Please repeat these words: “No one cares about my resume!”
That’s our new mantra for people who are putting together presentations to win business or a job.
If you’ve made it to the short list to pitch, you’re most likely already qualified. Your resume got you to the short list. But now it’s irrelevant.
Recently we worked with two clients that drove home this message for me even more.
One client was a judge seeking appointment for a position on an appellate court. To be sure, she had a wonderful resume and is a wonderful judge. But the three or four people she will be competing against on the short list will also have great resumes.
Her job in the interview is to articulate her vision for the position. To win, she now needs to articulate a persuasive vision of the kind of judicial leadership she plans to bring to the job.
We also worked this week with a real estate firm that was pitching for the chance to represent the owner of a building in the marketing and sale of the building. Once again, the team had made a short list of four highly qualified real estate companies. The less qualified firms had not made the cut. So the resume no longer mattered. All that mattered was their plan for selling this particular building. They had to go into the meeting prepared to show how they would be able to sell the building for as much money as possible as quickly as possible.
In a pitch, nobody cares about your resume. What they do care about, however, is how you’re going to help them achieve their goals.
Joey Asher
Joey Asher has worked with thousands of business people helping them learn how to communicate in a way that connects with clients. His new book 15 Minutes Including Q&A: a Plan to Save the World from Lousy Presentations” is available now. He is also the author three previous books including “How to Win a Pitch: The Five Fundamentals That Will Distinguish You from the Competition”, “Selling and Communication Skills for Lawyers” and “Even A Geek Can Speak.”