26 Employers Share What Makes Potential Hires Stand Out

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mattstaff
Sep 24, 2018 11:00 PM EDT

How to get a job 101. 

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  • 01
    Text - AnotherLolAnon 19h "I love working weekends and nights" -A nurse that got hired
    via u/Boberto2
  • 02
    Text - popeye_d_family_man 18h A good attitude. Not overly positive, but good. It's okay to accept that you've made a mistake instead of trying to justify your action.
    via u/Boberto2
  • 03
    Text - PM_Me_Your_D20s 19h I had a guy call to let me know he had just applied online, and another one actually wrote a letter and tailored his resume to the job. I've been getting SO MANY APPLICATIONS that it gave me reason to look at theirs specifically. Being generally personable during the interview and having questions prepared are big ones. I'm looking for someone interested in THIS job not just A job, who would be fun for my team and me to work with
    via u/Boberto2
  • 04
    Text - koreanforrabbit 17h Understanding why the interviewer is asking the questions they're asking: you gotsta think like a manager. Like, if an interviewer asks "What's your biggest weakness?", they're not trying to see how well you can spin a negative into a (lame) positive, like, "I'm a perfectionist workaholic who cares too much." Gross. A better answer is something like, "Early in my career, I had some issues with time management. Over time, I've worked out a system that 's perfect for me,
    via u/Boberto2
  • 05
    Text - molter00 14h run an Escape Room, so we need people who can solve unexpected problems quickly. If someone says something a bit out of place or screws up a tiny bit while getting interviewed, I value when they can recover as if nothing happened
    via u/Boberto2
  • 06
    Text - Caruthers IIh When I've hired, I've found the strongest candidates to be those with a sense of curiosity appropriate to the actual interview flow. A lot of interviews, especially with younger candidates, tend to be: Question, Answer, Question, Answer. The candidates that really stand out are the ones that take my questions and (intelligently, not just to show that they read some pro tips on interviewing) turn them back around to ask interesting questions off of those, or otherwise start a
    via u/Boberto2
  • 07
    Text - Wyim 19h Imanage a restaurant in a somewhat poor part of large city. So it would be you showed up for your interview on time, dress and sober. Not having felony convictions is a bonus. Basically if we don't hire you no one will
    via u/Boberto2
  • 08
    Text - kualajimbo 18h Applying skills that are needed for the job. I recently put outa casting call for narrators, two stood out from the crowd. One said I would need to pay them a small fee for an audition (it paid job, but a fee for an audition?) the other sent me a sound file of himself reading the job description. The former never made it to the audition stage, the latter got the job.
    via u/Boberto2
  • 09
    Text - jooele 20h Listing accomplishments at a previous workspace rather than just a list of duties.
    via u/Boberto2
  • 10
    Text - GreatcReddit 19h Having an interviewee who is knowledgeable about the company. That scores major points. A little research goes a long way. Side (anecdotal) note: I gave this tip to a very close friend of mine before an engineering internship interview. He said it went over very well during the interview and he got the internship. Now they're going to be hiring him on full time!
    via u/Boberto2
  • 11
    Text - Idontwanttobeawizard 11h interview from time to time for soft dev roles. I think the candidate that stood out most was a self taught junior dev who was passionate about learning and able to admit what he didn't know. Most candidates would just try to bullshit their way through He was hired, took a bit longer to ramp up but once he got started he became really strong. Was without a doubt my favorite on my old team
    via u/Boberto2
  • 12
    Text - DSFTR 19h Ask good questions during the interview. It's not really if we want you, it's more if you want to work with us. If you don't ask good, thoughtful questions your interview will be done in 20 minutes.
    via u/Boberto2
  • 13
    Text - itsfoine 19h We just interviewed a few people in my office. Outside of experience, we brought in the candidates because we wanted to see if they would fit with our organization's culture and mission. If two candidates have similar skills many times we will think is this someone who we go to for help / would want to work with.
    via u/Boberto2
  • 14
    Text - slothblock 19 First impressions. For my old employer I would help do interviews and being front desk I would often meet them first. Surprising the amount of people who would walk in and not even look at me and just say "err... I think I have... er... an interview" and this was for a front of house role as well. Nothing wrong with nerves but prepare yourself and what you are going to say before even starting your interview.
    via u/Boberto2
  • 15
    Text - jazzb54 14h I'm selfish - I'm thinking "will this candidate make my job easier or harder?" If you have a personality that I think fits with the team, you seem to have a history of good work ethic, and you respond to my general questions with refining questions so you can give the best answers you are capable of - you are as good as in. I know I can help you learn the technical side. Ihire in IT and technical support. I've had many former employees start their technical carer with me, and
    via u/Boberto2
  • 16
    Text - AchingAss 14h You're eyes aren't completely bloodshot and you have a pulse
    via u/Boberto2
  • 17
    Text - Jantripp 18h I'm not currently someone who hires people but I was. I did a ton of research and found that the only thing that predicts performance is previous experience and success. If someone had a good resume, could explain what they did competently, and tell me how they'd approacha problem with the job I was looking to hire them for, they were hired. Most of what people interview for is not predictive of performance. "Bad cultural fit" is a euphemism for "you're too old, look wrong, o
    via u/Boberto2
  • 18
    Text - Beefstu90 10h Not necessarily stand out but make yourself a respectable candidate upload all documents (resume, cover letter, whatever it requires) in PDF. NOT WORD! You don't know how annoying it is as well as how many documents open up jumbled. Just on our last search for a position about 5 candidates got thrown in the trash since their resume opened up with weird formatting and was unreadable. Anyone can open a PDF and it'll always look as you intended.
    via u/Boberto2
  • 19
    Text - ChubbyAngmo 11h Asking questions. The interview is a two-way street, I need to convince you why this job is exciting and a growth opportunity for you, just as much as you need to convince me that you're the right person. Ask questions about the role, about the company, about my experience and about the team. It shows you're interested and want to learn more and hopefully, you'll continue to ask questions once you're hired as that's an integral part of learning the job. I've always hired f
    via u/Boberto2
  • 20
    Text - Lumiran 17h Look me in the eye and speak clearly in our interview. If you can't handle these two simple things for the first two minutes that I meet you it's pretty much over. I can read nervous or shy and will take longer to break through those barriers, but if I am not engaged when talking to you, I can't imagine that anyone else would be either.
    via u/Boberto2
  • 21
    Text - SavageMonorail1 5h I had a professor who had some helpful tips. He asked the class, "If you were to stack quarters, how many would you need to equal the height of the Empire State building?". He walked around the room pointing at people for the answer. Most people answered, "I don't know", or threw out a high number. The one guy that got the answer right said "I don't know, but give me a minute, I'll figure it out." The guy got on google, found the dimensions of a quarter, and the ES buil
    via u/Boberto2
  • 22
    Text - lilzmoez 8h |"Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" "Celebrating the 5th year anniversary of you asking me this question!"
    via u/Boberto2
  • 23
    Text - Anth289 15h Always answer based on the job you're going for not a potential promotion, and always point out what'll make you better for that position, don't over do it
    via u/Boberto2
  • 24
    Text - fadecomic 9h I have had to hire scientists with Ph.D.s. We care about your experience. No one cares where you got your BS/BA. No one cares really where you got your PhD, as long as it wasn't Strip Mall U. What we care about is how you've used it. And yes, that applies to fresh out of school PhDs. You shouldn't have graduated without publishing at least one peer-reviewed article. In most science positions, you'll be asked to make a 20-30 minute presentation about your work. This is extreme
    via u/Boberto2
  • 25
    Text - willem176 10h I was hiring for a leadership position. On the interview panel l had several stakeholders from outside the organization involved. One candidate took note of this and frankly asked them, what they're expectations and pitfalls of our organization were. Everyone asked the same typical questions, but asking in-depth questions that showed he put some serious thought into the potential role really stood out
    via u/Boberto2
  • 26
    Text - thatguy425 14h When interviewing, smile. Just smile a few times. I gave interviews to a bunch of candidates just last week and when reviewing them we were amazed that only one smiled in all of the interviews. She got the job.
    via u/Boberto2

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