You already work in sales

Calling armed forces service leavers....

You should be selling yourself to a company or sector, in every way, every day, in exactly the same way an existing civilian salesperson sells a product or service. The difference is that the "product" in this case is YOU. How do you do this?

The sales process is made up of 4 steps: Probe, match, confirm, close.

The 'probe' is where you would do your research. Find out what sort of position you want, identify companies, sectors, professional support and job boards where you can make contact and register your interest. More specifically, find out what sort of person a company is looking for, what skill sets they require and what qualifications. Ask yourself what they need.

The 'match' is where you look at your CV, your existing skill set, and the job description (JD) together and figure out how to 'benefit sell' yourself. Take care not to repeat verbatim what is in the JD as it will look like you are just saying what be client wants to hear. You must PROVE how good you are through your achievements.
 
The "confirm" part of the sales process is to check that your CV is a good match and that you have all the right information. "Closing" the deal is not getting the job, it's getting the interview - the job of the CV is then done. Beyond that you have to prove yourself face to face and the sales process starts all over again and you should benefit sell yourself in the same way when you are face to face with the client.

This is basic sales, not rocket science; in an ideal world it is how most of us like to be sold to. We like people to listen to us, to understand our needs, to make us feel important, to match our needs to something they can offer which is of real value to us, according to what we have told them. We confirm this is correct and we buy. While we have chatted about the 4 stage sales process, it could also be called the consultative sell.

Remember a few truths: - you have one mouth and two ears. Use them in that proportion. Less is so often more. People want to talk to you / they want to tell you about their favourite things (often themselves, usually their company). Lastly, as a former soldier you have many "sales skills" - listening, processing detail, decision making, follow through, completion of task, confirmation at a later time of completion of task (review or aftersales). You already sell. You already work in sales. www.ktaluk.com ktalcoach (twitter)