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Home / Job Search Tips
standing out from job competition

Gerald Buck / January 15, 2018

How to Make Yourself Stand Out for a Competitive Job Position

You’ve sent in your application and got the call back for an interview. Congrats! Now what?

Now, it’s time to stand out from the rest for the competitive job position you’re working hard to get. Sure, you know the basics to impress the hiring manager, such as:

• Smiling
• Making good eye contact
• Dressing professionally
• Researching the company
• Telling them what you can offer
• Sending a thank you card

But so do all of your competitors…

How do you go above and beyond?

Be Yourself
While you do need to be professional, you still need to be yourself. Sometimes candidates can mistake being professional with being a bit like a robot, and you lose your personality in the process. The hiring manager wants to see your professionalism and experience your unique personality. You can’t simply do steps one, two and three, and get the job. It just doesn’t work that way!

The hiring manager is determining whether to hire you based on their opinion of you, how they feel about you and the vibes they got from you. Yes, the basics matter, but being yourself will help you stand out during your job interview. You must build a rapport with the hiring manager, earn their respect, and make an emotional connection.

Why This Works
Making an emotional connection with the hiring manager is key to making yourself memorable! There’s a stack of resumes and files on their list – Be sure it’s your name they remember.

Stop Psyching Yourself Out!
We’ve all been there. We get ourselves worked up about the upcoming interview. Get nervous. Try to make everything 100% perfect. Basically, we psych ourselves out.

Relax! This goes back to being yourself. When you try to make everything perfect, you’re not being authentic and the hiring manager will know. The only thing they’ll be thinking while you’re talking is, “What is this person hiding from me?” Avoid this by being yourself!

Use these tips to make yourself stand out for a competitive job position. You’ll be remembered as the candidate the hiring manager wants to hire because you made a connection with them and you were yourself (not robotic).

Filed Under: Job Search Tips

Gerald Buck

Gerald Buck is the editor of www.ejobapplications.com, a website that offers job application forms, career advice and degree information. Follow him on twitter

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