When discussing interview tips, job searching techniques, and all projects within any job, efficiency is a key element. How would you rate your personal efficiency level? Do you know what has the power to boost it? Do you value efficiency over the quality of your work?
Are you afraid of employers knowing the honest answers to these questions?
These are the habits in yourself that you should be studying, improving, and sharing in your interviews. Finding out someone’s efficiency levels before you’ve even given them a deadline can be incredibly difficult. Most candidates will say they are more efficient than they really are…often times with the intentions of becoming better once they get the job! Don’t fool yourself…deadlines don’t highlight productive methods that aren’t already in place. Granted, employers know this. Everyone puts their best foot forward when applying for jobs.
So, how can you stand out from other candidates when you’re all giving the same answers…whether they’re honest or not? One known way is to give past examples. Tell the employer about the time you were given that huge project with extreme detail and impossible deadlines. Paint the picture for them of the moves you made to utilize every second leading up to that deadline. While past examples can serve as sort of “proof” you’ve done it before, it still might not set you apart enough to land the job.
What’s your weakness? Where do you struggle to push through? You don’t ever want a potential employer think you’d be unable to perform the job at any point. But, by asking yourself these questions, you create an opportunity to work through these future obstacles before they’ve even occurred. Once you’ve explored a set of future decisions to get yourself on the other side of that task, no matter the adversity, then you have something worth sharing. It takes careful preparation and a bit of transparency to let the employer see into this process, but if you are confident in it and allow them to see that, it absolutely has the potential to make you stand out against the other candidates. It shows tenacity, flexibility, and a willingness to do whatever it takes to perform the job well.
And, let’s be honest…who wouldn’t want an employee like that?
