What are good selling points to cover in an interview?

What are good selling points to cover in an interview?

There is no generic answer to what are good selling points to cover, because it all depends on the candidate and the job. The best selling points are ones that are relevant to the role you’re applying for. And are ones that have concrete evidence to back them up.

Interviews are effectively a sales process. The employer is looking for the best candidate to do a specific job and you need to sell your best attributes for the role.

It’s essential that you know your own pitch for the job:

This is a basic mistake that people make in interviews. They can’t easily articulate why they should be hired. They get ready for every question the employer might ask, and never consider what they want to get across.

You need to be crystal clear on your pitch. Ask yourself;

• What are the three or four central reasons that make you a strong candidate for the role?

• What are the key skills or experiences that you have that make you stand out?

• If you could ensure that the remembered three things about you, what would they be?

This pitch should be based on your strongest selling points, but also needs to be guided by the job specification or description for the role. You need to analyze what the employer is looking for and match it to your skillset.

If you are asked in the interview Why you are right for the role? Or What can you bring? you need a well thought out answer. One that is specific to your employer’s needs and that is backed up with specific evidence.

Anyone can answer this question by saying they are a strong communicator, they are hardworking and that they have a passion for the industry.

To stand out you need to be specific. And the way to do that is to pick three key points, structure them in a way that is easy to remember for the interviewer and follow the rule of:

Key statement; then Evidence.

Give them the opening point “I’ve well developed and proven communication skills”. And then the evidence. “I’ve proven these consistently. I’ve consistently been graded highly on college presentations, I was chosen to present at a client meeting as an intern, I have reached the semi-finals in college debating competitions and customers consistently praised my communication skills to management when I worked I retail.

Even if you’re not asked this in the interview, you still need to have the answer worked out. Because if you’re not clear on this yourself, there is no possible way you will get it across to the interviewer.

The above really only scratches the surface of what you need to prepare for an interview. The Communications Clinic offers tailored one to one interview preparation sessions to help you get over the line and secure the job you want. We put you through an interview, record it, assess it and make you better.

Get in Touch

If you call us or email us on info@communicationsclinic.ie and mention you read the above article we can book you in for an Interview Preparation Session for a reduced fee.