I don’t want to sell myself.

I Don’t Want to Sell Myself.” Okay, But… Who’s Gonna Do It?

I get it. You shouldn’t have to sell yourself if you do exceptional work.

Your work should speak for itself. Your experience should be enough. You should just be able to apply, get interviewed, and be judged solely on your skills.

But this isn’t a job search fairy tale. It’s capitalism.

And in capitalism, here’s what happens when you don’t sell yourself:

🚫 Less qualified people who are really good at talking about themselves get the job.

🚫 Your résumé gets lost in a sea of “highly motivated team players who have strong cross functional skills.”

🚫 Someone with half your experience and double your confidence negotiates for the salary you deserved.

I know it’s wildly unfair. I hate that it works this way. But until hiring managers develop mind-reading abilities, you have to tell them why you’re the best choice.

And no, this doesn’t mean turning into a walking LinkedIn cliché. It just means:

Owning your wins, because if you don’t, no one else will.

Making it painfully obvious why they need you.

Being at least half as bold as the guy who just BS-ed his way into a CTO role.

So yeah, I wish you didn’t have to sell yourself. I wish we lived in a world where hiring was fair. And yes I wish also that I was independently wealthy and could hand out jobs like candy on Halloween.

But until then? Your options are: (A) Sell yourself or (B) Wait for a company to realize your greatness through osmosis.

I can tell you though… Option B is how you end up rage-applying at 2 AM in your jammies when you can’t sleep. So choose wisely.

#yougottasellyourself #owningyourwins #capitalism