If you have ever been in an interview where they asked you “What is the key thing about you that can give you an edge over other contenders for this position?”, they may be asking to know if you possess these things as you will see in this post.
Many people have been denied the opportunity because of these special abilities even without them knowing themselves. This is why it is important to talk about these things to give you an advantage over several other applicants for the same opportunity as you.
I had the opportunity to submit a writing job offer on LinkedIn a few years back. I was looking for writers for my website and once more, I saw from the other end of the application. Seeing things as an employer feels completely different from what the employee sees.
And apart from other logistic reasons and lack of insufficient room for more employees, your answer to the important question of “What are the things that give you an edge over other applicants” is probably one reason why your application would be accepted or rejected.
Basic Components of a Résumé
In an interview on Harvard Business Review[1]How to Write a Resume That Stands Out – HBR with Kristi DePaul, CEO of Founders, it was stated that it takes less than 10 seconds for hiring managers to decide whether your résumé is accepted or thrown into the reject pile. This is in confirmation of what many hiring managers have popularly acclaimed over the years. That is why you first need to catch your recruiter’s attention with a good CV and/or résumé.
An adequate résumé can passively give you an edge over other applicants for an opening, which is why you must include some of this basic information in your résumé. These also ensure that you are qualified for the job in the first place.
1. Contact Details
Your résumé should always include your name and contact information at the top of the page. Your name should be boldly written with larger print and bolder text at the top of your résumé to make it stand out from the rest of the text.
Your contact details should follow immediately after the name and should include your phone contact, email, and residential address.
2. Professional Summary or Objective
A professional summary is a two- or three-sentence statement that you add at the top of your resume to highlight your most valuable skills and experiences relevant to the job you are applying for. A professional objective is a statement of your career goals and things you hope to achieve professionally.
For someone with some work history, various skills, and experiences worth highlighting, a resume summary would be more appropriate, while a resume objective might be more useful if you have limited work experience, as in the case of a recent high school or college graduate.
Examples
a. Professional Summary
“Results-driven marketing professional with 5+ years of experience in developing and executing successful digital marketing campaigns. Proven ability to increase brand awareness by 30% through targeted social media strategies and content creation. Strong expertise in SEO, PPC, and analytics tools. Seeking to leverage skills and experience to drive growth for Knowseeker Co.”
b. Professional Objective
“Ambitious recent graduate with a degree in Business Administration, eager to apply analytical skills and passion for data-driven decision-making in a junior analyst role at Knowseeker Corporation. Committed to contributing to team success through hard work, attention to detail, and a focus on continuous learning.”
3. Professional Experience
Your professional experience will give a clear picture of your professional qualifications and why you should be considered for an interview. This can take up a significant space on your resume but you need to focus on your professional accomplishments. Try to include as many measurable details as possible, in terms of percentages or numbers related to the results you created or the amount of work done.[2]The Key Components of a Great Resume – Indeed
Other important components in this section include the Organizations you worked for, your position titles, dates/years of employment, name of employers, and location of employers.
In this section, only include your experiences within the last 10 to 15 years while focusing on the experiences most relevant to your current application. Also include other experiences such as internships, part-time jobs, freelance or volunteering jobs within the past 10 to 15 years as long as they relate to the skills or requirements of the position to which you are applying.
4. Skills and Qualifications
This section should include your relevant skills including technical skills, communication skills (with proofs – awards, endorsements, etc), and others. These should be presented as concisely as possible, preferably using bullet points.
You don’t necessarily have to pile up all your skills. The skills you include should be relevant to the job description of the job you are applying for.
5. Education and Certifications
This section should generally be at the bottom of your resume. However, recent college graduates with no significant work experience can place this section above their professional experience.
This section should contain your relevant educational background and qualifications listed concisely. These include names of schools attended, degrees obtained (starting with the most advanced to the least), and relevant certifications obtained.
6. Extras
The extras can make your resume richer and fuller but you don’t want to make it too long or bulky. These can include awards and recognitions and recognitions, publications, languages spoken, political interests and achievements, projects, professional memberships, testimonials, and hobbies. Ensure to highlight achievements related to the position you are currently applying for.
Important Things to Enrich Your Résumé
Now that we have seen the basic components of your résumé or CV, you want to find subtle ways to have an edge over other applicants. You need some important and relevant tips to position yourself at the same level as the most likely to be employed applicants.
In the interview of Kristi DePaul by Paige Cohen on Harvard Business Review stated earlier, Kristi shared some important tips to increase one’s chances of getting one’s résumé accepted. These important tips can make the difference in whether your résumé ends up among the accepted documents or the rejected pile.[3]Ibid., How to Write a Resume That Stands Out – HBR
Kristi recommended that you use a simple headline that describes you and your specialty, like content creator or marketing, etc., instead of a long résumé objective, especially for one who is just starting in a new industry or has very little work experience. You want to highlight your specialty concisely at the top of your résumé.
She also mentioned that “You do want to hype yourself up on your résumé but not too much where it seems cliche or insincere. Instead, use bullet points to list out your achievements, data, responsibilities, and specialties”.
Both participants in the interview also added that except the organization(s) you have worked for are very recognizable, you should include a blurb about what they do. For example, “adding a single line beneath the organization name that says, ‘This is the premier professional development association for engineers.’ “ is an efficient way to give the hiring manager a cheat sheet to your resume, Kristi added.
Whether you have 20 years of experience in the industry or you are just starting, you can include important information that can give your resume a boost. As Cohen also added, you do have more experience than you think. You just need to find ways to highlight them in your résumé.
Kristi further said that there are a lot of transferable skills you gain from roles that seem like they are way outside of what you want to do. Whether those that have to do with interfacing with the public or customer service-related, internships, or volunteer work, there are a lot of ways you can position yourself as somebody who has more experience than you think.
How To Get an Edge Over Other Applicants in the Interview
Michael Pukownik, Head of Genre Marketing at Amazon Music, has shared his insights into the hiring process and how you can improve your chances of being hired. Aside from having a good resume, you also want to stand out during the interview process.
Many hiring managers allow you to express yourself through different interview methods. Steve Jobs had a beer test where he asked candidates to take a walk and even enjoy a beer with him, in the hope of helping them loosen up while he learned more about them.
But sometimes, hiring managers can ask you directly “What is the key thing about you that can give you an edge over other contenders for this position”. In this case, it can become very difficult to know what to answer but this lies in your recognition and expression of your strengths without sounding arrogant while demonstrating your readiness to work with other people.
Ron Rule, former CEO of As Seen on TV, Inc., commented on a Quora space that the best answer he ever got when asking that question during job employment interviews is as follows:
“I don’t know, I haven’t met the other applicants. For this job, you need someone who’s experienced with [__experiences__] and able to [__roles__], who knows how to work with other people who might be more or less [__better__] and play off each other’s strengths. I think with my background I’d be a great fit, but only you can tell me if there’s someone else on the list that’s more qualified. If there is, I’d hire them instead.”
Important Qualities to Highlight in Your Answer
The question might come off competitively but the aim is for you to bring out your selling points why you should be hired. This gives you an opportunity to hone your unique skills and achievements before the hiring manager.
Here are some important qualities to highlight during your interview.
1. Your professional experiences
Of course, this is an opportunity to re-iterate what you earlier wrote in your résumé. You need to state your experiences, where you have worked, and for how long. As usual, you want to keep it as concise as possible while highlighting your professional achievements to the hiring manager.
2. Relevant professional skills
When talking about your professional experiences, your response should include both technical industry skills and transferrable soft skills that are relevant to the position you are applying for. These are some of the things that will make you stand out from the rest of the contenders for that same position.
Talking about other transferrable soft skills can increase your worth and employability. For example, talking about your ability to communicate and resolve conflicts can be invaluable as a project manager. To the hiring team, honing extra skills makes you more attractive and high-yielding.
3. Interest in teamwork
Teamwork and collaboration are extremely important when it comes to hiring. These are skills many people do not quite possess, and if you can state that and how you have demonstrated teamwork, it can give you an edge over several other applicants for the same job position.
4. Passion for contributing to the company or organization
Many applicants are more interested in what the company will give to them but you need to be able to express one unique thing you can offer the company after they employ you. You need to be honest about your expectations when asked; it’s not bad to state the beneficial reasons why you like to work there, but also stating how you hope to contribute to the growth and success of the organization can give you an edge over other applicants.
5. Complementarity
Complementarity is not something you can tweak by yourself. It depends on who and who is already in the organization before you. It refers to the idea that different employees or roles can work together effectively because their skills, abilities, or functions complement each other.
Employers like to have new employees that can fill the existing gaps in the organization. If you happen to have what they need, they’d definitely take you, which is why doing a baseline study about the business can help you know what to work towards.
6. Openness and adaptability
While complementarity may look like a rigid requirement, it is not. In your response, you need to demonstrate your willingness to adapt and take up any relevant additional role that may be assigned to you. This shows that you are passionate about the growth of the business and not just minding your own business.
