Do you like new ideas? Do you get excited excited by the newest trends? This is all good except when these ideas are getting in the way of your long term goals.
Maybe you’ve heard about “shiny object syndrome”.
Whether you’re an entrepreneur or a job seeker, this is something everyone is susceptible to a greater or lesser extent.
It describes our unconscious tendency to be drawn to new and exciting ideas, and, as a result, allow ourselves to be distracted by the newest and latest fad and get pulled in ten different directions at once.
And we all know what we achieve when that happens…
You end up wasting time and going nowhere.
Now, as I mentioned a few days back, one of the seven habits that all the most effective job candidates share is that they’ve learned to guard themselves against shiny object syndrome.
Whether through learning the hard way, or simply through common sense, they’ve accepted that success comes from nailing the fundamentals.
Yes, the fundamentals. The nitty gritty details that most people hate to work on because it takes a lot of hard work. But this is still what’s going to separate you from the pack.
So if you want to start making yourself stand out here’s what you need to do
Being 100% clear on what you, as a candidate, uniquely bring to the table, and being able to articulate it as a clear value proposition.
Knowing what your core competencies and signature strengths are, and being able to communicate them in your answers to common interview questions while backing up your claims with anecdotes and hard numbers.
Having the ability to research potential employers quickly, so that you know exactly what they’re looking for in the ideal candidate, and being able to tailor your answers so that they highlight these traits.
Practicing your interview answers over and over again until you can voice them with conviction, while sounding confident, trustworthy, focused, and comfortable — until you own each word with every fiber of your being.
Understanding the interviewer’s motive behind every question he or she asks, so that you know: (a) what information to provide; and (b) when you’re being thrown a curve-ball and/or tested with a “meat clever” question.
These are the fundamentals.
They aren’t as exciting as chocolate bar resumes, or websites that look like a Mario game, or standing at a train station holding a fluorescent sign.
But mastering them is the fastest route to landing your dream job.
