how to stand out in job interviews

How To Stand Out In The Job Interview Process – 3 Easy Tips

In this article we’re going to be talking about how to stand out in the job interview process. Now, it’s important to remember at all times that when you’re applying for jobs and you’re trying to land your dream job, it is a competitive process.

Recruiters and hiring managers are going to be comparing you and your skills and your experience against other candidates, which is why it’s so important that you find ways to stand out from the competition

Tip #1: Try to understand the hiring manager’s world

Now, when you step into a job interview, one of the key things that you want to achieve in the interview is building rapport with the person that’s interviewing you. And one of the best ways to do this is to show them that you understand the world that they live in, that you can speak their language.

And there’s a number of ways that you can do this. And one of the easiest ways is to really try and understand the business that you’re applying for and understand the industry. Who is this business? What is important to this business? What’s their mission statement? What are their values listed on their corporate website? Have a look at their social media campaigns and their PR to really understand what is important to this company in the here and now.

But even beyond that, try to get a feel for the industry and who their key competitors of this company are so that you can step into the interview with already a good understanding of who this business is, who their competitors are, and you can start to understand the world that your hiring manager actually operates in.

Tip #2: Ask great questions in the job interview

Tip number two, to stand out from the competition is all about asking great questions in the job interview.

So it’s a best practice tip for success at absolutely any job interview that you go into. You always want to have prepared questions, whether it’s the phone interview, the first round interview or the cultural fit interview. You always want to have questions. You always want to be showing engagement, showing enthusiasm, but having really thought provoking questions that will show you insights about this company, about the team you are going to be working with about the role you’re going for, so you can assess whether or not it’s a good fit for you, but also just really show that engagement and that interest, because that’s going to help build rapport during the job interview.

But it’s also going to help set you apart from the competition because you can use questions to show your level of expertise, your level of insights, because the thought provoking questions you ask are only the kinds of questions that would be asked by someone who really takes the role seriously, who takes their profession seriously and has a deep level of expertise in that particular area that you’re interviewing for.

But asking great questions will also help you get an understanding of what is important to the hiring manager so that you can start to frame your responses to their behavioral based questions in a way that addresses the specific criteria or criteria that they’re looking for in the perspective winning candidate.

Tip #3: Over-Deliver during the presentation stage of the job interview

And tip number three, for standing out from the competition. Succeeding in the recruitment process is all about over delivering. So usually at the funnel stage of a job interview process, you’ll be asked to perform some sort of task or presentation,
Whether it’s a 90 day plan or some sort of portfolio piece relevant to your particular area of expertise. Now, you do not want to let this opportunity fall by the wayside because it is the best opportunity throughout the entire job interview process to knock their socks off and blow the competition completely out of the water.

In my personal experience being a part of recruitment processes for teams that I’ve worked in, the presentation stage has decided the winners and the losers 100%, if it’s an equal playing field and everyone has a cultural fit and the great skills and experience in their portfolio, this is the one chance that will decide who can add the most value to our team.

Who do we want in our team who is bringing a high caliber of work as demonstrated by their task or presentation that they can bring into our team to level up our capability and drive results for the business that we’re working for and essentially make all of us look good through hiring this great person?

So let’s say they ask you to write a 500 word blog article. You want to write a 600, maybe even a 700 word article, really over-delivering on the brief, showing every nugget of your expertise, pulling every rabbit out of a hat, demonstrate to them all the great work that you can do and all the great results that you can drive for their particular company and the role that you’re going for.

Let’s recap those three tips for standing out in job interviews

That’s my three tips for standing out during a job interview process. Let’s quickly recap what those were. So the first one was all about getting to understand their world. So your hiring manager is looking to solve a problem with this new hire. They want someone to come in and drive a specific result. You want to understand what it is that they’re trying to do.

You also want to understand where this business is at, what is important to this business? Where is this industry at? Who are their key competitors? So you can step in and have a really strong conversation with the hiring manager about how your role can add value to the company and how you and your experience is a perfect fit for delivering on those goals.

Tip number two is about asking great questions. This will help build rapport when to interviewer and can really help make the conversation very constructive and very meaningful, and really leave a great lasting impression in the hiring manager’s mind about your level of expertise and your knowledge through the conversation that you had and the great engaging thought-provoking questions that you asked that really demonstrates your value as a perspective candidate.

And then tip number three is all about over-delivering during that task or presentation or 90 day plan stage at the end of the job interview process. And really ensure that you nailed that, you show them all the great work that you can do, all the value that you can add to the business, and why you are the right candidate to be hired for that specific role.

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