When it comes to recruitment, hiring managers aren’t always looking for the black and white, perfect-on-paper candidates. Because forward-thinking hiring managers know that an organization’s future success is dependent upon it’s ability to differentiate and innovate–while delivering a memorable experience.

And innovators rarely colour within the lines. 

So when it comes to your job search, don’t get caught in a stagnant quest for attaining to be the best; be different instead. Here are three reasons why:

“The best” is temporary

Being considered the best at something can sometimes be an in-the-moment comfort. What’s considered the best in the court of public opinion can be surpassed at any time by someone with more experience, who’s more connected or who flashes a fancier degree. 

However, people do business with people, and they do it with the ones they like. And a candidate that has the most experience in a field doesn’t always deliver the desired experience to coworkers, clients or customers.

How you make an employer, coworker or end user feel during their interaction with you matters, and is what’s going to make you stand out.

How can you remain memorable?

Being better can hold you back

Certain people experience the fear factor when boundary pushing,  but “If it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” didn’t invent the iPhone.

Fear manacles you to mediocrity, and if your mind is set on being the best at the old way of doing things, someone else will be the one to discover a new way to do it differently. So, don’t invest all your energy in being like everyone else. Carving out your own niche and positioning yourself as an early market adapter will set you ahead of the competition.

Thinking outside-the-box helps you stand out

You can have a really good idea. Like… a really, really good, mankind changing,  earth shattering, post-apocalyptic cure for the human race type of idea, and no one will care if they don’t know about it. The best ideas—or the best people—can’t be heard if their voice isn’t being raised above the rest of the crowd. 

Take this into consideration: Two similar candidates, with two similar resumes, applied to the same role. Candidate A’s resume was sent through email along with 250 other resumes. She was a perfect technical fit, with exceptional experience and an impressive portfolio.

Candidate B’s resume showed that he wasn’t as great as a technical fit as candidate A, but he also had exceptional experience and an impressive portfolio. Instead of sending in a resume however, like candidate A, he stapled his resume to the top of a pizza box and sent it on over to the agency during lunch time.

Who do you think got the gig?

When it comes to your job search, remember: Your skill set and level of experience of course matter, but the perfect-on-paper puzzle piece isn’t necessarily always the right fit.

Are you working with a staffing agency to find your next great IT job?

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