Hiring Managers: What Extra Efforts Got Your Attention?

[lovetheduns]

To me extra effort means something more than just following up with a thank you letter, following up with a call, or just being able to show you did a little research on the company.

During an interview, I really don't want to hear you rehash your resume. You would be surprised how many people just basically rehash the resume but don't really add anything substantial to what they really did. Did you really just process payroll? Did you really just creating copy for a marketing campaign? I can go out and get anyone who can perform a task-- your job in the interview is to tell me why you doing the tasks for a job are better than the next person. If you are just going to summarize your resume in more depth-- then honestly, I am going to be bored to tears. If I am hiring for a marketing manager, I know what you do in general. Same with if I am hiring a business analyst, I know what a business analyst does. The best interviewers are able to tell me a "story" when relating their experience on their resume. They can basically tell me the problem or scenario, what they did, and the results of their actions. They call it the PAR technique, but basically you provide more information than just I did marketing collateral for three business units. It is more of a story about being tasked to do marketing collateral for three product lines where one was a mature product, one was an unlaunched product, and the other was a struggling product line. You revamped the collateral for all three lines with a different focus blah blah. Your end results were that collateral was clearer, gained more responses based on similar efforts, or whatever else in the world that would show you didn't just do a task and throw it into the wind.

By developing these "stories" early on you should be able to be concise and pack a punch to your "elevator speeches" so that you are not droning on and on and on and then just losing impact. You then loop in your prepared bullet points so to speak with how they are relevant for me and the company that I am hiring for.

Don't wait until the end to ask me questions-- I then feel like you are just asking questions to ask them because you were told you should.

Have a dialogue with me-- ask throughout, show some enthusiasm, don't slump-- look like you have SOME energy.




I don't care if you can do every single task in the world that I outlined in my job description. I know the chances of me finding someone perfect is slim. What you CAN do is be able to articulate how your experience over here can help you overcome that knowledge gap.

[Miss Crabcakes]

Originally Posted by Steve Bagu

Miss Crabcakes made one BIG mistake in trying to offer suggestions to improve a potential employer. The hiring person figured she was being too smart for her britches and passed on her.

Each company if in business for a long time more then likely have tried a particular move that failed to work for them. Each company will be different.

When in business hired a person that started to change my proven methods and when I corrected him he thought that his way was better then my working methods.

I explained that what he thought was a better way had been tried many yrs earlier and showed to be a poor choice.

A company that signs the pay check may be Right or Wrong in some ways but they are still the owners. Best to wait for a while to see how they operate and if asked offer an idea...they may accept or decline.

I understant what you're saying.

But the suggestions I offered where on ways to promote the business through social media which which is something that they were currently not doing but wanted to start doing. I was only trying to show my drive and how I could help. Not stepping on any toes.

[silenthelpreturns]

I wonder how many of you have discriminated against people with disabilities?

[Randomdude]

Originally Posted by annerk

Grab me with your cover letter. Show personality and show that you can differentiate yourself from the pack. Offer me something besides your work history that is applicable to the job--volunteer work or even an interesting hobby that will translate to some facet of the job. Show me that you are a vibrant person, not some drone. That's what will get you the interview. I cull the pack of resumes hard before I even interview a single person, only 1% even get a phoner. And those are the people who have grabbed my attention with their cover letter.

Ironic, since what you actually are likely looking for is a drone.

[Randomdude]

Originally Posted by silenthelpreturns

I wonder how many of you have discriminated against people with disabilities?

I have to hide my disabilities and spring them on my employer after I get the job, because nobody would ever hire me otherwise.