What Makes You Stand Out?

By: Lauren Farmer

An important thing that hiring professionals look at when selecting an employee for their company is that special something that separates them from every other candidate.  So, it is important to know your strengths before going into an interview or applying for a job.

Many will point out good grades, leadership ability, and work experience, but these are all very vague and are probably the reasons you got the interview in the first place, which is good.  But once you are in the interview, the interviewers are looking for something beyond those qualities to make them confident in hiring you over everyone else with the same good grades, leadership skills and work experience.

Some examples of strengths that you may possess that would be a seller to the hiring company are drive, commitment, curiosity or creativity, and passion.  Drive is another way of saying when you are given a task you have the motivation to see it through to the end.  If you are given an assignment in class or a project to work on and you have motivation to complete it and make it to the best of your ability, one of your strengths is drive.  If you go above and beyond the expectations, then you can be considered committed.  Some outside of work examples can be being in a club, volunteer work, participating in marathons and so on.  These are read to interviewers as above and beyond things that can be translated into a good work ethic. Curiosity and creativity come from wanting to know how things work and how things can be changed.  If you see a project and want to learn more about it, and more importantly how you can change it for the better, then this is a good strength that could set you apart from the other competition.  And finally, if you believe in the work you do and don't mind putting in all of the hard work to make your vision come true, then one of your strengths is passion.  This is very important when standing out against other competitors for a job, because this is a major strength companies are looking for when adding to their staff.  It means that you will be loyal to the company and do your best to represent them.

So in conclusion to this blog, it is important to find out what makes YOU special.  Try to focus more on that than what the company you are applying for wants.  This is important, but it is more important to highlight your own specific qualities that best matches you to a job rather than conforming yourself to fit to a job.