The 5 things we did to achieve a 1 from 1 hit ratio for a job application.

I just got an email from my client and am so excited. He just signed his new contact and guess what – he applied for one role and got it. Here are 5 things we did to get this result. I will call the client John for the purposes of this

We hit a one out of one hit rate – and he hasn’t been the only one!

Don’t prejudge

John knew the area applied for was in the field he wanted, but he was unsure about the organisation – but he went for it anyway. During the interview he found out he loved the team he would be going into and they even created a new role, to match his experience.

Don’t be afraid of putting your hat in ring if you are interested in the role but there are a few things that are not perfect. As long as you pass the 80:20 test, you can hand-on-heart do 80% of what they are asking, go for it. You never know what might happen.  

Focus on what they want (not you)

One of the penny-dropping moments was the shift in focus from John telling his story to thinking “what is it that they want?”. He started to think about the problems he could help solve and started framing everything up, including his skills and examples, around this. His CV, cover letter and LinkedIn completely changed as a result of this shift in thinking.

Practice

“Practice makes perfect” and when it comes to interviews, it does. But are you practicing the right things? Think about the main questions you will be asked – they will normally be liked to the competencies asked for in the job description. One such question we practiced in Johns role was around culture and application of the Treaty of Waitangi. He nailed it – after practice!

Be prepared to change

Often change is hard. If we like to add lots of detail, we need to resist the urge. If we don’t like promoting ourselves to others, we need to overcome the discomfort. One of my main roles in training and coaching is to “shift peoples thinking” about themselves. We then work on how to communicate this clearly and succinctly. After all, employers are time poor so let’s make it easy for them to select you!

Work with an expert.

I would never try surgery on myself or try to build a house with my DIY skills. It would be a disaster. So why is it so many people slog away, not realizing there are time-effective, simpler ways to streamline their application. Instead of 20 applications make three really-good ones.

One reason is being afraid to invest. My advice – value yourself and your time. If you are going for a role with a 60k salary per annum, be prepared to put aside a 10% marketing budget to ensure your success. You should not need that much to engage a qualified expert, but don’t be afraid to

So to conclude,” doing the same things the same way will achieve the same results”. If you are happy with those, go for it. If you want to work with someone who will help you get to the front of the queue – email me grant@sparked.co.nz and let’s talk.