"How could you help yourself be the ideal candidate?"

Everyone has been in the position of searching for employment. You pull out the last resume you created and realized that you had not updated your information in a few years. So you invest hours of revamping your resume by memory and you upload your resume to all these popular job boards to find employment. But have you thought about you actually being the ideal candidate for the applied position?

How could you help yourself be the ideal candidate? You will need to first find out what the company is looking for in their selection. If you are applying to a job posting, take a look at the posting to identify the must have qualities that would allow you to know if you could be one of the qualified selections. You will be able to view the desired education level, years of experience, certification or license, additional qualifiers like a valid driver license. If you are applying in-person, you can ask the same questions to the representative.

Second, take a moment out of your time to research the company. Review their Mission Statement to identify if you are a great fit for the company's goals and mission. It would be a waste of time for the company and yourself if your views and commitments are not compatible. On most websites, you can find reviews on the company and even statements left by unsatisfied customers and employees.

Third, reach out to the hiring manager to introduce yourself and to ask additional questions that would pertain to you for example work schedule, opportunity for advancement, training opportunities, and etc. This allows the hiring manager to match your name with the resume submitted for consideration. This also leaves a fresh imprint that could help you land the position.