How and Why to Be an Employer Focused Candidate

With so many candidates in the applicant pool in the sluggish economy, employers have the pick of the litter. Therefore, you have to work extra hard to impress and prove that they need you. Frankly, they don’t care whether you are seeking a “growing company” or “opportunity for advancement”. What they are concerned with is their bottom line and whether you can enhance it. What you need to do is tailor your skills, experience, and education on your resume to make you precisely the candidate they are seeking. This is how you build employer-focused documents, by showing and proving the value you offer.

Profile Statement. Throw out the outdated “Objective” in your resume. It is job applicant-based, usually stating what kind of ideal work environment you seek and how you want to grow and attain more skills there. That is not employer-based. Instead, you need a brief paragraph summarizing your relevant skills, experience, and a significant achievement or two in the areas the position is centered around. It summarizes the value you offer the company.

Include awards, accomplishments, and special achievements in your resume. These shout to employers that your skills have been proven to be effective. The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior. If you have been notably successful in your past positions, employers assume that you will also be in the future. Significant accomplishments, especially a track record of them, make you a wanted candidate.

Make your cover letter employer-focused as well. Do not begin your cover letter with why you want to work for the company addressed. Begin with a powerful statement about why you are a dynamite employee with proven results, but be careful to avoid sounding egotistical. It’s okay to work in your reasons for applying there briefly, especially if it adds to your attractiveness, but make it a sentence or two later in the letter.

Ask questions during and at the conclusion of the interview. It’s all about them. The interview is about you, and yet mostly about them. Asking questions demonstrates genuine interest in the position rather than offering yourself as a job seeker looking for anything you can get. Refrain from excessive questioning though; allow them to direct the course of the interview and ask the questions they have for you. Weaving in positive information you know about the company from your research about them also demonstrates initiative on your part to research what you are getting into with that company.

Send a follow-up letter or thank-you note to each person involved in the interview. Show them that you appreciate the opportunity to have interviewed and continue to be interested in opportunities there. Briefly, re-state your value and thank them for their consideration. If you are not good with remembering names, ask for a business card from each person at the interview.

This is an employer's market, requiring that you do all you can to impress and stand out from other candidates. This requires conveying the positive attributes you offer in a manner that fits with your target company's purpose, product, and available position without making your communication on what your ideal position or company would be. Focus instead on them and what they seek and your efforts will get you better results.