By Catherine Lang-Cline
It is a candidate’s world right now but that does not mean you can just sit back and expect the great offers to roll in. Clients spend a lot of time and money to recruit and hire and if you are not meeting some basic criteria beyond your resume, they will take a pass on you.
These are the Top 5 things that will make you stand out to any hiring manager:
Ambition
Be prepared for the interview and express a lot of interest in the position. Candidates can demonstrate ambition by listing goals achieved or working in a leadership position, even if it was at school or as a volunteer. Be excited! This could be a great opportunity. Listen to the skills needed and tell them how you can help. Ask how you will be able to grow in this position.
Positivity
Show up with a great attitude, smile, energy, and optimism because clients are looking at you to see if you will be great to work with. People want to know that you can be positive even when things go wrong, rather than freak out, blame, or go negative. Be a “positive problem solver.” Be the person someone would be happy to run into in the lunchroom.
Reliability
Reliability is important because it shows your future boss what they can expect of you going forward. Be on time for interviews, send your resume (or anything else) when requested, and return calls in a timely fashion. Talk about how you helped on a team, how did they count on you? The hiring manager wants to know that they can count on you, too.
Transparency
Be open. If you are entertaining other offers, let them know. If you end up not being interested in the job or your circumstances change, let them know. Tell them exactly what you are expecting to make as a salary rather than bring it up later or change it halfway through the process. If you were let go from your last job, let them know that there was an issue. Surprises always backfire if you go too far and hide something.
Confidence
Hiring managers want to believe that you are “the one.” Start with a clear, professional, well-organized resume that mentions all of your accomplishments. Be organized. Make their job easier by using words that they used in the job description and mostly when you talk about yourself they believe you can do it. Don’t let them miss out on the perfect candidate because you didn’t mention the one thing they were really looking for. They want a person who can come in and make their worries go away. Sound like you can tackle the job with ease.
Also, take the time to listen to Episodes 1-10 of our Illumination Bureau podcast. Those episodes contain some great advice about how to stand out when you are a job seeker.Top 5 Things That A Hiring Manager Wants To See In A Job Seeker
