Ace your interview
Using online job-search resources to stand out from the crowd
By Brittany Knight
Though I only graduated from college a year ago, I’ve learned a lot since then. For starters, I’ve been initiated into the intricacies of retirement planning, I’ve discovered that the prospect of a three-day weekend is just as exciting to me as three-month-long summer vacations used to be, and I can now reliably find my way around in my office building. I’ve also learned that there’s a lot more to a job search than I used to think there was. If you’d asked me two years ago how to find a job online, I probably would have told you to go to a job-search website, type in some criteria, apply for the job openings that look interesting, and then wait for them to call you to set up an interview.
But just one year after graduation, with a job search of my own under my belt, my concept of finding a job online has changed in a big way. Sure, job-search websites are valuable resources, but now I know that they’re just the tip of the iceberg. As most of us who have looked for a job online know, finding lists of job openings isn’t the major challenge. Convincing potential employers to see you as the answer to their employment needs is. While the Internet has arguably made finding a job easier than it’s ever been, it’s also become that much harder to stick out as a great candidate in an online applicant pool of thousands. How do you put yourself at the top of the virtual resume pile? And if you do make it past that crucial first cut and into the interview round, what can you do to show a potential employer that you’re the best person for the job?
The answer: look online for advice and other information to assist you in your job search. The Internet may have widened the applicant pool, but the good news is that the Internet also makes it easier than ever to get the information you need to make yourself stand out to a potential employer.
Tap all of your resources
Okay, so you probably don’t have a favorite uncle who just happens to be the CEO of the Fortune 500 company you’ve always dreamed of working for. But you probably have more job-search resources available to you than you think you do. If you haven’t already, consider contacting family members, friends, and former coworkers to let them know you’re looking for a job—you never know when a friend of a friend will be looking to hire someone like you. And even if you’re not a recent grad, go to your university’s website to find out what job resources and networking opportunities are available for alumni. My alma mater’s website had a great list of resources and pointed me toward several job-search and advice websites I might not have heard about otherwise.
And when it comes to applying for jobs, don’t limit yourself strictly to the general job-search websites. Go to the Live Search website
or another search engine to find job listings and advice that are specific to your field. I ended up finding a lot of valuable tips and job listings (including my current job at Microsoft) on career-specific websites.
Make your first impression memorable
It might sound trite to say you never get a second chance to make a first impression, but it turns out it’s true of your cover letter and resume. They’re the first pieces of information about you that a potential employer sees, and unless you have good ones, they might also be the last. With that piece of wisdom in mind, you might consider looking for cover-letter and resume articles on job-advice websites. For example, you might try going to the MSN Careers website
or the CareerOneStop website
to get tips for polishing your resume. Or you might want to take a look at the Vault website
or the WetFeet website, which even have sample cover letters and resumes you can read to get an idea of how you want to structure your own information.
One trick that worked for me was a creative cover letter. If you’re applying for writing jobs like I was, a creative cover letter is a great way to be unique and memorable, plus it’s an instant example of your writing skills. You might consider writing your cover letter as a press release, interview, or article instead of a traditional letter. Or if you aren’t ready to give up on the letter format, come up with a unique introduction. But job seeker beware: Creative cover letters may not go over with every company you apply to, or in every field, so keep a more conventional cover letter handy in case you need it. And no matter what kind of cover letter you write, make sure it’s polished and professional.
Be over-prepared
I'll admit it: I've gone in for more than one interview where all I did was a quick online search beforehand to find out what the company did and what the job entailed, then considered myself prepared and headed out the door. And as a result, I didn’t get those jobs. In my experience, prepared is pretty much a job-searching misnomer. When you walk into an interview, what you really want to be is over-prepared.
Now I'm not saying you shouldn't go ahead and do that quick perusal of the company’s official website to find out what they do and what the job entails. But this time, make that your jumping-off point, not the end of your interview prep. As long as you’re on the company website, find out more about their background, goals, and hiring process to get an idea of who they are, what’s important to them, and who they’re looking to hire. Then figure out how you and your skills meet that criteria.
From there, go to an online search engine like the Live Search website to find out what other sources, like job websites, media sources, or current employees, are saying about your potential employer. You might be amazed at what comes up. When I did an online search for information about Microsoft in preparation for my interview, I found a blog run by Microsoft’s Human Resources team (complete with advice about getting hired at Microsoft) and detailed profiles of the company on two different job-advice sites.
Once you feel like you know more about the company than the founders themselves do, search for interview tips and sample questions by going to job websites like the MSN Careers website, the WetFeet website, or the Vault website. In my experience, coming up with articulate, intelligent answers to questions like “What’s your greatest weakness?” on the fly is next to impossible, so I tried to decide ahead of time how I wanted to answer some of the standard interview questions. I’d also suggest thinking about anecdotes from past jobs that illustrate your potential to be a good employee.
Then, since being late to an interview is pretty much a deal-breaker in any field, go to the Live Search Maps website
or another website that offers maps and directions to find driving directions to your interview. Like the true stickler for punctuality that I am, I even used Live Search Maps to plan an alternate route to my interview in case of heavy traffic, and to check the traffic report before I left the house.
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| Use Live Search Maps to get traffic maps and driving directions before your interview |
Get ready to be in the right place at the right time
One last thing I’ve learned since I graduated: finding a job comes down to the impressions you make, both online and offline. So do everything you can to make the best impression possible. I’ve told you about some things that worked for me in my job search, but there are thousands more job-search tips and tricks out there waiting to be discovered. Go online and look for them so that when you’re finally in the right place at the right time, you’ll be ready.
About the author
Brittany Knight is a writer on the Windows team at Microsoft. Before joining the company in 2007, she studied Communication and International Relations at the University of Southern California. In addition to writing, she enjoys traveling, reading, and skiing.
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