Have you ever seen your perfect job advertised? It’s like the job advert and position description has been written with you in mind! You know without a doubt this is your job; there is no way the employer will be able to overlook your application. You tick all the boxes, you’ve been there and done that, you have everything to offer. You are the perfect applicant. This application and interview will be a Shoo-In. You are a sure thing for this job.
And right there is your fatal mistake!
I’ve seen plenty of people get sucked in to this line of thinking and in most instances they have not been successful in getting the job they thought they were ideal for. Sometimes they haven’t even made it to the interview table. Most of the time these job seekers are in genuine shock, they are incredulous. How could this be possible! What was the recruiter or hiring manager thinking by overlooking them?
Thinking you are a Shoo-In is no different to that sporting team who has been sitting on top of the ladder all season, undefeated. The time comes to play a team sitting much lower on the ladder, maybe even on the bottom of the ladder, or to play the all-important grand final game. What happens? The bottom or under-dog team wins.
The problem is when you think you are a Shoo-In things change and more often than not, it’s your own fault that you don’t land that job. What goes wrong?
- Your mind set changes – you believe that you are perfect for the job and consciously or sub-consciously your effort and approach to landing this job change. Whether it’s putting in the extra effort to write your cover letter and resume or investing that additional time to prepare for interview, you think you have it in the bag and don’t put in the effort. You become complacent. Complacency and a lack of effort always shows through.
- You take your competition for granted – When you apply for a job you never know who you are up against. There is no way of knowing who else has applied, what their skills and expertise are and how they compare to what you have to bring to the table. In thinking you are a Shoo-In you underestimate anyone else who might be applying. Instead of focusing on what your unique skills and expertise are and how that will benefit the employer, you gloss over the detail and assume you are the best person for the job.
- You get cocky – You are over confident. This cockiness and over confidence will shine through in your application and particularly at interview. An interviewer will pick up on it straight away and chances are you won’t market yourself appropriately at interview. You’ll lack detail in your interview question responses because you’ll take it for granted that the interviewer already knows how good you are. You’ll come across as the wrong culture fit – not many employers want a team member who is cocky, over confident, arrogant and thinks they are better than everyone else.
If you really want the job, you need to make sure that you bring your A game to the table. Drop the Shoo-In line of thinking. Change your mind set. Go over and above. Prepare more than you normally would. Make the extra effort with your application, do that little bit extra research on the company. Don’t get complacent.
Show you are hungry for the role; how much it would mean to you if you were successful in getting the job. Let the employer buy in and engage with your passion and enthusiasm – it’s guaranteed to get you a much better outcome because the minute you think you are a Shoo-In is the minute you just lost the game.
