This is your job seeker idea center – with ideas to help you Stand Out and Get Hired. Check this list often for my best information to help you land your dream job – a job that allows you to work in areas that you are great at and passionate about.

For help in finding the right job, learning your talents and creating the new Talent-based Resume, click on Stand Out and Get Hired. This is your tool to help you identify, apply for and land the right job.

Find the Right Job Tips:
1. You are most competitive (in other words you stand out and get noticed) when you apply for jobs, or work in jobs, that match your talents and strengths. Today’s jobs are thinking jobs; we each think differently means not everyone is a good fit for every job. So, you should be searching for jobs that fit your talents – the way you think – because this gives you the competitive edge you need in job hunting. If you are an analytical person who likes to work with details, precision and accuracy, search for jobs or work in jobs such as engineering, accounting, the sciences, research, teaching, banking, IT, architecture, administration, law, the trades, journalism and others that focus on precision, accuracy and information. If your are more social and relationship-oriented, search for jobs in sales, customer service, healthcare, education, recreation, religious roles, counseling, career development/recruiting, mentoring, and others that concentrate on relationships, working with and supporting people Know yourself. Know what you are great at. Work in those fields. Play to your strengths. This is what makes you stand out in the workplace.

2. The key to your success in the workplace or in job hunting is “fit.” Fit requires you know what you are great at so you can work in jobs that play to your strengths. So, that prompts the question how do you determine what you are great at? Some people know themselves very well; they have taken the time to understand what they are good at and what activates their passions. Others may need some help with this. If you need help, consider using a talent assessment tool. A talent assessment tool identifies your personality and performance style. Once you know this, you can start to identify jobs or roles that match your performance style – these are jobs that play to your strengths. When you are great at something, it gives you an edge both in the workplace and in the hiring process (and everyone needs an edge in today’s competitive environment). Take a talent assessment or just list what you are great at and what you are passionate about. Either way, you will start to see how you think, what things are appealing and what jobs need these. Know yourself. Play to your strengths. This is how to stand out and get noticed.

3. With so many people currently looking for jobs, you need to arm yourself with these several critical things:
a. A clear understanding of what you are great at.
b. A clear understanding of the jobs that need what you are good at.
c. Great tenacity of “sticktoitiveness;” never give up.
d. Great optimism that you will find not only a job, but one that encourages your best performance.
Stay strong, confident and upbeat throughout this process. Be optimistic, energetic and fired up about your job search. See each opportunity to better understand what are the jobs that are the best fit for you. I know you may feel that you have to take whatever job you find, but focus your search around the jobs that are a good fit for you and not only will you be more competitive, you will also feel more successful in the process. See obstacles as ways to improve and get better. Be upbeat. Be confident. Be consistent, focused and resilient. Never, never, never give up. This is how to stand out and get hired.

4. Know what you are good at and what activates your passions. Your best performance will be in areas that match your strongest performing areas and areas that excite you and get you fired up. The more you are good at something (you feel confident and competent) and the more you love it (you are passionate about doing it), the more you fit a job and the more successful you will be in the job. So spend time with yourself. List all the things you are good at. List all the things you are passionate about. Where the two lists intersect is the first place to identify jobs that will play to your strengths. Invest the time. Then work to realign your job to include as many things in your talent areas. Get involved in things that match your interests. Volunteer for new responsibilities that play to your strengths. Not only do you get noticed but you activate your passions; this encourages your performance and helps you feel more engaged and excited about what you do. If you love to write, help the company with a newsletter. If you love to teach, offer to teach a program for your team about something you know about and they need. Don’t just do your job. Do more – but make the “more” things that ignite your passion and interests. You love it, you are good at it and the company needs it. You get fired up and noticed. This is how to change work from a four-letter word to a place where you feel valued and important.

5. Let’s talk resume: Hiring managers want to know these three things from you (so don’t get caught up doing the gimmicks – they don’t work):
1. What are you great at (what are your talents and passions because they reflect your greatest performance areas)?
2. How have you used what you are great at (in other jobs so they can see it in action)?
3. What value have you created for other companies (so they can see the value you can bring to their company)?
First Point: Show what you are great at.
Be sure to list your talents and the things that make you successful. Are you great at building and sustaining relationships? Are you focused, driven and goal-oriented? Are you great at solving problems and paying attention to details? Are you great at encouraging the best from others? Are you great at inventing, creating and innovating? What are you great at? This is your time to be confident and bold. This is your time to share what you do very well because hiring managers want to hire people who do very well at what the job needs. Be sure to assess the job opportunity to be sure it needs what you are great at. Then present your talents on the face of your resume. Be bold. Be confident. This doesn’t say you are great at everything; it says you are great at the things the job needs which is why you are the clear choice. Be direct, so they pick you. Be confident so you get their attention. This is how to stand out and get hired.

6. Let’s talk resume: Second Point : Show how you use what you are good at. What did you do in your last job that shows what you are good at? Were you able to diffuse angry customers successfully? Were you able to keep a project on track or under budget? Were you able to work with a variety of personalities, and get the job done well? Were you able to build new business, keep customers happy and improve service? Were you able to find more efficient ways of doing your work? Show how you use what you are good at to make a difference in the company. Hiring managers want to know what you are good at AND want to see how you use it in the workplace. They want to see that you can do what you say you do. Present this and you get noticed. Present this and you show a hiring manager you are capable. Present this and you will stand out and get hired.

7. Let’s talk resume: Third Point: Show your value. Companies are hiring you because they want you to create value for them. They are investing in you and for this investment they expect a return (the same way you expect a return when you invest your money in a mutual fund or bank). The greater the return, the more valuable you are to a company. So show the hiring manager you have created for your other companies. Show the dollar impact. Tell them how you saved 5% on overtime costs by rearranging the work schedule. Tell them how you saved 10% on the cost of a product by buying more efficiently. Tell them how you invented a new service that added $30,000 to the bottom line. Tell them how your idea to add new signs to your trucks brought in 15 new customers in the first month. Prove you are great. Show it with the numbers. This is how to stand out and get hired.

8. Let’s talk resume: Keep it to one page. Unless your new job requires significant additional information (such as accomplishments, research, innovations, awards, education), keep it to one page. This forces you to be selective about what you put on the resume. Remember, think like a hiring manager – they want to know: What are you good at? How have you used what you are good at? What value do you bring? Answer these three questions briefly, accurately and with details. This, generally, will require only one page. If needed, add a second page but be careful not to list meaningful information. Stay focused on what matters – and only that. The resume is to get you into the company; there, you can add more details and focus your discussion. This is the way to stand out and get hired.

9. Let’s talk resume: Think like a hiring manager. Though your resume is about you, think about who will be reading it – and what is important to them. A hiring manager wants mostly to see that you have the talents and abilities to do the job, that you will fit into the culture and that you will add value to the company. Because you know this, when you apply for a job, you must make this information obvious and clear. Consider addressing each of these in your cover letter, and be sure they are obvious on the face of your resume. Be selective about what you submit – hiring managers are pressed for time so only provide what they need. You can add more information when you get your interview.

10. Let’s talk gimmicks. Some people like to send their resumes in on colored paper. Some send promises to babysit hiring manager’s kids, or cook meals or buy tickets to shows. Others promise other favors – some reasonable, most unreasonable. Stop with the gimmicks. If you want to get hired, provide what hiring managers really want – some help in making a good decision about who to hire. Help the hiring manager see that you are a good fit for the job, you are great at what the job needs done and you know how to add value to the company. Gimmicks are out and a waste of time. Hiring managers want solutions. Make their job easy by showing your fit, your performance and your value and you move to the top of the pile. Use a talent-based resume to get noticed. Think about the hiring manager and make his/her day easier. This is the way to Stand Out and Get Hired.

11. Facebook is a great way to tell others about you. Think about creating an employment Facebook page where you present your strengths and accomplishments. Define your ideal roles – jobs and positions that play to your strengths. Identify your talents. Identify your strongest performance areas. Leave the social things out; include pictures of you at work, with your team, and include comments from others who know you well and how you work. A testimonial section can be very meaningful for a hiring manager. Add a video that shows you speaking about how you make a difference in your work environments – how you add value. Then ask your friends to share the site with their friends. This is another way to Stand Out and Get Hired.

More Job Seeking tips added weekly.

Now, let’s talk about your interview. See my 10 Interview Rules below:
Rule 1: The interview is as much for you to determine if the company is the right fit for you as for the company to decide if you are the right fit for them.

Rule 2: Impressions matter. Be on time. Be professional and conservative in your appearance. Watch the length of the skirt and the cut of the blouse. Shirts should be pressed, neat and should fit you. Your care about yourself is a statement about the care of your work.

Rule 3. Be positive, upbeat, optimistic and congenial. Notice details around you to ask about to start a casual conversation; this helps both parties relax. Be human and work first to connect to the interviewer as a person.

Rule 4. Have three great questions ready to ask to show that you want to fully understand how you can make a significant difference in the company. This also ensures that if you feel an uncomfortable pause, you have a question ready to keep the conversation moving. Here are my suggestions:
1. How do you share information and performance expectations with your employees?
2. What do your employees like most about working here? What do your employees find most challenging about working here?
3. How are employees held accountable for making a difference in their jobs?

Rule 4. Have three great questions ready to ask to show that you want to fully understand how you can make a significant difference in the company. This also ensures that if you feel an uncomfortable pause, you have a question ready to keep the conversation moving. Here are my suggestions:
1. How do you share information and performance expectations with your employees?
2. What do your employees like most about working here? What do your employees find most challenging about working here?
3. How are employees held accountable for making a difference in their jobs?

Rule 5: Focus on your value. Interviews are the time for you to give more details about what you are great at and how you add value. Don’t be shy about your ability to make a difference. Be sure you can quantify your impact; give details about how you improved things, invented things, saved the company money, brought a team more together, etc. The more you can focus the interview around your value, the more the hiring company will see that they need you.

Rule 6: Be confident, not arrogant. There is a fine line between being confident and sure of your abilities, and starting every sentence with “I.” Confidence is what they want to see in an interview and if you are applying for a job that uses what you are good at, and you are passionate about doing, you will be confident. If you interview for jobs that don’t match your interests, talents and passions, you will find that you have to make yourself sound greater and more “extraordinary.” This is what makes you sound arrogant. So, be casual and confident. Go into the interview knowing you are a good fit for the job and will be able to make a big difference. Don’t be humble. Don’t be arrogant. Be confident.

Rule 7: Make sure you know all the facts. Be sure you know the expectations, pay rate, working conditions, benefits, and any specific details of the job; confirm your understanding of the details of the position during your interview. This not only ensures you are well informed so you can make a good decision about accepting or not accepting the job, but it also shows the interviewer that you have done your homework to understand the company and are ensuring your understanding is accurate and complete. This shows focus, conscientiousness and commitment – all attributes needed in any position.

Rule 8: Look for common ground. There are studies out that support that we connect best to people who share similar interests or attributes with us. As you approach your interview, notice pictures, objects, awards and other things that first give you information about the interviewer, but also help you see areas about which you both can connect. If you both have coached soccer, lived in a section of a city, drive a certain car, etc…you have some commonality. This makes the interview more personal and more comfortable for both.

Rule 9: Remember the power of body language. Your communication message comes through in three elements:
1. Verbal – what you say (the words you choose).
2. Vocal – how you say what you say (inflection, volume, intonation).
3. Visual – what you look like (body language).

Okay, here is what is really important. Your message comes through each of these elements in different percentages (which means some of the elements of communication are more important than others). Only 7% of your message comes through in your verbal (words), 38% comes through in your vocal (intonation) and 55% comes through in your visual (body language). That means what you look like, your facial expressions, how you sit, how you shake hands all convey more of your real message than what you say and how you say it. This is because what you really feel is conveyed to your 53 facial muscles without any “editing.” When it comes to the words we choose and the way we say things, we can edit and control our delivery. So watch your body language. If the interviewer describes a the hours of the job and you hate working second shift, you may say “fine” but your face will convey that hours are not fine. You may actually roll your eyes or shake your head as you say fine. The interviewer believes your body language more than your spoken language.

The same works in the reverse. When your body language is excited, interested and engaged, it creates a greater impression than just if your language and tone is upbeat and positive. So get excited about your interview – it will show.

Rule 10: Have fun. Now not many people think that interviews are fun but think for a minute about how differently you feel and act when you are stressed and when you are having fun. Which showcases the better you? Then shouldn’t you look to find a way to be relaxed, be casual, be conversation and be human? And when you act this way, you will find the interviewer (if they weren’t wise enough to act this way from the start) will join you. And for fun I mean be focused but casual. Ask questions about how the workplace has a good time. Ask questions about what the interviewer does for fun when he/she is not working. Share what hobbies you have because your hobbies show your passions. Not only does this give the interviewer more information about you (and good information), but when you talk about the things you love to do, you get more energized, more relaxed and more confident. These are the attributes they need to see in the interview. Warning – stay away from sharing jokes unless you are great at it. Most jokes backfire. But fun isn’t always about jokes.

Remember – be sincere, honest and human. Show what you are great at. Be confident in your abilities. Speak from the heart. Find out the facts. Be sure you fit for them and they fit for you. Then, once hired, blow them away with your great performance. Good luck. Be great.

More rules added each week. Share these and leave your comments.