Comment by denton-scratch

This sounds like Dale Carnegie stuff. Dale Carnegie was a salesman; I wasn't, I was a technician (a programmer, if you like). I had six months of serious sales training, but sales isn't the trade I was made for, although I enjoyed working with salesmen.

It's true that hirers expect you to sell yourself, beyond just showing that you're qualified for the job. But I don't mind saying I'm a programmer by trade, and good enough for the job you're offering. It's up to my manager whether I add $500,000 to the bottom line; in general, engineers/programmers/technicians don't get to choose what they work on.