Answer: People who can solve problems and get the job done.

But…how can they know if you can get the job done before even
hiring you?

The fact is: They can’t. They can only make an educated guess.

And how do they educate themselves about you?

Answer: Through your resume, cover-letter, reference letters,
portfolio, personality tests, psychometric tests, assessment
centres, group interviews, phone interviews, individual interviews,
meal interviews, etc.

You see, none of these methods of screening and selection is
perfect. So, at the end of the day, the employer is still making a
guess and taking a gamble when they decide who to hire.

So, how you can make yourself a COMPELLING hire?

Take their guessing and gambling out of the equation and…
Act as if you’re already working for the company!

When you can show tangible completed work BEFORE THEY’VE EVEN HIRED
YOU, you have instantly become 100 times more employable than every
other applicant.  It doesn’t matter who you are up against in the
job competition. The person who shows up at the interview table and
says, “I’ve already found a few ways that you can improve the
company’s website, double the online traffic, and increase the
sales” or whatever… “and here is what I have done to demonstrate
one.”

By doing so, you prove that you CAN do the work and are immediately
providing VALUE to the company.

Here’s an example:

Jason Zimdars tried to get hired by 37signals (37signals.com they
are extremely picky about who they hire — much like Microsoft,
Google and Yahoo!) and he created this:

http://jasonzimdars.com/svn/highrise.html

The way Jason stood out from the rest was that he looked at the
design in Highrise, one of 37signals’ products and created several
different variations of the site with improved usability and look
of the tags. And one of his designs was so good that 37signals
implemented it straightaway!  And of course, Jason was hired.

I can already hear some of you thinking in your head, “What? You
are suggesting that I spend all the time and do the work for free??
And I don’t even know if they’ll hire me?”

Yes, I am suggesting that.

Sure, you won’t know if they’ll hire you but if you are reluctant
to give value first to a job that you are applying for, then you
are not really interested in the job. If you are not really
interested in the job, then employers won’t be interested in you.
It’s a two-way street.

Besides, you want the job right?

I mean if this is the job that you want and have decided that it is
going to be your ideal job and that you really want to develop your
career in this industry, then what’s holding you back? Your time
and effort is TOO important to be spent this way?

In any case, you will surely learn something and understand more
doing the work. This will make you even better prepared for the job
interview and the industry. So, I would call the time and effort an
“investment.”

During breakfast one day, while his children were eating their
breakfast cereal, he poured orange juice for all 3 of them.

However, he did not pour for them a full glass each. Instead, he
gave them only half a glass each.

The children looked at the glasses and continued with their
breakfast without any words.

Then, after a brief moment, my friend began to top up their glasses
with more orange juice. For the first child, he filled the glass
fully. For the second child, he topped up the glass to 3/4 full.
And for the 3rd child, he gave just a little bit more than the
half-a-glass.

This time, his children did not remain silent. In fact, the second
and third child stopped eating and protested, “Why does he get
more?? I want more!”

Now, note that ALL of them were given MORE orange juice. They were
ALL given MORE orange juice than they originally had, which was
half a glass.

So, what invited the protest?

Comparison and competition.

Although they were each given more, the quality was different for
each child. And each child started comparing what they received
with that of another child and decided that it was not fair that
someone else received more than them.

I observed the same mentality with some university students. When a
team received their score of 7/10 after their presentation, they
were quite satisfied with the mark.

However, when they realised that there were other teams who scored
8/10, 9/10, and even 10/10, they started asking me why they
received only 7/10 and insisted that they should redo their
presentation. It was interesting that they did not consider the
fact that there were also other teams who scored less than 7/10.

Here’s something to note: The original meaning of the word
“competition” is “to fulfill your potential.”

“To compete” would mean that you are embarking on an activity that
will enable you to fulfill your potential.

The purpose of competition, as such, is not to be better than
someone else. It is to be better than yourself.