7 Ways to Be the Best Possible Job Candidate

Summary: Avoid the obvious mistakes to ensure that you make it through the first round and continue to impress employers by following these tips.

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Office and hiring managers receive hundreds of resumes for available positions. They can clearly see by the quality of resumes and application materials who the potential candidates are immediately. Hiring managers also handle a lot of interviews and know when a candidate is being truthful in their answers or trying to sound more experienced than they actually are. Here are seven tips to help make sure you are the potential candidate that excels at interviews.
 

1. Read and reread your resume to make sure there are no typos or other mistakes. A resume is the first thing hiring managers see, so when there are obvious problems, the resume is quickly discarded. This also means creating a professional email to use and providing professional references when asked for them.
2. Get your social media accounts presentable. That means no pictures of hard partying or gambling, distasteful language, immodestly clothed photos, or anything else that questions your maturity and reliability. Doing a quick Google search is an easy way for hiring managers to narrow down the good resumes that made it through the first step.
3. Follow-up on resumes you have submitted later the same day or the next day. Sometimes things go wrong and a resume may not make it to the right person because of spam controls on the email, etc. so unless the postings says “do not call,” go ahead. Following-up can also get your resume on the top of the pile or starred in the inbox.
4. Follow any instructions very carefully. Some companies will ask potential candidates to complete a short task to see what kind of critical thinking skills, listening skills, and time-management skills as well as determine how serious they are about a job.
5. Be ready for the interview by being ten minutes early, dressed professionally yet modestly, and by coming in with a positive attitude.
6. Research the company so that you can really show your interest and dedication to the positon. A good time to “impress” the interviewer is at the end when they ask if you have any questions. Respond with something like, “I was looking at the company website…”
7. If you are offered a position, do everything in your power to keep the position. Try to start when they want you to and then treat the first three months like a trial period. Remember that it is easier to fire you now before more money gets invested into your training and benefits. Be on time for work, don’t call in sick if possible, take notes, study the training material after hours, learn all you can, meet everyone that you can, and never talk back.

 



Photo: cmlor.com



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