Two steps to take to stand out from the competition

Today’s professional landscape has become increasingly competitive. Landing a job after graduation can often be a challenge. One of the best ways to succeed in the current competitive environment is to differentiate yourself from the competition and share your personal wow factor. Today, I’m sharing two steps I took to stand out from the crowd and secure my post university dream job.

Do not be afraid to be different

It is very easy to follow the norm and do what everyone else is doing because sometimes we all feel the need to “fit in”. But, in order to stand out it’s essential that you stay true to yourself and share you own unique interests with others even when they are different from “the norm”.

Here’s a real life example. I love the sport of cricket and very few people in Canada follow cricket or even know about the sport in general. When I talk about my love for cricket, this often leads to a lot of questions about cricket itself and how I came into contact with a sport like cricket. This gives me the opportunity to not only educate the other person about cricket, but also to tell them about my background and who I am. This allows them to not only understand more about myself but it also makes me stand out because they remember this unique conversation we had, and in turn remember me and can put a face to my name.

A positive attitude

Now this might be a bit of a cliché because everyone talks about having a positive attitude, but a positive attitude can help you stand out from the crowd.

As Maya Angelou said: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” In a nutshell, if you make someone feel great after meeting you, you’ll have a better chance of standing out since they will associate this positive feeling with the time you spent together. The way to leave a positive impression is to have a positive attitude, a negative attitude definitely won’t have the desired effect. So when you’re out networking, smile, be confident, and try using appropriate humour to make the other person enjoy interacting with you and feel comfortable around you.

Hopefully the two tips will help you differentiate yourself from competition and land the job of your dreams.

Divyesh graduated from McMaster University with a Bachelor of Commerce. He is currently a Staff Accountant in our Toronto practice.