If you believe your technical skills and experience are enough to win over an interviewer, you may find yourself facing frequent rejections during a job search.

With more than 173 million job applications sent out in the first six months of 2024, landing your dream job takes more than expertise—you need to be able to sell yourself to a potential employer.

Yes, the word “sales” can have negative connotations. So to clarify, think of “selling yourself” as separating yourself from others with similar skills by effectively demonstrating why your ideas, value and cultural alignment make you the best candidate for a particular role.

“The reality is that the minute you become a job seeker, you become a marketer,” noted Amanda Augustine, career expert at Career.io and TopResume. The true reason why some people score offers when others don’t is that those in the former category manage to convince the hiring manager that they are the better choice.

Here are some ways to showcase your strengths and unique qualities in ways that are persuasive, compelling and authentic.

Stand Out Using Your Differentiators

When you create a professional brand and make an effort to understand and define your unique value—or the things you’re capable of offering to an employer—you begin the process of selling yourself, noted Arno Markus, certified professional resume writer, CEO and founder of iCareerSolutions.

Lots of people can check the boxes on a job description. The process of creating a brand forces you to think about your successes and how to explain them in a way that matters to potential employers. “It’s not enough to say you are unique, everyone says that,” Markus cautioned. You need to prove how unique you are by citing specific examples of projects that had the biggest budget, the biggest impact, or the greatest number of challenges.

“Numbers sell,” Augustine pointed out.

How many people did you supervise? How big was the budget for the project? How many bugs were reported after the release? How did you cut costs or boost morale?

Review the job description and connect with people inside the company to understand the project environment and the ways they are using (or would like to use) technology to drive business strategy. Then use KPIs and metrics to cite examples of experiences and successes that a hiring manager may find relevant and valuable.

Use the Mirroring Technique

Most importantly, selling yourself is about addressing the selection criteria that may not appear  in the job description.

It’s about demonstrating that you are the right fit for the culture and that you can mesh and work effectively with the team.

Your ultimate goal is to make it seem like you are already an employee of the company by displaying the qualities and the demeanor that cause a hiring manager to say yes or no, Augustine said. It’s about showing that you are compatible with the core values and norms of the organization in a natural, unscripted way.

To do that, you want to research the company and the manager beforehand, then frame your experience in a way that lets your personality and the interpersonal skills you use to interact effectively with others shine through. Don’t memorize your answers word-for-word or you risk coming off as scripted and unauthentic; instead, retain a generalized sense of how you might respond to certain questions, and commit yourself to keeping things conversational.

How you dress for the interview might seem like a minor thing, Markus noted, but your clothing can also reflect your personality and cultural fit.

Mirroring is another technique that helps to build rapport with the person you're speaking to. It involves subtly matching the body language, tone and language of your conversation partner, whether that’s a human resources screener, technical evaluator or CIO. Adapting your message to the interviewer’s needs and characteristics allows you to build trust and credibility.

Consider using an interview simulation tool to practice delivering responses and receive detailed feedback about your strengths as well as ways to improve tone of voice, use of filler words, frequency of pauses and the pace of your speech.

Finally, ask questions to show that you are just as concerned about finding the right opportunity and an environment where you can perform at the highest level. Candidates who show that they care about the decision to join a company and treat an interview as an opportunity to gauge mutual fit can win over the hiring manager.

Be Confident, Not Arrogant

Toggling the fine line between self-promotion and coming across like an arrogant jerk can be difficult when you’re selling yourself—but to come out on top, you need to master it.

In fact, when TopResume asked hiring professionals which character traits are the most—and least—attractive when evaluating a job candidate, confidence was among the top four most attractive traits, whereas arrogance was the second-biggest turn-off.

How can you avoid going too far? For starters, don’t take responsibility for a team success. Give others credit and explain the role you played. Don’t exaggerate or stretch the truth when describing your experience and achievements. Be authentic and accurate. Case in point, lying was considered the most offensive dealbreaker in TopResume’s survey.

Express Interest in the Job

While not everyone feels comfortable asking for the job, expressing interest and a clear understanding of the role helps you answer a key question on the interviewer’s mind: “Why should I choose you over other candidates?”

If you are bold enough and really want the job, you can ask the hiring manager if they have any concerns about hiring you, so you have a chance to address them. But at the very least, expressing interest or showing enthusiasm for the company and the position can convince the hiring manager that you are the best, most capable and most qualified person to fill the position.