9 Ways to Sell Yourself in an Interview (+ Examples)

Imagine this: you finally land an interview for a role you’re excited about. You do your best, but in the end, the job offer goes to someone else.

You might blame it on not having enough experience. Or maybe you’ve been unemployed for a while and need to get back in the swing of things.

But the truth is, most times, the person who landed the job wasn’t more qualified than you — they just knew how to sell themselves.

And today, you will learn how to do it, too.

After reading this article, you’ll be able to:

• Identify your unique selling points
• Get comfortable talking about your strengths
• Ace the most important interview questions
• Present yourself effortlessly through an elevator pitch

Before we begin, here’s a quick checklist if you’re on your way to an interview and need to refresh your memory:

What It Means to “Sell Yourself” in an Interview

Popular advice on “selling yourself” usually boils down to one of the following:

• “Just say your biggest weakness is that you’re a perfectionist.”
• “Oh, just exaggerate a bit and make your achievements more impressive.”
• “Show them you’re going to overdeliver if they give you the job.”
• “Don’t give them direct answers about your lack of experience.”

Umm, no, it doesn’t work like that.

You need to sell yourself by telling your professional story and focusing on the strengths you can bring to the table in this specific role.

If you’re modest, telling this story can be a daunting task.

If you’re a student or a fresh grad, you might be self-conscious about your lack of experience.

If you’ve been unemployed for a while, you’re probably not sure how to discuss your employment gaps or show you’re still relevant in the industry.

All of these are valid points, but don’t despair — you can learn how to discuss them and sell yourself in an interview.

Keep reading, as we’ll teach you how to do it, step by step.

How to Sell Yourself in an Interview

• Get comfortable talking about yourself
• Research and understand your prospective company
• Identify and articulate your unique selling points (USPs)
• Create and master your elevator pitch
• Present your skills and accomplishments
• Follow proper interview etiquette
• Ask insightful questions
• Close strategically
• Send a thank-you note

1. Get comfortable talking about yourself

Society teaches us that talking about ourselves is boastful or arrogant. This is why talking about ourselves in a positive, self-promoting way doesn’t come naturally to a lot of us.

However, in job interviews, it is not only desirable to talk about yourself — it is necessary. If you don’t talk about yourself, who will? And how else would an interviewer know if you’re good for a job?

Now, this doesn’t mean having an hour-long bragging monologue.

Instead, it’s about strategically responding to specific questions in a way that highlights your strengths and fit for the role. For example:

• Tell me about yourself = the perfect opportunity to use your elevator pitch (more about it soon) and to briefly outline your professional journey, emphasizing skills and strengths that align with the role.
• Why should we hire you? = a shot at showing what sets you apart and focusing on things that demonstrate your unique value.
• What are your biggest strengths? = the chance to focus on your strongest attributes that will directly contribute to your success in this role.
• What is your greatest weakness? = an opportunity to show them you’re self-aware and objective, that you can recognize your areas of improvement, and that you’re a problem-solver who can create an action plan for addressing weaknesses.

To get more comfortable talking about yourself, start by practicing your answers to these common questions. No bragging needed, just mentioning your skills.

2. Research and understand your prospective company

This is a crucial first step. It will help you:

• Adjust your approach
• Highlight relevant skills and experience
• Come up with relevant and thoughtful questions to ask.

You’ll come across as a person who knows (and owns) their stuff. The kind anyone wants on their team.

Where can you start?

Study the job description and find keywords that will point you in the right direction.

This will show you what they need and will help you take relevant experiences from your work history and present them in a memorable way.

But you’ll also need to:

• Visit their website
• Google their name and reputation
• Check forums
• Check hiring platforms for reviews
• Speak to people who work(ed) for the company to get the bigger picture

✅ Pro tip: Knowing who you’ll speak to during the interviewing stages (HR, team leaders, founders, team members) will help you anticipate the kind of questions they’ll ask. HR will be most interested in your experience and qualifications. A CEO might focus on your vision, strategic thinking, and if you’re a cultural fit.

If you need more tips to rock any job interview, we’ve prepared a free course to teach you how to speak about your strengths, sell yourself, and negotiate the salary of your dreams.

3. Identify and articulate your unique selling points (USPs)

To demonstrate to a recruiter that you’ll be the perfect addition to their company, think of the bits and pieces of your professional self that make you special.

Create your USP by:

• Mentioning key skills you possess that the company needs.
• Highlighting your main accomplishment (ideally one that fits the job ad/company needs).
• Saying what sets you apart (a particular project/award, experience with certain industries, connections…).

You should tailor your USP for each application. You can do this by researching the company, studying the job description, and then checking what areas of your experience (work or academic experiences, awards, soft and hard skills, etc.) align with what the company and the role need.

✅ Pro tip: Think about positive feedback you received in the past from your peers, coworkers, professors, managers, and friends. If you have some work experience, revisit your performance reviews. This can help you identify strengths you might not have recognized in yourself. Then, you can use them in your USP or make them real-life proof that supports your USP.

Finally, you’ll need to create a supporting proof statement for each selling point. It can be a short story or a particular example that showcases your selling point.

For students and recent graduates

If you’re unemployed

4. Create and master your elevator pitch

An elevator pitch is a concise, appealing summary of your experience and key skills, typically delivered in the time span of an elevator ride — hence the name.

In an interview, you can use your elevator pitch when you’re asked “Tell me about yourself,” usually right at the beginning of an interview.

How to create an elevator pitch that sells your key strengths

• Be brief (30–60 seconds tops).
• Share your key accomplishments and skills: who you are and what you’ve done.
• If you don’t have relevant experience, focus on your strengths, skills, and potential.
• Know your audience and speak to them: what you’ll do for them and how you fit in.
• Be positive: your enthusiasm counts and is an important factor recruiters will take into account.
• Practice!

Elevator pitch: Sample for Students

Elevator pitch: Sample for working professionals

5. Present your skills and accomplishments

In job interviews, you should focus on your accomplishments and skills — quantifiable achievements (and relevant skills) are something you’ll always want to emphasize.

They’re solid proof of everything you say about yourself. If you’re having trouble coming up with or quantifying achievements, the techniques below can help you.

Use the PAR (Problem-Action-Solution) formula

If you’re a student, think about the problems you solved during your studies via personal or team projects, competitions, or similar. Outline the actions you took to get to the solution.

For working professionals, think about your successes in every position you worked in and what actions you took to achieve them. What problems were they tied to? This should help you get inspired.

Make your accomplishments SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely

This means providing achievements that are specific, measurable, data-driven, and believable.

Talk about frequency and scale

If you’re currently unemployed: Highlight how efficiently you completed tasks or the magnitude and scale of the projects you were involved with. For example, you might mention the number of homes wired per week as an electrician, the square footage of spaces painted within tight deadlines, the number of patients cared for per shift, or the volume of data you processed daily. It’s also valuable to discuss leading a crew of X number of people on a building project, welding techniques that reduced material waste, and similar.

List qualitative achievements

If you don’t have hard numbers but you still feel like you improved something at school or work, you can still bring it up as an achievement in an interview. Telling a story about it will create space for you to showcase your skills, especially if you’re just starting out and lack relevant experience (qualitative achievements are praises from your superiors, awards, promotions, and similar).

Use the STAR model

Once you have the list of achievements and skills you want to mention, the best way to showcase them is through the STAR model (Situation-Task-Action-Result).

• Situation: the context of the problem you were faced with.
• Task: how you wanted to solve the problem.
• Action: what exactly you did.
• Results: the impact your action made on the business (it’s best to quantify the results whenever possible).

For each accomplishment, pick a single event from your experience. This is the most efficient way to prove your skills. And if you practice before the interview, your story will flow naturally, it will be engaging and compelling, and you’ll be able to efficiently get your point across.

Our Answer Builder will help you list supporting arguments for each event you want to mention.

6. Follow proper interview etiquette

When I was in school, I knew someone who worked for a hotel restaurant. They were hiring for a waitress position and interviewed someone who seemed like the perfect fit but she came to the interview in jeans and a shirt. Long story short, they didn’t hire her.

It seems like a minor detail, especially in a role like that. And it might be. But things like this can happen – and it’s why you need to be aware of basic interview etiquette.

Interview etiquette is a set of rules (think clothes, body language, communication, etc.) to help you leave a good impression and increase your chances of landing a job. Here are some key points to consider.

Interview etiquette checklist

✅ Create a clean background for video interviews.

✅ Use titles, avoid slang, speak clearly, and use examples.

✅ Respect the interviewer’s personal space.

✅ Silence all devices and eliminate background noise.

✅ Answer questions directly and concisely.

✅ Don’t criticize past employers/colleagues.

✅ Know the details of your resume.

✅ Avoid verbal fillers like “um” or “like”.

✅ Come to the interview by yourself.

✅ Research company mission, values, and news.

✅ Align your skills with the job description.

✅ Practice common interview questions.

✅ Dress professionally, according to the company culture and dress code.

✅ Arrive 10–15 min early; 5 min for online interviews.

✅ Give a firm handshake, sit straight, calm hands, good eye contact.

✅ Listen actively, don’t interrupt, ask insightful questions.

✅ Send a thank-you email within 24 hours.

7. Ask insightful questions

The questions you ask at the end of the interview will show if you’re lazy and forgettable or curious and resourceful. They can make or break your status with a recruiter. God forbid you say, “I don’t have any questions, thanks.”

You can ask all types of questions based on the company you’re interviewing for, the industry it operates in, company culture, or its long-term plans and vision.

Examples of insightful questions you can ask:

• Why is this position open?
• A year from now, when you’re looking back on this hire, what would I have done to exceed every expectation?
• What do new employees often find surprising after they start?
• Where do you see this role in the company’s growth?
• What are the biggest challenges your team is currently facing and how are you addressing them?
• What’s different about working here than anywhere else you’ve worked?

Check our full guide for more smart questions to ask in a job interview.

8. Close strategically

Here are a few tips to help you close your interview strategically and make recruiters excited about extending you an offer.

1. Show gratitude

Thank the recruiter for their time and show appreciation for the opportunity to discuss the role and company in question.

2. Circle back to the company’s culture and values

Briefly mention the examples of shared values and goals between you and the company — it’ll show that you did your research and that you’re a cultural fit.

3. Emphasize your interest in the position

Restate how interested you are in the position within their company and mention a particular detail from the conversation/job description that made you excited to work there. Make sure to mention how the position matches your skills and experience and your professional plans for the future.

4. Recap key points

Briefly go through the key points mentioned during the interview (particular achievements and skills that make you a perfect fit). It’ll remind recruiters of how you can bring value.

5. Ask for the next steps

Feel free to inquire about the next steps in the interview process and how you’ll be moving forward. But remember to be polite!

6. Be courteous

Thank the recruiter once again for their time and efforts and say you’re looking forward to hearing from them soon.

7. Display healthy confidence

Confidence is a magnet that will make others more attracted to you. Interestingly, confident candidates high in extroversion tend to engage in more honest self-promotion. This might motivate you to at least fake it till you make it.

✅Pro tip: The perfect time to close the interview strategically is after all the questions are answered and the interview is about to end. You can start by saying something like “Before we leave, I just want to thank you for your time and…”

9. Send a thank-you note

So you prepared for your interview, learned all types of questions and how to best answer them, learned how to sell yourself, and crushed the interview.

Chill time, right?

Not yet. Not until you take the final, crucial step to selling yourself:

Writing a post-interview thank-you note, the cherry on top that will solidify the rapport you established with the recruiter.

Here’s a few tips on how to write it:

• Begin this email by thanking the recruiter for their time
• Personalize it by briefly mentioning some of the key points of discussion
• Include details about your excitement for the position
• Subtly demonstrate how you’re a fit for the role
• Reiterate your interest
• Send the email within 24 hours after the interview
• If you had an interview with several people, send them separate thank-you notes (don’t copy-paste the same email to everyone!)

For more details and specific instructions on how to write a thank-you note, head here: How to Write an Interview Thank You Email [Tips + Examples].

Post-interview thank-you note sample

Summary of the Main Points

• Knowing how to sell yourself in an interview is a skill that will help you stand out, even if you have a different career path or less experience than other candidates.
• Selling yourself isn’t bragging or lying to get a job — it’s presenting yourself and speaking about your skills and strengths in a memorable, appealing way.
• To do it successfully, you’ll first need to get comfortable talking about yourself.
• Then, research and understand the prospective company, identify and articulate your unique selling points, master your elevator pitch, focus on measurable accomplishments and your potential, and showcase your spotless job interview etiquette.
• Post-interview thank-you notes are a useful tool that will help you solidify the great impression you left on the recruiter.
• Knowing how to yourself can seriously increase your chances of landing a job, so make sure to prepare and practice before each interview.

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Need a hand? There’s 3 ways we can help:

1. Tired of interviewing and not landing the job? Discover actionable lessons and interview practice here (Rated with 4.9/5 by 1,000,000 users).
2. Learn about 30+ common job interview mistakes to avoid.
3. Find out how to decrease anxiety and calm your nerves before a job interview.

FAQ

I’m on my way to the interview now — what’s the key thing to do to sell myself?

Present your accomplishments and skills in a way that will prove you 1) have the experience 2) are aware of the company’s needs 3) are the right person for the job. Use the STAR model to showcase your achievements and pay attention to your non-verbal communication (be polite, smile when appropriate, and assume positive body language). For more quick tips, scroll all the way up to this article’s intro.

How to sell yourself in an interview if you have no experience?

By focusing on what you have: transferable skills, academic experience, and any work experience, however small. In these cases, draw a lesson from each academic experience and take one or two key transferable skills that will show you have the potential to be successful in a role (always focus on key skills listed in the job ad). Try to draw parallels between your existing skills and achievements and how you could use them to be successful in the future. Display positive body language, be polite, ask smart questions at the end of the interview, and send a post-interview thank-you email.

How to sell yourself in 30 seconds?

Create a spotless elevator pitch in which you’ll briefly touch upon who you are and what you do, your proudest accomplishment, and how you can bring value to the new company. You can be positive, persuasive, and confident in your delivery by practicing beforehand.

Can introverts successfully sell themselves?

Absolutely! Selling yourself in an interview is not about being extroverted, bold, loud, or boisterous. It’s about presenting your strongest accomplishments and skills and backing them up with proof. Preparing your unique selling points and practicing in advance will help you sell yourself, even if you’re on the introverted side. If it’s easier, you can use another technique: engaging in self-verification behavior that might help you present yourself authentically. Or, if you want a more realistic picture, you can throw in a story or two about your own shortcomings.

What if I have no unique selling points and am just a solid employee?

Being a solid employee is a strength in itself. If you don’t have crazy achievements or unique selling points, you can always turn to the quality, scale, or frequency of your work — talk about how much you got done and how quickly you got it done. Emphasize soft skills like being consistent, dependable, hard-working, adaptable, and similar. Focus on qualitative achievements (promotions, company awards, positive feedback, bonuses, etc.) and use the STAR method when speaking about your accomplishments.

When interviewing for a job or selling an idea, what should you refrain from doing?

Bad-mouthing your previous job, coworkers, peers, teachers, or anyone else is a big no. It will make you look unprofessional and negative. Overselling or making exaggerated claims about your performance is a big mistake too. Ignoring research and showing up without knowing who you’re interviewing with or pitching an idea to will make you look lazy and disinterested. Try not to let nerves make you ramble or go off-topic — keep your answers concise and relevant. Lastly, not asking any questions at the end can give the impression you’re not really engaged or curious about the opportunity.