As much as standing out with a presentable and competitive resume is needed—read our “How to Create a Stand-Out Resume to Set Yourself Apart from Your Competitors” blog post—differentiating yourself from the crowd in other stages of your job search is just as important.

In a world where the job market is increasingly competitive, there’s no choice but to try stand out in every aspect of the hiring process so you can best secure the career job you want.

Here are some ways you can achieve this:

Share how you’ll add value to your potential employer

Whether you outline this in your CV or during an interview, don’t forget about the chance to tell your potential employer how you could add value to their business. Thoroughly let them know how you will make the role your own and share ideas you think will bring in new business.

Be careful to come across as confident instead of arrogant, letting your interviewer know (based on the information you’re able to understand about the company thus far) that you have some ideas that could be worth implementing. Thoroughly read through the job description and mention what steps you could take to succeed in the position.

Sharing your ideas will show that you’ve gone above and beyond other candidates who are yet to think this far and that you’re already brainstorming ways to bring success to the role.

Have you heard of a pain letter?

A further expansion of the prior point: address what you might bring to the company through writing a pain letter.

Identify yourself and write about something the company doesn’t currently address, but could in the near future (adding that you’ve done your own light research). This initiative will demonstrate that you’re:

1. Knowledgeable of the company and know more about it than just scrolling the Instagram and reading the ‘About us’ page.
2. Thinking outside of the box and unafraid to address issues and apply your solutions.

Demonstrate your capabilities

Successfully address how you might take the pressure off the company by confidently talking about the strengths you’ll bring to a new team. Painting a clear picture of how you may better their business could improve your overall position compared to other candidates.

Listen to their pain points—if they mention any—and identify how you could address the job descriptions needs.

Chances are the interviewer could be stressed or time-poor, which means if you can confidently demonstrate how, you can help the person or team you’ll be working closely with, this could increase the possibility of landing the role.

Social proof

Encourage colleagues and supervisors you’ve worked with in previous jobs to leave a positive recommendation on your LinkedIn profile for hiring managers and employers to see. This will enhance your credibility and show your potential future employer that you’re capable of fulfilling particular pain points within their company.

Offer your interviewer a packet of information

Stand out to your interviewer by offering them a packet of your experience. We don’t mean print out every page of your resume but consider putting together a packet of information regarding various documents that will go in your favour. This could include documents that your employer wouldn’t usually see in an interview such as testimonials, case studies, samples of your best work, your approach to succeed, and your key objectives for the role.

Instead of printing this for your interviewer, you could offer to send this via email later on—this will also open up another point of communication!

And, of course, to differentiate yourself from your competitors, remember to ask your interviewer questions! Read all about which questions might help you best land a job in our “Smart Questions to Ask in An Interview to Increase Your Chances of Being Hired” blog post.

Have a question for us? If you’re a job seeker on the lookout for your next role, a hiring manager looking to fill a position, or want to know more about this topic, contact us at Humanised Group! We’re here to help you succeed.