'But Enough About Me …'

I wouldn't be a good salesperson. I don't have the confidence to make cold calls or to approach strangers and convince them to spend money on something I'd be representing. Armed with this self-knowledge, I've stayed on the editorial side of publishing and avoided the advertising side as much as possible.

Being in the job market, though, requires that I become my own sales representative. I believe in myself and have confidence in my abilities, but putting that across in a cover letter or during an interview isn't easy for me because I'd much rather show that I know how to do something than talk about my skills.

I joke around about how awesome I am and what a total rock star I can be. I sometimes even believe those things a little but I could never sit across from a hiring manager and say those things with a straight face. I know that finding a new kick-ass job requires a bit of that posturing and I'm afraid of falling short, of becoming flustered or shy or anxious and not being able to convince the person, or people, interviewing me that I can do the job done better than they thought it could be done, even when I know it's true.

My challenge is to figure out a way to confidently and graciously talk myself up without sounding like a total blowhard. Once I master that, I think I'll end up in the best job for me.