Imagine a scenario where a man goes to Hawaii for a business convention. He misses his wife and wants to let her know. Hurriedly, he composes this unfortunate email to her:
“Hi Darling, I’m having the best time of my whole life, and I wish you were her!” His intentions are laudable, but for the lack of an “e” at the end of “her” he’ll find he has a lot of explaining to do.
Details matter, in your personal life as well as in your job search. Here are some examples of small things that make the difference between success and failure at any stage of a job hunt.
[See: The 25 Best Jobs of 2018.]
Resume Details. Remember that you have only about six seconds to draw the eyes of your reader. This means you need to have great content that reads and presents itself well. Here are some details not to forget:
— Proofread, proofread and proofread! Don’t be undone by something spellcheck won’t catch, like “her” in place of “here.”
— Use common fonts in a readable size. Keep your margins wide enough to provide good definition to the page, and use white space to separate paragraphs, bullets and sections.
— While your headlines, like company and job title, should be bold, when you bold too many words within sections you distract the reader rather than focus him or her on your content.
Beware of both too much or bare design on your document. There is a move to fancier resumes with colors and graphics. But if you elect to go this route, keep things simple enough for the eye to follow your story clearly, and don’t overdo it. It’s hard to go wrong with a clearly laid out resume with highlighted sections for your skills, experience and education.
[See: 10 Ways Social Media Can Help You Land a Job.]
Phone Screening Detail. Make certain you know the name, role and contact information of the person with whom you are speaking. If you haven’t been provided this information already, it is fair to ask for it at the very outset of the conversation. That way you’ll be able to follow up right away with a thank-you email and provide appropriate answers to your audience. Bear in mind that human resources and a department manager will look for different levels of detail in your answers.
Remember it isn’t only what you say, but how you say it that counts. You don’t want to sound phony, pushy, defensive or desperate.
Tip: Make yourself pause and take a deep breath before you begin to answer each question. Treat the interview as a conversation rather than an opportunity to dump all the information you want to share about yourself and your qualifications. But be certain that your responses stay focused on the questions that are being asked.
In-Person Interview. Interview preparation and presentation counts. Make sure that your clothes are clean and wrinkle-free. Don’t forget to bring printed copies of your resume and cover letter for everyone with whom you will be meeting.
Give a good, strong handshake to your interviewers both at the beginning and end of your conversation.
Body language counts, too! Don’t slouch in your chair and do look the person you are addressing in the eye. Your interviewers are trained to put you at ease, partly to make things so comfortable you’ll forget the distinction between professionally friendly and “friends.”
No matter how friendly the situation becomes, remember that every detail of what you say and how you present yourself is being measured, and the last thing you want to do is let down your guard.
[See: The 8 Stages of a Winning Job Search.]
Interview Follow-Up. It is a common courtesy to express your gratitude for being considered, and an opportunity to extend and expand on what you said in the interview with further information or clarification to show that you’ve taken the conversation seriously.
You might think you have time to mull it all over, but often a failure to follow up on the same day as the interview is considered a sign that you really aren’t interested in the job.
No matter how close a fit you might be for the role you seek, don’t leave anything to chance when you are seeking favorable consideration. Remember always, the devil is in the details!
Happy Hunting!
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The Devilish Details That Make for a Successful Job Hunt originally appeared on usnews.com
