Selling yourself in interview

jmreicha

I have come to the realization that I am bad at selling myself in interviews. My resume must be solid because it is getting me to interviews but the past 3 interviews have not gone as well as I would have liked. The general consensus after checking to see why I was turned down always seems to be "you just don't have enough experience".

So my question is, what are some way to sell yourself in an interview if you lack experience? I have been trying to brainstorm ways of impressing potential employers without the experience. One thing I have done is I have recently started a blog and have slapped it into my email signature.

What else can I do to show them I am a beast, extremely willing to learn and am willing to outwork the next guy to get the job done?

tldr; ways to impress potential employers if you lack experience?

Devilsbane

My focus has always been desire to learn. I know that having the lack of experience is a con, but I feel like I can make that up. I know that I could learn everything that I needed to. I just somehow need to get them to believe me and take the chance.

Devilry

#1, believe in yourself.

Akaricloud

You really just need to show confidence that you can do everything that they want and more. Whether that's through your existing experience or your attitude to learn what they need quickly doesn't really matter to most employers.

jmreicha

I understand what you are saying (and I am not trying to be impolite here), but how is that approach different from anybody else who is going into these interviews that has more experience than I do? They will all be thinking these same things that I will be. So what else can I do to set myself apart?

How do I get them to like me? To show them my personality?

Devilsbane

An interview is a two way conversation, much like a first date. If you can have some personality and turn it into a conversation rather than just a Q and A session then they are probably going to walk away with a positive image of you. You are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you, so ask your questions too. I understand very early on you are just looking for ANY IT job. Well your interviewer is probably going to notice that. Would you hire someone who would take any job or would you pick somebody who is a little more picky? They don't want you to quit after 2 weeks on the job because you thought you would like any job and it turns out you were wrong.

jmreicha

Devilsbane wrote: »

An interview is a two way conversation, much like a first date. If you can have some personality and turn it into a conversation rather than just a Q and A session then they are probably going to walk away with a positive image of you. You are interviewing them just as much as they are interviewing you, so ask your questions too. I understand very early on you are just looking for ANY IT job. Well your interviewer is probably going to notice that. Would you hire someone who would take any job or would you pick somebody who is a little more picky? They don't want you to quit after 2 weeks on the job because you thought you would like any job and it turns out you were wrong.

Thanks Devilsbane. I may be beating a dead horse here, but what kinds of things are important to communicate to an employer in these scenarios? All the jobs I've been turned down at are for system administrator positions, that is my goal and I have been so close to my dream job. I think I just need a little bit more to wow them since the experience factor isn't there yet.

historian1974

jmreicha wrote: »

Thanks Devilsbane. I may be beating a dead horse here, but what kinds of things are important to communicate to an employer in these scenarios? All the jobs I've been turned down at are for system administrator positions, that is my goal and I have been so close to my dream job. I think I just need a little bit more to wow them since the experience factor isn't there yet.

Research the company before you interview. They know you want a job. What they really want to know is why you want to work for them. Try creating a question or two that's specific to that company. Ask about the challenges the deparment faces, not from just a technical standpoint, but also how it applies to supporting the business. Look at their mission statement. Read over their core values. Knowing a little something about them and showing it in the interview goes a long way.

the_Grinch

I always tend to emphasize my drive and ambition. I've had interviewers say "you don't have a lot of experience", to which I normally reply "what I lack in experience, I make up for in drive and determination. There isn't a technology that I have not been able to learn and master." Then I usually site an example in which I was in a position of not knowing anything about a piece of software or hardware and then fixing it. Also, if you are doing home labbing, let them know. I've had a couple people very impressed that I was setting up and doing labs during my free time. You will find that there are things that can only be learned through experience, but having a solid foundation in troubleshooting and studying/labbing at home will most surely make a different when the crap hits the fan.

I can offer an example of where I have fixed issues without knowing the technology (and not having experience with the device/software). I had a customers HP MSA go down and we had to contact HP to troubleshoot. The tech explained there was a console port and to see if the data center could get us in that way. Got the console cable and Putty, called the tech back. He doesn't have directions for Putty, but figures we'll be ok. For a half hour we can't console into the device. I knew we were connecting and studying for the CCNA told me the baud rate was wrong. He placed me on hold and I Googled. Turns out it was the wrong baud rate, put in the right one and we connected right up. Then he starts typing in commands and they aren't working. Puts me on hold and so I look at the interface and it's a lot like a linux command line. I recall the studying I did for Linux+ and type a couple help commands, bam found the commands he was looking for and get the diag ran.

So make sure you express as best you can the drive to learn and the fact that your passion for technology doesn't end at the work place, but continues when you get home as you lab and study to better yourself. Good luck!