Selling Yourself Too “Long”
Tuesday, April 5th, 2011
My naivety in my twenties and my “can-do” attitude had me apply for positions that sounded interesting and I had a smattering of qualifications for, but in general they were jobs out of my league. Some might say, “nothing ventured, nothing gained,” and while at times that can be true, my choices led me to experience embarrassing situations where I could chalk up additional rejections instead of focusing on pursuing those jobs I was most qualified for and interested in.
For example, after several classes in Japanese and prior to my living there for a year, I felt confident in my basic Japanese that I applied to be a pharmaceutical representative and liaison with the company’s Japan branch here in the U.S. (Never mind that I had no pharmaceutical training or knowledge of this industry at all, not to mention that some of my values and my skill set didn’t align with this work.)
I’ll bet you can imagine the evening our company president and I met with the Japan representative in an elegant hotel lobby and I exchanged a few basic introductory sentences with him and shortly after we both clearly got that I had no clue what he was saying. What a disaster!
When I did finally travel tol Japan, I agreed to teach a company of men after their work hours how to speak English. It didn’t occur to me that we’d have difficulty communicating, though none of them spoke any English. After being let go of this position, I met someone who introduced me to a doctor. He stuck me in a lab coat and had me speak my pidgeon Japanese to his patients to take their history. How embarrassing for us both - particulary when they had to point to their aching body part and I was trying to figure out what they were saying and type up their information. I was clearly a show piece only, as the doctor followed up with these same questions himself. Why did I agreed to do it? I was wooed by the satisfaction of landing work, earning some income and mistakenly assuming the job would lead to something better. Sound familiar? It actually took me several more awkward jobs before I realized to seek those that best matched my skill and aligned with my values. So, what about you?
Are you telling long tales about yourself to get a job you aren’t qualified for or isn’t your best fit?















