Embracing the ‘dark’ side – A lesson in pitching one’s self

In 2007, BusinessWeek did a survey asking business people to rank their performance. The result: 90% believed they were in the 10% of performers. (Seems to makes the saying “there’s no room at the top” a load of hogwash.)

If you read 100 resumes, 100% are in the top 1%. The first rule of resume writing is present yourself in the best light. I did, you did, they did, etc.

In 2008, I met some investors from the San Francisco area, who got me to rethink my “top 1%” approach. In seeking advice on how to pitch better, they said “We don’t invest in people who have not been part of a failed company. They cannot recognize problems and fix them”.

My first reaction was “If you eat meat from a mad cow, won’t you get mad cow disease as well?”

Then I thought about some my career’s hard-earned experiences. Most were associated with a disaster of some sort. None were on my resume. Yet all made me a smarter and shaped how I approached business. But how does one go about pitching a disaster?

“Learned valuable lesson by being part of budget with significant cost overruns due to misidentifying client requirements”

Not much of a compelling bullet point. More like taking a bullet.

“Reexamined client requirements to bring project costs in line with budget, saving $10 million in development costs”

I find that during my interviews that if I discuss my key lessons and poke a bit of fun at my mistakes, virtually everyone does the same.

When it comes to making mistakes: I do, you do, they do, etc. – now we are in the 100%!

Good luck today!

Mark Richards
www.candidateschair.com
Job Search from a Candidate's Perspective - Advice and tools for search organization and networking

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