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5 Ways a Sales Approach Helps Your Cleared Job Search

There are several benefits to learning to think like a salesperson and taking a sales-oriented approach when creating your cleared resume, and in your cleared job search in general.

1. Take the sting out of rejection

“Thanks but no thanks.” Cleared job seekers talk about dreading the rejection that comes with being passed over, coming in second, or not getting considered at all. A sales approach can mitigate the sting of rejection by taking the personal out of it. Look at yourself as a product that simply did not meet the current needs of this particular contractor. It’s a rejection of the product you are selling – not a personal rejection of you as a person.

2. Get real

Taking the myth and misunderstanding out of how hiring happens helps you get real. Or realistic. Forewarned is forearmed. A sale-oriented approach keeps you focused on applying for jobs that you are qualified for and showing the potential employer that you have what they need. They’re not looking for and are not willing to plow through pages upon pages of a resume to find you. But if you make it easy for them to find you, they just may.

3. Focused cleared resumes get read

Recruiters today say that initial scans of resumes last seconds. 30 seconds or less, and some admit to 7-second-scans of resume. A sales-oriented resume uses the top half of the front page to feature relevant information, enticing the reader to read on and learn more about you.

4. Prepare to interview relevantly

Resumes don’t get you jobs, but they can get enough attention to secure an interview. A sales-oriented cleared resume provides the interviewer with items to ask you about and even some direction for the flow of the interview. You are already prepared to provide relevant and succinct answers to their questions by having prepared a focused and relevant cleared resume.

5. Increase the odds you’ll be contacted

The big benefit is that producing a focused and relevant resume – your sales brochure – increases the possibility that you will be contacted by the future employer.

Sell employers on the idea that you have what they want

Sell defense and intel contractors on the idea that you have what they want and that you’re worth learning more about in an initial phone screen and subsequent interview. Build your resume – your sales brochure – around ways you have used your abilities to help your previous employers.

Showing what you have done and citing evidence of your accomplishments to back up your claims sells employers on the idea that you may be a candidate worth talking to.

Nancy Gober is a career strategist who has helped thousands of job seekers find employment. She’s also been a popular resume reviewer at our Cleared Job Fairs. You may reach Nancy via email at [email protected]. Follow Nancy on Twitter @AfterJobClub.