Standing out: Job seekers need to show what they can do for a company

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July 10, 2009

Standing out: Job seekers need to show what they can do for a company

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By Lisa Schryver
Tribune Media Services

ISTOCK

In tough economic conditions, finding a job can get downright frustrating. Gone are the days of submitting a resume and getting called for an interview. Instead, job seekers today have to get creative if they want to be noticed.

Jill Keto, author of “Don’t Get Caught With Your Skirt Down: A Practical Girl’s Recession Guide,” says job seekers should not limit their searches to positions based on profile or status.

“Focus your job search on businesses that have a good chance of surviving the recession, or even growing during it,” she says. “Choose boring, nuts-and-bolts manufacturing companies over the more glamorous businesses like financial services.”

Old-school techniques that still give you a leg up

Kate Wendleton, president of The Five O’Clock Club, a New York-based career counseling company, says landing the right job still may hinge on old-world techniques:

Embrace snail mail. You’re unlikely to stand out if you join the legions of job seekers sending “hire me” pitches via e-mail. E-mail also is easy for a hiring manager to delete. By using regular mail, you control the appearance of your carefully crafted cover letter and resume.

Resist the BlackBerry. Don’t follow up on an interview with an e-mail sent via handheld -- there’s too great a chance you’ll thumb-type a typo-ridden message. Use handhelds only to send brief e-mails confirming an appointment or advising that you’re running late for a meeting.

Stick with a land line. For any phone contact with a prospective employer, try to use a land line. With cell phones, there’s too great a risk that you’ll get a spotty connection, lose it altogether or end up with excessive background noise if you’re in a public place. If you don’t have access to a land line, call from someplace quiet.

--Associated Press

The goal is to find a job that won’t crumble during difficult times. Look at the big picture, and try to think like a hiring manager throughout the process, Keto says.

“When interviewing, and also on your cover letter, highlight why you can either help them save money or increase revenues,” she says. “This is key, because businesses are most concerned with the bottom line in a recession. For example, are you very good at cutting costs, personal budgeting and keeping expenses down, or finding ways to get new customers? If so, tell them.”

Market yourself as a package, says Keto. Show employers that you not only have the skills, experience and personality for the job, you also bring innovative ideas to improve their bottom line.

If it has been a while since your last job interview, don’t be afraid to practice answering common interview questions in the mirror. Work on presenting yourself confidently, says Laura DeCarlo, executive director of A Competitive Edge Career Service in Orlando, Fla. Prepare for likely interview questions (“What is your greatest weakness?”) to avoid that deer-in-the-headlights look.

“Frankly, the only thing that should differ (in a tough economy) is the amount of competition,” DeCarlo says. “But employers are currently citing that over 75 percent of the candidates who are contacting them are underqualified for the job.

“In a good market, it is talented candidates who are making the positions far more competitive. Right now, the challenge is standing out as qualified in a sea of untalented candidates.”

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9 Comments

Mark on July 19, 2009 7:27 PM | Reply

hahahaha!
never laughed so hard in my life
what jobs?

sri on July 21, 2009 7:00 PM | Reply

Nothing to worry or get nervous, just be confident and never tell any lie.. answer what you know.. are the first principles while attending an Interview. I had lot of experience in this area, so collected a big list of interview questions and answers sites (more than 220 sites) on wide variety of areas. This doesn't cover just interview questions but also has information related to how to dress, how and what to ask the person who is interviewing you like if it is HR, you might want to know about the work environment, about the overtime rules, about the holiday structure, any medical benefits, insurance coverages etc.,. Thought it will be useful to all, so sharing them at the below link -- might be of some help to you... today and even in future..
http://markthispage.blogspot.com/2009/06/sites-you-must-refer-to-if-you-going.html

theantibush on July 22, 2009 8:49 AM | Reply

“For example, are you very good at cutting costs, personal budgeting and keeping expenses down, or finding ways to get new customers? If so, tell them.”

Really?
Im going to go in there and tell some dim wit interviewer that I have been paperless for 12 years? That everything Ive done since high school is maintained in a huge mirrored version control database? That there are 15 computers in my home office alone, Windows and Linux, along with a parallel super computer? That Im totally debt free and have been for 15 years? HAHAHAHA!!

The point of view of the interviewer is that if it is impossible for them, you are lying or exaggerating.
And your absolutely blank credit report isn’t about superior cost cutting and keeping expenses down..no no no!
To them it is because you are so utterly fiscally clueless that nobody trusts you with a credit card.

You see, when you truly take things to the limit, when your personal expectations of yourself far exceed those that an employer would expect from you, you look very much like the other extreme. And that is what they will assume.

Joseph Schmoely on July 23, 2009 11:52 AM | Reply

Job seekers need to show how they can suck a dozen eggs through
a garden hose. They need to know
corporate doubleplusgoodspeak and
buzzwords. They need to know how to put on a Mr WalMart smiley face
instead of a human one.

They certainly dont need to know much for real world skills. We outsourced those to the Chinese
and illegal aliens.

Salmonista on July 24, 2009 10:10 AM | Reply

75% of candidates are UNDERqualified? I have a graduate degree, and I can't even get an interview for an administrative assistant job. I had to beg a temp agency to let me come in and take their assessment. Then when I scored in the 90th percentile, they were impressed but told me they just don't have any placements right now.

Maybe the "underqualified" comment includes the cafe down the street who won't hire me because I don't have a year of fine dining experience. Sorry that working in a grocery store isn't good enough for you.

Marsha M. on July 24, 2009 9:48 PM | Reply

I'm in the same boat as you are, Salmonista, so I agree with everything you said!Also Joseph and Mark! What jobs?? ha ha Also, if you are a little "older", say older than 45--you can just about forget it. As soon as they see your face they are thinking (and you can SEE it on their face) "NEXT"... Back in 1976 I worked for a company called Pines of America building Big Wheels. The salary was $7.15 an hour. Yesterday, I went to an employment agency who had no other jobs but a plastic injection molding job--7 am to 4 pm. I asked what the salary was, and was told it is $7.25 an hr. Wow! In 33 years, salaries have gone up 10 cents for the "common man", while executives in some of these folding companies are making 9 million a year! What a mess America is in, that's all I can say! These little job tips aren't worth the space they are written on!

kat on July 27, 2009 8:57 AM | Reply

very cool

Yaddayadda on July 30, 2009 9:48 AM | Reply

“Focus your job search on businesses that have a good chance of surviving the recession" Huh? How about:
"Focus your job search on finding a job that will at least cover your mortgage and put some food on the table, because no one knows if a company or industry is going to make it from one day to the next."

bike4me on August 5, 2009 7:38 AM | Reply

"But employers are currently citing that over 75 percent of the candidates who are contacting them are underqualified for the job."

What?? The problem that I have is that 99% of the recruiters who contact me HAVE NO IDEA what is on my resume. Seriously! They look at a few words on my resume, and then treat me like a piece of crap. The employers who use these agencies are not doing themselves any favors. The HR departments need to be chucked onto the street and that will remove the roadblock between managers who need good, qualified people and the people who need good jobs.

Standing out: Job seekers need to show what they can do for a company

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