How did you do on the “Just a Minute” exercise in the last video? If you’re like most left brained individuals (which I suspect you are), I bet you had a pretty hard time doing reaching 60 seconds… Did you run out of subject matter, did you hesitate, did you repeat words other than the subject you were speaking about? If you did, don’t despair! As I said earlier, this is one of the most difficult undertakings – for left brainers specifically. Why? Because predominantly left-brained individuals are used to using their analytical (left-brained) minds… and instead of telling a “story”, they usually launch into “lists” or chronologies of events. Like for example, if the subject is “umbrellas”, then they would say “there are golf umbrellas, pocket-sized umbrellas, etc” and soon run out of subject matter. The mouth can’t keep up with the brain this way. If you did that, it just means that you’re DEFINITELY left brained. And don’t despair, there’s a way around it – because you DO have a right brain – you’re just not used to relying on it predominantly to get you through a job interview SUCCESSFULLY, which it WILL – if you learn how to wield it effectively. I’ll tell you all about that, but first, let’s just side-step for a minute, and think about the most popular interview question that comes up in EVERY SINGLE INTERVIEW. You know the one I’m talking about, don’t you? Of course you do! It’s the dreaded “Tell me about yourself…” question. So why am I bringing that up now? To make a point.

Most job candidates, especially the left-brainers, will immediately launch into a list of what they’ve done: where they’ve worked, where they went to school, etc. This is NOT what a job interviewer wants to hear. They can read your list on your resume. What they DO want to hear is a STORY – think of it as a STAR story – or Situation, Task, Action, Result – that’s presented with confidence, clarity and conviction – and tells them about YOU and what YOU can do for the company. That’s it in a nutshell. So if you can do that, instead of launch into a list – well, can’t you see? That’s one of the secrets of interviewing success. So what to do next?

To view other videos in the “Marketing You” Video Series about marketing yourself to employers and recruiters please view Introduction to Marketing You, Success and Creative Visualization, 60 Second Pitch,  Job Interview Tips, Resume Writing and Resume Cover Letters videos. The next video in this series is 60 Seconds To Job Interview Success.

You may also want to download one of our Marketing You FREE E-books or visit our vast Resources Section including Tax Tip Videos and the Interview Coach articles.