Fri, October 23, 2009 - 9:42:46

In a Tough Job Market the Small Stuff Counts

With unemployment continuing to rise throughout the nation, many out-of-work Americans are discovering that today’s job market is more competitive than ever.  And, as an article in Wednesday’s New York Times points out, with so many people vying for fewer positions, employers are being overwhelmed by hundreds, if not thousands, of applications for a single opening.  So, when faced with such a wide applicant pool, hiring managers are finding that the only way to weed out so many impressive candidates isn’t to look at the big picture; it’s to sweat the small stuff.  And to make sure you get ahead in this difficult climate, you should too.

In The New York Times, Michael Luo tells the story of a recent hiring at C.R. England, a trucking company with an opening for an administrative assistant at its office in Burns Harbor, Indiana.  Hit hard by the recession and subsequent steel industry lay-offs, the job opportunity in an area with over 10 per cent unemployment drew 500 applications over the course of one weekend.  And exasperated by the sheer magnitude of the pile of resumes in front of her, the head of recruiting set to work narrowing down the candidates by considering small things like typos, grammatical errors, and more, in addition to the big things like years of experience and education.

When the company selected its final round of candidates for in-person interviews, the company director, Chris Kelsey used a long list of over 100 questions to gauge the intellect, skills, and character of each hopeful.  But, in the end, it was by watching his cues and clues that he picked the final two.
Kelsey and his HR manager took careful note of the mannerisms, vocal intonations, choice of clothing, and flexibility of each candidate and factored it in before coming down to two, almost identical applicants. Both made every effort to make their schedules meet the demands of their interviewers, had industry experience, similar educations, and professional demeanors, but in the end, the search that began with 500 resumes came down to a single question: “if you were in the stands at a baseball game and a foul ball came your way, would you stand up to try to catch it, or wait in your seat and hope it fell your way?”

As you may have guessed the interviewee who said she would jump up and grab the foul ball ultimately scored the gig, but both finalists used the power of small to their advantage during the arduous interview process in order to set themselves apart.  And by retuning your focus to the small details, you, too, can revitalize your job hunt.

So, why not browse a few of our Small Blog posts to find out how you can make it big by thinking small:

What’s in a Name? Tom Sato discovers that the key to getting noticed was changing his name.

Go the Extra Inch.  Learn why bringing your own latte is a sure-fire way to bomb your job interview.

Social Networking: Why it isn’t a Safety Net. We all love Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but sometimes going old-school can be the best bet. A Power of Small reader tells us how one little phone call made her whole career.

Posted by Linda and Robin