How to Situate When Applying for a Job

If you want to be in the top 20% of job applicants who get noticed and win interviews, you should be thinking about how to incorporate sales secrets into your job search strategy.

Whether you are applying for a position on the front line in a manufacturing capability or as the chief operating officer in the front office, He advises taking the following steps to set yourself apart:

Know about the company and the industry. Nearly everyone who applies will know something about the company. Go a step further and find out the details about the company and about the industry. Ask yourself what challenges the company is facing, and, more importantly, how will the role you are applying for affect those challenges or provide value?

You might be asking, "Why does it matter?" For example, if you know the company is in warehousing, and they have a reputation for having the best and most sophisticated distribution systems, think about the things that are probably important to them. Perhaps it is speed, reliability, and accuracy? throughout the interview, because you know a little bit more than the next guy, you could talk about your proven ability to get the job done and done right, or talk about your reliability or the different types of distribution systems you've used and how it will be easy for you to learn theirs.

Take a quick look inside. Just like companies make sure their potential customers out to make sure they are financially stable and not "hard cases with an approach," so should you. If they are a public company, read about their finances and see how their stock is doing. If there are any postings from current or former employees. Do they talk about the company being a hard place to work or a mutual environment where employees are valued? Do people feel like "cogs in the wheel," or do they feel like their contributions matter? Check out Twitter and Facebook, and see if they have a presence. What's being said? What's not being said? Are there articles about the company and their community involvement? Articles about less than positive activities? Better to know, so you can say no.

Find out who is who in the zoo. Go to their company website to learn about the top people. Follow up by visiting Linked In to investigate them and anyone else at the company. For most professionals, Linked In has become standard for posting a professional profile. You may be able to find valuable common connections or common professional or social interests of the people who will be interviewing or working with you. You may learn where they went to school and what books they are reading. You can also find and check industry or professional groups that they belong to, and see if there is any useful or interesting information available for you there.
Do your due assiduousness to stand out in a crowd, because it is a very big crowd. You will likely be rewarded with interview opportunities.

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