Hiring managers can be swayed by the small things. Obviously you have to check the big boxes, but we always hear hiring managers saying things like “and you know I loved that he showed up ten minutes early — early enough to seem prepared but not so early that I had to figure out where to put him.” Maybe it wasn’t the reason they got the job, but it was a nice final touch that sealed the deal.

Showing up on time.

Ok, so we already talked about this. Try to show up ten minutes early. It makes a good impression. You don’t want to be too early but you want to show enough precaution over being late.

Being First Up to Bat

If you can score an early morning interview and are the first one of the day, your chances go up. You’re getting your interviewers at their freshest state. If you can influence times, try to be the first up to bat.

Honesty

If there’s something on your resume that stretches your achievements and the interviewers get a sense of that then you’ve just raised a red flag. Most hiring managers report that people stretch the truth about competencies that wouldn’t even have been a factor in them getting the job, so they took really pointless risks.

Research!

Know the clients of the prospective company, and know things like where the clients’ offices are. On social media try to get a sense of who the thought leaders are. If you can demonstrate a good understanding of their business, you will have a leg up on the competition.

Follow Directions

It’s easy to get ahead of yourself and not read the instructions or follow the protocols during the interview process (e.g., if they tell you in an email to ask for Allison when you arrive, be sure you do that). It’s easy to forget the simple instructions, it’s also more costly than you’d think.

Talking About Your Experiences Positively

You might be asked during an interview why you want to leave your current position. This is not a license to talk bad about your current company. In fact you’ll look a lot better if you say nice things about the company but point to how your goals have shifted and you want to grow in new ways.

It’s important to get the small stuff just right. If you don’t then they’ll think about that bad small stuff when they think of you rather than the good big stuff.

About NextGen

NextGen is the brainchild of longtime telecom professionals with nearly 50 years of experience and millions of dollars in Telecom Recruiting Services. We focus on establishing long term relationships with our clients and candidates so we can recruit the best and the brightest in the telecom industry. This ‘quality over quantity’ approach is at the heart of everything we do and has resulted in successful job placements at Fortune 1000 firms worldwide.