The modern-day job seekers guide to interviewing as a Business-of-One

Business-of-One | Interview Preparation

The market is changing
There’s no doubt that the job market is changing, and the modern job seeker is going to have to transform the way they view themselves and how they participate in the marketplace if they want to experience career success.

Back in the day, you’d get a job and stay at a company as long as you could - the longer the better, ideally a lifetime. And those days are gone. Every job is temporary now. Even if it’s secure for a couple of years, it’s still temporary. And this means that as an active participant in the job market, you’re going to have to look for work over and over again, which means you’re going to be presenting yourself over and over again and therefore you’re going to be going for interviews over and over again.

While companies are going to have to shift their perspective on how they attract and engage talent, so the job seeker too will have to change their approach to how they present themselves in the marketplace.

Presenting yourself as a Business-of-One
The shift the job seeker needs to make is to move from being an employee to seeing themselves as a "business-of-one", someone who has a set of skills and attributes that are exchangeable for compensation, innovation, learning opportunities, association and often a mixture of these.

Our updated range of career services supports job seekers in making the transition in viewing themselves as a “business-of-one” by helping them define their value proposition - what they have to offer and how they position themselves, so that they get the work that they’re good at, and work that they actually want to do.

To be a successful "business-of-one", you have to ensure that you’re taking on the right work so that you are stimulated, growing, expanding your skill set and being productive, as well as increasing your value, through better work exposure and skill development, so that you are able to charge your worth and be compensated accordingly.

Everything in the marketplace is about exchange, so the sooner we can start shifting from an “employee” mentality to one of “exchange”, the less personal it becomes, and you can prepare yourself better without the anxiety and stress about “getting hired” and more focused on the type of work you want to do and how to position yourself to get it.

Get the work that you want
Great businesses have the right product, marketing strategy, target market, talent, financial control and passion. If you can position yourself demonstrating your value (through competencies, skills and attributes), personal presentation, understand the needs of the company you’re engaging and can solve a problem or contribute to their bottom line - all with passion, you’re going to be receiving job offers. It really is that simple.

Great interviews are a combination of confidence, strategy, preparation and practice. Check out our Essential Interview Preparation Guide which covers all facets of the interviewing process so that any person can prepare for any job interview. Doing the practical exercises will significantly boost your confidence - which is what companies are looking for. People have confidence in people who are confident in themselves and the more confident you feel, the more you’re going to attract the right opportunities to you. This will also allow you to relax and engage in the interview process in a more authentic way which encourages open discussion to assess if the role fits both parties.

Chat to us about how you can present yourself as a "business-of-one" and get the work that you really want.