Why Your Skills May Not Matter as Much As You Think

EP 3105 Stop trying to sell yourself with a laundry list of skills. That strategy is failing you. In this direct, no BS episode, we share the one critical shift you must make to get the results you want. ABOUT JEFF ALTMAN, THE BIG GAME HUNTERPeople hire Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter to provide No BS job search coaching and career advice globally because he makes job search and succeeding in your career easier. Schedule a discovery call to speak with me about one-on-one or group coaching during your job search at ⁠www. TheBigGameHunter.us. You will also find great info and job search coaching to help with your job search at ⁠⁠JobSearch. Community⁠⁠ You can get free copies of 25 Interview Questions and Answers, How to Craft a Compelling Elevator Pitch in 20 Seconds or Less, Get Ready for the Job Jungle, Diagnosing Your Job Search Problems, No BS Resume Advice, and Prove Your Worth First, Then Negotiate. Receive free weekly suggestions and more. Subscribe to No BS Job Search Advice Radio, the #1 podcast in Apple Podcasts for job search with more than 3100 episodes. Connect on LinkedIn: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/in/T⁠⁠heBigGameHunter⁠ We grant permission for this post and others to be used on your website as long as a backlink is included to ⁠www. TheBigGameHunter.us⁠ and notice is provided that it is provided by Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter as an author or creator. Not acknowledging his work or providing a backlink to ⁠www. TheBigGameHunter.us⁠ makes you subject to a $1000 penalty which you proactively agree to pay. Please contact us to negotiate the use of our content as training data.

• 0:00Speaker 00

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• 0:30Speaker 01

  Hey, welcome to our explainer. Today, we're going to talk about a huge mistake so many people make in job interviews. It's a mistake that can totally change how an interviewer sees you. We're talking about a complete mindset shift that honestly, could be the difference between getting the job and, well, not. So let's start with a really simple question. So picture this. You're sitting in that chair across from the hiring manager. What are you actually selling them? Really, take a second and think about that, because your answer to that one question pretty much decides your entire strategy for the interview. Now, if you're like most of us, your gut reaction is probably my experience or my skills, you know, my qualifications. And look, that feels like the right answer, but it's actually the number one mistake people make.

• 1:15Speaker 01

  It completely misses what the interviewer is really looking for. And this is the big difference right here. See, most candidates get stuck on the left side of the screen, just listing their qualifications. But the people who get the offers, they're on the right. They are selling their results. Getting this one little pivot is the whole key. So let's break down what that really means. Okay, let's talk about something I like to call the resume recital mistake. You know what I'm talking about, right? It's when the interview just becomes a live reading of your resume. You list off your skills, you walk through your job history, and you're probably boring the interviewer to tears. It just feels so natural to want to sell your qualifications, doesn't it? I mean, you worked hard for that degree. You put in the time for that certification. You have a decade of experience.

• 2:00Speaker 01

  But here's the thing. The interviewer already knows all that. They've read your resume. Just repeating it back to them doesn't add any new value at all. All right, let's flip this around and look at it from the other side of the desk for a minute. Why does just listing your credentials fall so flat from their perspective? What's going through their head while you're doing it? Oof. This quote just says it all, doesn't it? When you only talk about how qualified you are, it can really come across as just bragging, without any real substance. The interviewer just tunes out because you're not answering their real, unspoken question, which is always, "What can you actually do for me and my team?" And that brings us to the big solution here. Instead of selling who you are on paper, you need to start selling what you've actually done.

• 2:44Speaker 01

  This is that powerful shift we're talking about. From just listing qualifications to showing real, tangible impact. So what do we even mean when we say "results"? It's actually pretty simple. A result is the measurable, tangible outcome of your work. It's not saying, "I managed a team." It's saying, "I increased my team's productivity by 15%." It's not, "I worked on a marketing campaign." It's, "I helped generate a 20% lift in sales leads." See the difference? It's the effect you had. Think about it. Employers hire people to solve their problems and to create value. So when you talk about your past results, you're giving them cold, hard evidence that you're someone who can do exactly that for them. You're speaking their language, the language of impact.

• 3:27Speaker 01

  Now, let's get into the psychology of why this works so well. It's not just about giving them proof. It's about helping the interviewer's brain connect the dots and actually start to picture you succeeding at their company. This is where the real magic happens. When you say something like, "At my last job, I streamlined a process that saved the team 10 hours of manual work every week." The hiring manager hears that, and they aren't just thinking about your old job. Nope. In their mind, they are already imagining you saving their team 10 hours a week. You just made your value real, and that's incredibly powerful. So, how do you actually do this? It's easy. Just use this simple three-step formula. First, state the achievement. "I increased customer retention." Next, detail your actions.

• 4:11Speaker 01

  By creating a new feedback system. And finally, highlight the impact. "Which cut customer churn by 5% in just six months." Achievement, action, impact. That's your game plan right there. All right, let's wrap this up with the most important things to remember. First, your goal is to sell outcomes, period. You are not just a list of skills. You are a collection of accomplishments. So focus on those achievements and be super clear about the impact your work had. When you do that, you're literally helping the interviewer see you winning in the role before you've even gotten the offer. At the end of the day, every interview is a chance to tell a story. You can tell the boring story, the one about your qualifications, which, let's be honest, they've already written on your resume. Or, you can tell the exciting story of your results.

• 4:54Speaker 01

  A story about impact, about achievement, and about the value you're gonna bring. The choice is yours. So, what story are you going to tell?