Job seekers often find themselves guessing what employers are soliciting in a job candidate. You spend countless hours honing your skills, acquiring the necessary education and polishing your resume during your job preparation, but it may be the life experiences you are missing that could cost you the position.
Hiring managers often evaluate life experiences as valuable when analyzing a job candidate. A 2015 CareerBuilder survey reported that 46 percent of college graduates lack learning gained through experiences in the real world. You may have taken the traditional route, but it is still possible to show hiring managers that you have the experience that makes you an ideal applicant.
Education is a key determinant in how hiring managers view your knowledge base. Show that you have learned from both traditional classroom lessons and real world experience. Share how you have gained skills from self-taught experience, detail the knowledge gained in online or traditional educational classes, and provide information about skill-based training that has improved your abilities to succeed on the job.
Utilize your past work experience when proving that you are the ideal job candidate. Explain what you have learned in each position and show that your work experience at both industry-related and non-industry-related workplaces have benefited you professionally. Highlight how you have succeeded in satisfying client and customer requests, worked well with teams and achieved accomplishments on the job.
Your job preparation may be more focused on your skills, education and work experiences, but hiring managers also want candidates who have life experiences that have prepared them for the professional world. Detail how travel has opened your eyes to different cultures, and tie these experiences into how you can better serve customers from diverse backgrounds. Provide anecdotes from your journeys that detail how you are flexible, eager to learn about others and open to new experiences. Hiring managers are often impressed with a job candidate who is free spirited, knowledgeable of other cultures, and willing to take risks to improve their skill set and overall outlook of the world.
A job candidate who has changed careers or hopped from one job to the next is not necessarily at a disadvantage. Use these opportunities to detail to the hiring manager how you have been seeking experiences that benefit both your skill set and the companies you have worked for in the past. Outline how your journey of discovery led you to this ideal situation and that you are eager to use your experience to impact the company's productivity and profits. Show that you have experience working with different personalities, leadership styles and company cultures.
Life experience is a desirable trait when a job candidate can show how these journeys can positively impact a potential employer. Detail your strengths and lessons learned to impress hiring managers, and show that you are the ideal employee.
Photo Courtesy of Stuart Miles at FreeDigitalPhotos.net
Become a member to take advantage of more features, like commenting and voting.
Register or sign in today!