Why you need to master the ‘60 Second Sell’

PRIME – February 2015 By Robin Ryan Author of “60 Seconds & You’re Hired!” Self-marketing is not a skill most people are born with. Of all the job hunting techniques I’ve ever taught, most job hunters state that the 60 Second Sell is “the best thing I ever learned.” It's a key strategy in my book, “60 Seconds & You’re Hired!,” which teaches job interviewing techniques. The 60 Second Sell immediately captures and focuses the decision maker’s attention on your top skills and abilities. This tool is used for networking and in job interviews. It’s laser focused The 60 Second Sell will help you target your skills to meet the employer’s needs. It allows you to summarize your most marketable strengths in a brief and concise manner. The 60 Second Sell is a customized, memorized statement that you target to meet the employer's needs. In 60 seconds or less, it summarizes and links together your top five selling points to perform that employer's specific job. Many clients have said: • It was effective in capturing the employer's attention. • It made networking much easier and more effective. • It was very easy to use the formula. • It provided a strategy plan for managing an interview. • It was a great way to end an interview. It’s versatile You need to be memorable when you network. A good 60 Second Sell will help you do that. For example, when you meet someone you wish to network with, you can clearly define who you are and what you do, to enable that person to aid you in your job search. Your 60 Second Sell, if you were a program manager like Dave, might sound like this: “I’m Dave Brodeau and I have 10 years of experience in the wireless cell phone industry working as a program manager. In this role I lead cross-functional teams responsible for the development and delivery of new products and services.” If this were a job interview, Dave would elaborate and continue on with a more comprehensive and customized 60 Second Sell. In this situation, he’s addressing the recruiter or decision maker and is making his pitch explaining how he is the best one to perform the job. The 60 Second Sell for Dave in his job interview might sound more in-depth, like this: “I’m a results-driven manager with 10 years of experience in the mobile industry. I have a proven track record as a program manager responsible for the development and delivery of new products and services. I’m highly analytical and have both strategic and tactical experience managing product development and implementation teams. I excel at collaboration and can be depended upon to deliver new innovations, profitable products, and business solutions on time, under budget, and with outstanding quality.” You can be sure decision makers paid attention once he started his interview saying that. It caught their interest because he had clearly stated he had the skills needed to perform the job and he did land the job. It promotes your ‘brand’ The 60 Second Sell is effective because it demonstrates your strengths and illustrates how you will fill the employer’s needs. That is the key to its success, and yours. It is the most powerful way to start, and end, an interview. It’s a convincing close and helps decision makers remember more clearly what you bring to the job. This is a powerful tool you can add to your arsenal to help you land a new job or be effective when you network. Robin Ryan is America’s leading career job search expert. She's appeared on 1500 TV & radio shows including Oprah, Dr Phil, CNN, ABC News and NPR. Ryan has a career counseling practice working with works with individual clients across the US helping them land better jobs. For more career tips and advice visit her website at www.RobinRyan.com.