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Explanation of Winning a Competition for a Job - Strategies to Win Competitions. Also refer to pure performance, judge, resume, résumé, interview, references, education, experience, employer, manager, optimizing, chances, winning, Ron Kurtus, School for Champions. Copyright © Restrictions

Winning a Competition for a Job

by Ron Kurtus (30 May 2007)

When you apply for a job, there are usually others competing with you for the position. Since you usually don't know who these people are or anything about them, this is a pure performance competition. You are judged purely on your résumé, interview performance and references. Optimizing your performance in these areas will improve your chances of winning the job.

Questions you may have include:

• What factors are considered in your résumé?
• How do you optimize your interview performance?
• What can be said about references?

This lesson will answer those questions. There is a mini-quiz near the end of the lesson.

Résumé

You do not get a job with a résumé. It is a door-opener to get you an interview. But factors in your résumé can give you an edge over your competition. Your education and job experience are very important in showing you are more qualified than the other candidates.

How you format your résumé gives the employer an idea of how conscientious and what type of worker you are. Obviously, spelling errors, typos and grammatical mistakes will mark as points against you.

Interview

During the interview process, they will seek greater details on the work you have done to see how close it fits their needs, as well as to examine your knowledge. You need to be well-prepared and to put on a performance that will impress the employer.

But that performance must not be so good that you seem to be bragging. A very important part of the interview is that they like you. The employer wants to see how well you will fit in. They may take a less qualified applicant that is likable and seems like he or she will fit into their culture.

References

Your personal and professional references allows the company to verify what type of person you are. Unless your competition has poor references, they usually aren't a major factor in their decision.

But what can really give you an edge is if you have a reference that is personally known by the employer or manager.

For example, once when I was applying for a job, the manager noted where I had previously worked at a company where his old college roommate also worked. He asked me if I knew him, and I did. Then he asked if he could call him and ask some questions about me. Although I barely knew the fellow, the fact that he gave a few good words about me allowed me to beat out the competition and win the job.

Summary

Competition for a job is usually a pure performance competition, since you don't know who the other applicants are or anything about them. You are judged purely on your résumé, interview performance and references. Optimizing your performance in these areas will improve your chances of winning the job.

Answers to Readers' Questions

Resources

The following are resources on this subject.

Websites

Competition Resources

Books

Top-rated books on Getting a Job

Top-rated books on Winning Competitions

Miscellaneous

Mini-quiz to check your understanding

1. How does a good resume help you get a job?

2. What is a very important factor in an interview?

3. What if you don't know anyone the employer knows?

If you got all three correct, you are on your way to becoming a Champion in Winning Competitions. If you had problems, you had better look over the material again.

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Winning a Competition for a Job