Being able to offer a solution requires that you understand the problem your potential employer is experiencing in some depth. Here are some ways you can offer solutions:

• Sometimes you can gain a perspective on a potential employer’s likely problems by researching the company on the Web, or by talking to others you know who work in the company or department you are hoping to be hired into. You can then use this understanding to help you select key points to highlight in your resume and cover letter that describe how you have successfully handled similar problems in the past. The objective is to create a resume that will allow the hiring manager to effortlessly make the connection between the problems they are facing and the types of solutions you are capable of bringing.


• Sometimes you will be able to develop and offer suggested solutions in “real time” if you ask targeted questions during the interview process to help you understand the particular problems your potential employer is facing that could benefit from your perspective, experience, or expertise. If you sense your intuition is on target and your input will be welcomed, you can offer thoughts about how you might approach or solve an identified problem or some aspect of the problem.
  
  This technique works especially well if the job you are applying for is one in which your prior knowledge, experience, or perspective can bring immediate value. Here is an example: A consultant was applying for a job to help a non-profit corporation solve what the hiring manager thought was a simple “staffing problem.” More specifically, the hiring manager believed that the root cause of several organizational problems he observed was that the organization was understaffed and hence needed a methodology for convincing the Board to approve additional hiring. As the consultant discussed the problem with the hiring manager during the interview, she asked questions that allowed her to gain a perspective on the true extent of the “symptoms” that were showing up, and she was able (based on her prior experience of working with non-profits who had experienced similar problems) to offer the thought that the staffing issue was only the “tip of the iceberg” and to suggest other areas that might need to be addressed to comprehensively solve the real underlying problems. Needless to say, she got the job, and beat out several other potential candidates due to her ability to identify the scope and nature of the real problem that the potential employer had not yet recognized.


• Other times the interview process itself will include a phase where you are presented with a real-world problem that the employer or his/her department is currently struggling with and asked for your thoughts and opinions. Here again, you will have an opportunity to “present a solution” or at least an approach for addressing the problem.

Two things to keep in mind about “presenting a solution.” As an “outsider” you will likely not be in a position to understand all of the factors that will need to be considered in crafting an ultimate solution. And you don’t want to seem too presumptuous in implying that you “know all the answers” without really knowing the full nature of the problem. However, there are many cases in which suggesting concepts or a perspective that your potential employer may not have thought of, or suggesting a good solid approach for getting a handle on the problem or the situation, will win you considerable points.