if you've been out of work for a long time
but arguing for
your limitations will never bring you the work you seek. Focus
instead on
how you can position your unique skills and abilities to support
a potential
employer's goals. Pay particular attention to the things that
are so easy
for you that they seem unimportant.
Ask yourself what sets
you apart, what
makes you different.
Fill
in the gaps.
If there is knowledge, skills or experience you
want or
need, set about getting them and brag about your efforts to do
so instead of shining a spotlight on what you don't have.
Think
of yourself in terms of results.
People buy solutions. A client
who is
a voice-over talent left this message recently for a customer
she wanted to
win back. "Hello, Bill. This is Jane Doe. I was the voice
of Top Notch News
during the three or four years when the network had its highest
ratings. How
can I help you regain that position? Call me at ..." She
got a request to
submit her demo reel the next day.
How
will hiring you move others closer to their goals?
Ask good
questions.
Craft a series of questions that are open ended, thought provoking
and
position you in terms of results. Avoid directive questions that
signal the
answer you are looking for or require a yes/no response. Ask yourself, "What
are the biggest questions I can ask in response to this opportunity?"
For
example, "What are the organization's most important goals?"
"How do you see this position impacting on the achievement
of those goals?"
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Mariette
Durack Edwards is a business and personal coach, consultant,
speaker and writer and a certified instructor for The Entrepreneur
School.
Her newest book is "The Way Things Work: 25 Must-Know Principles
for Making
Dreams Come True." You can find Mariette on the web at:
www.bizcoachmde.com.
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