Example 4: Working before the second interview

Sally was brought in to interview for a senior software position and as part of the interview process was asked to meet with several other software developers in the department she would be working for. During the course of this first interview Sally took the initiative to ask some questions of her own, including asking each of the developers to briefly describe the biggest problems they were facing in their development efforts. She then went home, researched the company’s products and customers on the Web, and came up with solutions based on her prior experience. She called back the hiring manager and told him: “I’ve interviewed your employees, identified three problems you are facing in your software development efforts, and would like to meet with you to offer some possible solutions based on my experience and research.” Guess who got called back for a second interview and eventually got hired?

Example 5: Jumping in to help when you see a need

Linda was contacted by a non-profit organization as a potential consultant. She was told that the organization was interviewing multiple candidates and given a short description of the nature of the work required, which was to be funded by a grant the organization hoped to obtain. She requested a second phone call to learn more about the situation and she was granted the second call. During that call she used her experience and analytical skills to ask targeted questions so that she could get a good grasp of the problems the organization was facing and hoping to solve with the grant money. This allowed her to begin to generate in her own mind an outline of the scope of the problem and the approach she might use for addressing it.

During the call the hiring manager confessed to Linda that the organization was under the gun to develop a draft of the grant proposal within one week. Linda made the following offer to the hiring manger on the spot, “I feel that I have learned a lot about the specific problems you are facing given the information you provided me during our conversation, and based on my experience I believe I have a good idea of what might be required to address them. I would like to offer to prepare for you a draft proposal, in a format I think you can use for your grant, that will spell out a summary of the problem, proposed approach for addressing and solving it, as well as the time frame and cost required. Would you be interested?” The hiring manger’s immediate reaction was “Yes, of course! Thank you.” It took Linda an investment of seven hours of her time to write the proposal but it landed her a lucrative consulting contract. Sound far–fetched? Not at all. Anyone who is familiar with writing proposals realizes that it is necessary to be able to assess potential problems quickly, generate proposed solutions and approaches, and cost them without knowing all the details. If you have this skill you can apply it to offer benefits to potential employers that will knock their socks off. Keep in mind that in this example Linda was not offering to do “the job” for free – but to help in the proposal effort for free – an accepted and appreciated practice that did not diminish, but rather enhanced, her credibility and highlighted her self confidence and generosity at the same time.

The Bottom Line:

If you really want to land a great job, and are willing to go the extra mile to do so, there are lots of exceptional strategies that you can use to distinguish yourself from other candidates. These approaches will not work in all situations, or for all people, but if you are looking for that extra edge you might want to consider them.

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