Going after your dream job can be intimidating; making any job search no easy feat. And with a highly competitive pool of other talented applicants, figuring out how to stand out is increasingly difficult.
When you apply for a job, you want to be the best applicant recruiters see. Candidates often ask us what they can do to stand out from the competition.
As experienced marketing headhunters, we do our best in helping our candidates succeed throughout the entire job search process. We emphasize having a strategy in place before you even start applying. This way, you’re well-prepared to submit your application and ready to progress through the next steps in your job search seamlessly.
We’ve created a list of ways to ensure you not only prepare yourself for your job search, but to ensure you stand out in the best way possible. Place yourself ahead and elevate your chances of landing the job you’ve always wanted to successfully boost your marketing career forward:
How to Set Yourself Apart from Other Candidates During an Interview
Before You Apply
1. Make Sure Your LinkedIn Is Well-Groomed
Before you initiate your job search, make sure your LinkedIn profile is well put together and ready for recruiters to look at. LinkedIn is one of the first places employers and marketing professional recruiters will look to gauge your candidacy for a position, and a tool they use to find potential candidates. If your LinkedIn is impressive enough, a recruiter will reach out to you for possible opportunities, without you having to initiate the conversation.
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Your social networks should be a valid and impressive representation of yourself as an individual and a marketer. Make sure that your LinkedIn is up-to-date, and accurately represents your skills and the value you can bring to the table in the best light.
LinkedIn isn’t just a platform to showcase why you’d be the best marketer for the job. It has many functions that should be used to enhance your credibility and build valuable connections. Post valuable content and engage with other industry thought leaders. Strategically grow your network and leverage your connections. Reach out to key people who are in your industry, and work on getting endorsements from people who you’ve worked with who can speak on your expertise. Hiring managers and recruiters take recommendations from credible professionals very seriously.
2. Make Sure the Role Is a Right Fit
Does the job align with your career path, and do you have the right skills for it? We often get applicants who aren’t the right fit for a position. A mismatch in culture fit or a lack of key skills will easily knock you off the pipeline, so it’s important to self-evaluate your experience and capabilities to avoid pursuing a job that’s isn’t right for you.
Applying for a marketing job that’s not aligned with your skills is a quick way to get unnoticed. If you’re serious about growing your career and pursuing a job that will enhance your development, do extensive research on the role and company to ensure it’s right for you.
3. Optimize Your Resume
This is a given, but marketing headhunters see far too many resumes that aren’t respectively optimized for the job.
The best way to stand out from the competition early on is to showcase a resume that demonstrates the leverage you have against other candidates. As a marketer, your resume is held to a very high standard. Therefore, there should be no grammatical errors and should be easy to follow.
Make sure you have a clean, updated resume that is tailored to the position you’re applying for. Display your cutting-edge skills as a marketing expert in the most concise way possible. Not only should your resume be tailored to reflect the job description, but it should also align with the company’s culture.
Provide valuable insight into your expertise by including metrics and quantifiable results. This will help recruiters gauge the type of value you can add to their bottom-line. Additionally, make sure your resume and cover letter contain the relevant keywords that employers and recruiters will specifically look for when hiring for the position.
When You Land the Interview
4. Set Yourself Up for Success
If you get a call from a recruiter to move onto the interview process, it’s certainly something to celebrate! However, this is only the beginning of the most important stage in your job search.
Set yourself up for success by having a good understanding of who you’re interviewing with. If it’s a panel, get to know each participant as much as you can. If you’re working with credible marketing headhunters, they should be able to provide you with insights into the culture and what the role of your interviewer(s) are.
A bit of research on Google and social media can take you a long way in learning about a company. Check up on the history and any changes that have recently occurred in the business structure. If you’re able to speak on these changes and how your skills align with them, the interviewer will be very impressed.
The interview is your time to shine, so make the most out of it!
5. Be Concise with Your Answers
Just as you should keep your resume concise, make sure you answer questions in the most concise way possible. While your answers should be specific, insightful and in-depth, don’t trail off into things that are irrelevant.
Answers that are too long-winded can make interviewers think that you aren’t quite agile enough in getting things done. Make every minute count in your interview – interviewers value their time!
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6. Dress the Part
Regardless of how skilled and sharp you are, you won’t make a good impression, let alone stand out, if you don’t seem interested in the job. The enthusiasm and excitement you demonstrate is highly important in getting your interviewer to seem interested in you. Candidates who aren’t eager about the role will likely be disqualified.
With so many other highly qualified professionals going after the same job, you need to give them reasons why you’re a good fit for the role. And part of showing interest in the role involves your professional appearance and looking presentable. Dressing the part can also boost your confidence and help you have a more successful interview!
Before you leave the interview, make sure the interviewer understands how excited you are about the role and gets a complete grasp of why you’re the perfect person for it. A well-presented case can be just what you need to place yourself ahead of other candidates.
Conclusion
What steps are you taking to enhance your possibility of landing your dream job? Maximize your chances of getting hired by proactively setting yourself up for success. Practice these tips for your next job search – they can be exactly what you need to take your marketing career to the next level!