Selling Techniques For Graduates

This was the article I wrote for the Philippine Daily Inquirer and was published on the 14th of April 2013.

A few days ago, my mom asked me to drop her off at PICC to attend their university’s commencement exercise. As I approached the venue, I could not help but remember my own experience after graduation.

According to the latest statistics by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED), there are about 500,000 graduates annually. However, only a handful will gain meaningful employment – applicants who were accepted on the jobs they want. Other applicants will just settle for any job offer that comes their way.

Sadly, this happens every year. This is why our unemployment and underemployment rates remain high. More than a skills mismatch, the issue lies in how fresh graduates can market themselves effectively to companies.

Companies need fresh graduates. These new batch of employees bring in new ideas to any organization and organizations also need fresh graduates to mentor and take over once the company grows and expands.

In most cases, however, a fresh graduate blows his or her chances during the initial interview. Fear and lack of self-confidence take over and the fresh graduate becomes tongue-tied, not being able to communicate ideas clearly, concretely and concisely.

A human resource personnel calls an applicant for an interview because he/she sees the applicant as suitable for the position. It is already one foot in the door.

Fresh graduates must do well to understand that they are selling a product and a service. The product they are selling is themselves. The service they are offering their skills and talents. Selling and marketing is part of any job-hunting process.

Here are some of the selling techniques that can be utilized by fresh graduates to help them get the job they want.

·         Know the product/service you are offering. Any good salesman will tell you that the key to closing sales is by knowing the product or service they are offering. A salesman can immediately identify his customers and state how his product or service can help solve the problems of his customer.

Fresh graduates must know realize how their skills, talents and capacities can help companies. They must be able to tell their interviewers how they can contribute to their organization.

·         Be specific with the target market. By knowing who your customers are, you can adjust your sales pitch accordingly. Developing rapport and relationship would be much easier since you are speaking the same language.

Fresh graduates are pressured to apply to many companies in different industries. However, this only decreases their chances of finding gainful employment. What happens is that, a fresh graduate accepts the first job offer that comes along.

Apply to a specific industry and tailor-fit the resume to make it more relatable to the interviewer. This shows that the fresh graduate knows what he/she is talking about. The interviewer will be impressed with the applicant’s knowledge of the industry and will stand-out from the rest of the applicants.

·         Communicate what you are offering very clearly. Good sales men know how to communicate well. They can describe how their products or services will be able to help the customer. The words they use are direct to the point.

Interviewing fresh graduates in the past, I can say that 90% of them are not sure about the words they are using. In most instances, fresh graduates are sending mixed messages.

This normally happens when there are so many ideas waiting to be said. The best thing that a fresh graduate can do is to focus on each idea one at a time. See if it would fit the general theme of his or her message. If it would only send confusing signals, drop it.

The key to effective communication is by keeping it simple. Avoid using highfalutin words that only confuse the audience without adding much to the essence of the conversation.

Other salesmanship techniques a fresh graduate must are dressing up properly and coming on time.

As a former jobseeker, I know that applying for a job and being getting interviewed is a very stressful and nerve-wracking experience. The best thing an applicant can do is to prepare for the interview and always trust in himself and his capabilities.

Sharing Through Speaking and Training

"You teach best what you need to learn." - Richard Bach

For the longest time, I was in the dumps. I was having difficulty picking myself up.

I was depressed and continually thought about the worse that can happen. However, a very good friend of mine believed in me and encouraged me to take things one step at a time.

Try new things out and just go out and try new things. She advised me to go out of comfort zone and help other people.

At first, I was confused and did not know where to start. Fortunately, a friend from the Philippine Daily Inquirer called and asked me to give a talk helping job-seekers find a job.

It was then I thought about my situation and how I can help job-seekers feel good about themselves.

During the talk, I felt that was getting my self-confidence back.

When I saw job-seekers listening and nodding their heads, I knew that I was getting through to them. I knew that the words I am saying meant so much to them.

My talk was divided into three parts. As it was meant to help job-seekers, I wanted my talk to be simple yet relate-able. I compared job-searching to going on a blind date.

Third part of my speech.

I will skip the first two parts of my talk and go directly to the last part; "If Things Don't Work Out, There Is Still HOPE."

I have used mnemonics in my talks to make the lessons I want to share very easy to remember.

In my last public speaking gig, HOPE is defined as:

• H - have a HEALTHY ATTITUDE
• O - consider other OPPORTUNITIES 
• P - PERSEVERE
• E - ENJOY the moment

These are the things which I need to learn again and which undergoing any trial need to consider. It may be easier said than done; but, hey, we got to start somewhere. 

Where Are The Jobs?

I had a very interesting conversation with one of the General Manager of a well-known job portal some time ago. The discussion we had centered on the jobs and why the Philippines has millions of people who are unemployed and underemployed.

She had a very interesting point made. If there are no jobs, why do companies keep on posting job vacancies? If there are no jobs, why do major dailies, online job portals are continuing to make money? If there are no job openings, why are schools, government agencies and other organizations are continuing to hold job fairs?

The point she wanted to make was simple. There are thousands of job opportunities out there but what are lacking are the technical and behavioral skills needed by the applicants to effectively do the jobs.

What happened with our educational system that it doesn't answer the needs of companies? Why are our graduates not employable here in the Philippines? They need to go abroad to look for better opportunities and yet, they are willing to get jobs that are far beneath their educational attainment. Who is at fault?

Answering these questions would entail a lengthy debate on the state of the educational system, the quality of graduates Philippine colleges and universities are producing and the unrealistic expectations of new graduates and their parents.

The top universities of the Philippines went down a couple of notches in the recent study published in The Philippine Daily Inquirer (http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/53635/philippine-universities-out-of-world%E2%80%99s-top-300).

Several experts have argued that the private sector and the government must work hand-in-hand to answer the looming employment problem in the country. The Philippines has become, more recently, a factory of nursing graduates.

http://www.centives.net/S/2011/where-are-the-jobs-being-created/

There are several booming industries that can provide employment. The government must be able to take advantage of this industries and provide enough support and incentives to encourage small and medium scale businesses to venture into these areas.

In a recent article, also in the Philippine Daily Inquirer, they mentioned that we have already taken India as the outsourcing capital in the world for voice. However, India still accounts for more outsourced services. Aside from voice support, the Philippines can also offer more specialized services; such as in accounting, animation and payroll systems.

A comprehensive approach is needed to enable the public to realize the benefits of these possible opportunities and the private enterprise to be encourage to put-up these kinds of businesses here.

Let us understand, that not all can be employed as nurses. And not everyone are qualified to work in customer support that handles voice calls.

Green technology is also fast becoming a new industry. There are companies who have already embraced the green movement. The green companies are providing employment and livelihood to a lot of people. The government should also help these companies by offering tax breaks, incentives or assist in research and development.

What the government can do is to fast-track its plan to lessen the number of steps needed to set-up the business. A Singaporean can roughly take 24 hours to register and have his own business. In our country, it takes an average of about 2-4 weeks, sometimes even longer.


Meanwhile, the investment of the businessman is stuck. He can not hire immediately nor he can not set-up shop unless all the documents have been approved.

In the end, providing employment to thousands of Filipinos does not lie on one entity alone. The government and the private sector must help in providing framework to help one another. The government can not do it alone nor companies handle everything without the assistance from the local and national government.

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