A professional gem trader decided to visit the amateur rock show at his convention in Arizona a few years back. As he wandered around the rock show he stopped at the table of a rock hound who had some suspicious rocks. One rock was in a bin marked “$10″. When he picked it up and looked at it, that fist sized rock nearly stopped his heart. This being the equivalent of a garage sale he offered $5 and got the rock. He took it home, verified that it was a huge sapphire as he suspected. Raw it was worth $250,000. After being cut and polished, the gems it produced sold for millions of dollars.
Everyone wants a bargain. Paying $5 for a million dollar gem is a dream. Every manager and business owner is convinced that he himself is that gem. There also lurks somewhere in the back of his mind the belief that he will find another gem even more brilliant than himself. He can then take that gem and make a fortune while polishing and refining it. You need to convince the hiring manager that you are that hidden gem. You are that sapphire in the rough.
You need to sit down and think every time you apply for a job, “What would make me a sapphire in the rough?” Before every single interview you should ask yourself, “What does a sapphire in the rough look like to this guy?” When you are rewriting your resume ask, “How can I make it impossible to miss that I am a sapphire in the rough?”
If you think about it enough, you may really be that sapphire in the rough.
Something to do today
Before your next interview figure out what would make you a “sapphire in the rough”. Now prove you are one in your resume and interviews.
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Coming up
Beating the tests