I am interviewing for my dream job and the recruiter has told me there are 3 other candidates going through the process. What can I do to make myself stand out from my competition?

Well, first there are a few things that you cannot control about the process: your competition. They may be better qualified or less qualified than you. The hiring authority, for one reason or another, may connect more to one candidate than another and there is nothing you can do about that. But there are a few pointers we can give you in terms of standing out from your competition throughout the process:

1. Do your homework. Scour the internet for research on the company, its leadership and their competitors. Know their market and you could be a step ahead of the rest of the pack. We are constantly amazed at the number of candidates that simply do not prepare for the questions: “What do you know about our business?” and “Why do you think you want to work at our company?”
2. Practice interviewing. Hindsight may be 20/20, but it will not land you the job of your dreams. Make sure you practice answering interview questions aloud. How we sound thinking our answers through can be remarkably different than how they sound coming out of our mouths. Practice your tone, diction and body language. Talking aloud in front of a mirror or your family may sound silly, but how do you think actors and actresses practice?



3. Courtesy Counts. Nothing replaces a ‘thank you’ note. After a phone interview or an onsite interview, send a thank you note. Email is convenient and quick, but a note on stationary stands out as well, because few people do it anymore. Also, don’t make the assumption that the only person who qualifies for this follow up is the hiring authority. If you interview with a number of people, ask for their business cards and follow up with them as well. Rarely does one person make a decision anymore. Hiring is often done by consensus.



4. Proving your accomplishments. There is always a fine line between being confident and being cocky, but having other people tout your successes is always a good idea. If you have access to your performance reviews and you are proud of them, let your perspective manager look at them. To be able to read for themselves your strengths and developmental areas will take a lot of guess work out of their perception of you. If you do not have your reviews handy, make sure you have talked to the people you are using as references and ask for their help in being testimonials for you.



5. Display Enthusiasm. Often times people hold their emotions too close to the vest on an interview because they feel they will not be able to negotiate as good of a deal if the company knows how bad they want the job. The flip side of this is no one likes to get rejected—including the company and people that are interviewing you. People want to hire people that are passionate about what they do and who want to really make a contribution to the role. It does not do you any good to go through the motions of a job search if you do not express your desire for the job.

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