When you really want that job, you need to do whatever you can to distinguish yourself from other candidates and stick in the minds of the interview panel. But if you’re not too sure how to do it, we’ve got you covered!
Aside from the basics like arriving early, dressing professionally, and making good eye contact, there are a few other things you can do to make yourself stand out from the rest of the crowd in an interview. Throughout our experience, we’ve seen candidates use all the tricks in the book to get themselves noticed. Here are the ones we think are the most effective.
Do your research
Researching the company and dealership in the lead up to your interview is essential. Consider everything from their corporate website to their social media pages, the LinkedIn profiles of key managers, and even comments on their Google reviews.
The type of insights you want to look for are things like:
- the brands or services they specialise in
- the type of customers they’re targeting
- how they differentiate themselves in the market
- any challenges they may be facing
- the type of people they hire, including who the Dealer Principal and key managers are
- any valuable skills, traits or experience you may be able to offer them
Arming yourself with this knowledge before you walk into an interview can be hugely beneficial. Not only can help you brainstorm some smart questions to ask, but it will also demonstrate to the interviewers that you want the job and are willing to put in the time and effort to get it.
Highlight your unique ‘additional’ skills
Every role will have a list of basic skills and criteria that you need to meet; but if you really want to set yourself apart, show them some other valuable things you can bring to the dealership that are above and beyond what they’re looking for.
Think about the various roles you’ve held in the past, your personal hobbies, interests, and even your natural personality traits. Consider how these could be beneficial to the dealership, then come up with a unique way to showcase them.
Here’s an example: imagine you’re applying for a Sales Manager position, but you also have some pretty decent graphic design skills and experience conducting online marketing campaigns. Why not go to the interview with some example digital sales campaign artwork mock ups, demonstrating how you could help the dealership tap into a wider cohort of potential customers in the online space?
It’ll be memorable, but it’ll also demonstrate that you really do know how to help to grow the business!
Set a roadmap for what you plan to achieve in the role
Ever head of a 30-60-90 day plan? This is essentially a performance roadmap that outlines the goals and tasks you plan to accomplish as you reach nominated milestones over the course of your first three months with the dealership if you were the successful candidate.
Taking the time to prepare this will show great drive and initiative and give the employer confidence that you’ll be self-motived to succeed in the role. It will also provide assurance to the employer that you understand what the role entails and what would be required of you.
Let your true personality shine through
The formal nature of an interview often makes candidates believe they need to be all stiff and strait-laced, but that’s not the case. While yes, you do need to be polite and professional, it’s also important to let your personality shine through.
Beyond your qualifications, skills, and experience, employers are also looking for someone that will embrace the workplace culture and fit in well with the rest of the team—and humour is a great way to do it. Showing some tasteful humour and levity is a great way to give an employer an idea of what you’re really like while also helping to relieve any interview nerves and build rapport with the interviewers.
Come question-time, call on what you’ve learnt during the interview
Finally, another great way to make yourself stand out is to apply some of what you’ve learnt about the dealership throughout the interview to formulate some meaningful questions.
In most interviews, the employer will share with you some of what they believe makes the dealership so special, how the team members like to operate, or some of the strategic challenges they’re facing.
See if you can use this information to craft some relevant and insightful questions that relate specifically to the dealership and environment they’re operating in. You’ll demonstrate to the panel that you’ve absorbed and understood everything they’ve told you and it’ll be sure to win some extra brownie points!
Teamrecruit is Australia’s most established recruitment agency specialising in truck, earthmoving and agricultural machinery dealerships in Australia, New Zealand, the South Pacific and Southeast Asia. Find out more about Teamrecruit and how we support employers and candidates in the dealership industry.
