How do you sell yourself in an interview or letter? If you're smart, you don't. You persuade.

This is not just semantics. It's the difference between trying to get someone to do what you want and motivating someone to take action. The latter is much more powerful.

I see people trying to sell themselves all the time, blabbing on and on about where they worked, job responsibilities and degrees. This might be interesting to you, and important, but it will not get the decision maker's attention. It could even put them to sleep if you focus on it at the wrong time.

If you want to motivate someone, reveal information in a way that not only influences how that person sees you but also gets him sitting on the edge of his chair waiting to hear more.

There are several key steps to persuading, says Tom Sant, author of Persuasive Business Proposals (Amacom). Although his focus is on how to win customers, clients and contracts, the principles are the same as you present yourself to employers in writing and in person.

The first step addresses the customer's needs. Your customer is a potential employer. So, in this step, "you demonstrate you understand the customer's needs, issues or problems," says Sant.

Obviously, you have to know what those are. You can figure this out to some degree by thinking about why the position you're applying for exists. What problems would a job like this solve? What types of problems or issues does this industry or this kind of company face today?

If you don't have a clue, you're not thinking this through. Research the industry. Sure, in the interview you can ask: What problems does this position address? How does this position make a difference in the company? But there's no excuse for going into an interview clueless about the problems of the industry and how the job you do makes a dent in them.