Create a professional summary to "sell yourself"

“You need to sell yourself more“ is a phrase you’ve probably heard one hundred times or more. But the chances are that you don’t like the idea of selling yourself at all. Something about it seems awful, or disingenuous. But, never the less, we need to be able to do it - especially if we’re competing against others who are selling themselves really well. Below are some points you can use to sell yourself well and to talk about yourself in interviews. The idea is that you don’t sell yourself as more than you are, but not less than you are, just exactly as you are, and honestly. That way, you’ll have no trouble backing up what you’ve said and it will give you more confidence when describing your career.

  • Detailed experience (in years) encompassing the top three competencies that you’ve done

  • Proudest achievement to date (ideally professionally) - try to add metrics to give it extra weight

  • Biggest responsibility so far - make this a soft skill if the ‘achievement’ (above) is a technical accomplishment

  • Specialist knowledge in a particular area that’s ideally related to the role you’re going for

  • Education - a summary relevant to the role. Not every single detail.

  • Proven ability - relate this to anything else that you’d like to mention that you haven’t covered yet. If you’re struggling with this, you can talk about problem-solving, working with stakeholders or delivering projects on time etc.

  • Transferable skills - connect this to soft skills such as communication, influencing, conflict resolution etc.

  • IT Expertise/Proficiency - outline this more or less depending on it’s value to the role you’re interested in


Here are some sample bullet points that you can use and adjust:

  • Professional with 5 years experience in customer service, project management and business development.

  • Professional manager with a degree in business and experience working in large and small teams.

  • Degree qualified and masters / diploma / certificate in XYZ

  • Successfully designed a process that allowed businesses to market and sell products globally

  • Excellent project management, organisation and relationship building skills.

  • Self-starter with a passion for creativity, innovation and business.

  • Proven ability to work in a customer facing role and influence customers and colleagues using data.

  • Strong communicator with the ability to build and maintain relationships with key stakeholders.

  • Extensive project management experience in relation to people management, training, and team leading.

  • Responsible for building and developing relationships with internal and external stakeholders.

  • Specialist knowledge of economic and social issues with vast experience in client relationship management.

  • Consistently deliver projects to tight deadlines while working as part of a cross-functional team.