We all want a career in private, government, business and entrepreneurship etc. to lead an affordable and respectable life. Most of us dont know how to look for jobs. We are never taught how to do this. Our training and life experience never prepare us for it.

Some people with the same or less qualification & knowledge are well placed and advance in their career compared to others with higher qualification and knowledge. We leave it to luck but in reality these people have mastered the technique of self-selling in career. Each one of us can do it and the need is only to be well aware of the changing scenarios of the job market and master and master the art of self-selling along with acquiring knowledge and experience.

In the world of job-hunting, you have to sell yourself because that will (a) get you in for interview and (b) it will enable you to prevail over the other people that youre competing against. Selling yourself is basic to activities such as writing a killer resume, writing good cover letter, networking successfully, interviewing so you the job, and negotiating the best salary and benefits package.

Some points of self-selling practice are summarized here as:

1. It is important to have self-esteem and confidence.
2. It is absolutely necessary to build and maintain a positive, forward- looking frame of mind.
3. You have an excellent and persuasive resume that sells you as better qualified than the next person, being able to write good cover letters, developing a collection of excellent personal materials and stories that describe your achievements.
4. Knowing how to give an elevator speech that evokes what you want from it.
5. The self-awareness and acknowledgement of the impression youre making on others is a first step in reversing the trend.
6. Having the basic skills to interview well(i.e. to be able to determine what their problem is and how to sell yourself as the fixer of it)
7. Prospecting by networking for these prospects and/or via a pro-active Broadcast Letter. Striking the right chord either trough personal interaction or through e-mail or through post with the employer always pays.
8. Knowing how to negotiate the benefits/salary package.
9. It obviously pays to be creative and flexible
10. Its possible to limit your range of options, and by thinking this way, you consequently limit the range of actions you take. That, in short, limits your chances of finding a new job.
11. There is no use of sticking to one organization and switch over can be made whenever better opportunity comes in the way.