It’s easy to start to panic about the job search process. You’re sending out resumes, not getting any callbacks, going on interviews, not getting any callbacks. It all seems like such a hopeless endeavor.Then you read an article about standing out from the crowd. And you think-yeah, I need to do that–what can I do that will be different than everyone else?Then you start to send “gifts.”One of my good friends is a HR Director & she called me this week eager to tell me about a candidate’s latest attempt to stand out.During the interview, the candidate directly compared their work style to a superhero cartoon. It was a memorable analogy, I would have recommended that he talk about a specific work instance where he demonstrated that quality that he used the superhero to illustrate, but it’s impossible to land every answer. It would have been OK if the candidate just left it at that.
However, instead of letting it go, the candidate sent my friend a thank you note in the form of an e-card featuring an animated superhero. Ouch! E-cards are NEVER professional. They’re what you send your friends when you forgot to put a card in the mail. They’re a cute pick-me-up to send to someone who is going through a rough time. They are never, under any circumstances, appropriate to send to a manager. NEVER!!!Then as the candidate was leaving, he gave her a small tin of candies. This seems like a nice gesture on the surface, but let’s backtrack for a sec & think about the purpose of the job interview.The hiring manager is looking for someone who is qualified to do the job & will fit in well with the company’s culture. That’s it. If you don’t meet that criterion, you won’t get the job. They won’t call you back thinking “well, I am not sure that he could really do the job, but he did give me a cute tin of cookies, so I’ll give him another shot.” No, won’t happen. Either your personality & skills are what they’re looking for, or they’re not.Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5598122
