Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Job Searching: Standing Out in a Job Search

Standing out in a job search can mean one of two things. You really nailed the first impression or you didn't and everyone else is talking about it. Standing out for the right reasons requires patience, perseverance and practice.

Patience: Take your time to dress the part, look for the right opportunity to speak and use silence to your advantage. When dressing the part, make sure you dress one level above the position you are seeking. Use your manners and be courteous when speaking to others - you never know who is standing next to you. I once stood right next to my interviewer in an elevator; turns out he was lost and I gave him directions to the job fair and ended up following him all the way to the table. Be sure to use silence to your advantage - don't interrupt and don't over speak. Silence demonstrates patience for the process.

Perseverance: Don't give up. Finding a job is work and it takes time to create and foster the right leads. When you feel yourself getting down about the process do a little volunteer work. Helping others will make your troubles seem less significant and again you never know who might be standing right next to you.

Practice: Repeatedly, over and over again and then a few more times ask yourself the most dreaded question in all of interviewing: So tell me a little bit about yourself. If you don't know the answer - you better make one up. A couple of things to remember:
1. Keep your answers professional and succinct. Tell the interviewer your name, 3 strengths and how they make you the right person for the job and let them know you want to work for such an amazing company.
2. Keep your response positive and upbeat and stay focused on your accomplishments.
3. Allow for the interviewer to process your response before jumping in and adding more qualifying statements.

Standing out in a job search (for the right reasons) is not difficult - being prepared, positive and professional will go a long way in getting you an interview.

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