Every candidate wants to stand out as the best applicant the recruiter has ever seen! In order to be the perfect person for the job, you need to convince 2 parties: yourself and the recruiting team. But how exactly do you do that?
Here are 5 ways you can stand out during the hiring process:
1. Getting Noticed Before The Interview
Using your network
The fastest way to an interview room is usually through a contact or referral. In this current age, your network is going to be one of your most valuable assets in the corporate world. Businesses trust their employees to make reputable candidate recommendations, so it's important to ensure you develop professional relationships. These are also great to have in the long term, so definitely put in the time and effort to cultivate your network!
Build a personal brand
A great way to showcase the type of person you are along with your skills and passions is through your personal brand. Building a personal brand comes in many different forms such as posting content on LinkedIn, creating an online portfolio, and making a good impression on the people you meet. By actively maintaining a digital presence you may be able to get on a recruiter's radar before you even apply.
2. Crafting A Successful Application
Resume and Cover Letter
When crafting your resume, go beyond writing a job description and include facts and figures to quantify your impact. Doing this will allow the hiring manager to picture the amount of work and responsibility required to achieve the accomplishment.
Apply these similar concepts to your cover letter as well. Use a unique story about why you want to work a company and what stands out to you. Check out our articles on how to write a compelling resume and cover letter to ace your application.
Research
Do some additional research and show it off to the recruiter. This means you can link your past experiences to certain job aspects or responsibilities. A bonus is being able to come up with some cool ideas and thoughts about the company to impress the recruiter.
3. Make A Great First Impression
The little things matter
A company's impression of you begins the moment you walk through their office doors, from the greeting you give the receptionist to the handshake with your interviewer. These are the types of impressions that matter. They might link certain aspects of your personality with your work ethic or culture fit which is something you can use to your advantage.
Dress to impress
This doesn't necessarily mean a suit. Even though there's no harm wearing business formal, try to find out how the company usually dresses and then step it up a notch for the interview.
Be confident
Your interviewer only gets a small amount of time to get to know you a bit more. Make sure you make the best first impression by being enthusiastic and confident. Matching the energy levels of the interviewer is a great way to stay on track. Confidence is correlated with how prepared you are as well, so the more prepared you are the more confident you'll be!
4. Acing the interview
Research your interviewer
You'll often get the opportunity to know who your interviewer is ahead of time. Use this to your advantage by researching everything you can about them, for example their career progression- which you can ask them about! Connecting on those types of things can give you a unique edge and will make you more memorable.
Be structured but conversational
Answer the interviewer's questions in a clear and concise manner. Use the S-T-A-R (Situation, Task, Action, Result) method in order to go through sufficient detail of your example. Having structured answers demonstrates preparation and great communication skills. If you encounter a difficult question, ask for a minute to think about it or ask a clarifying question. By not rushing into an answer, you can ensure you still stay structured and avoid waffling.
Highlight your most relevant experiences
In an interview, there isn't enough time to go through all of your past experiences. Starting with the 'tell me about yourself' question, focus on pitching your own story that leads nicely into why you want to apply for a company. When it's time to tackle behavioural or competency type questions, focus on the impact you had, and mention relevant achievements.
5. Following Up In The Right Way
Don't rush to email a recruiter if you haven't heard back
As a candidate, you want to be patient and considerate of a recruiter's time. You don't want to be constantly emailing a recruiter for the result. More often than not, the application process takes longer than you may think.
Reach out on LinkedIn
If you want to establish a connection with the recruiter and you feel you had a great conversation, feel free to connect with them on LinkedIn with a message that involves thanking them for the opportunity.
Those are out top tips on how to stand out during the recruiting process! Check out some of our other articles on recruitment tips here.