To what lenghts have you gone to in order to get a specific job?

Arcana

With most jobs I guess you just spend 5 min. copying a standard cover letter, changing the 'Dear Mr. Smith' headline and then attaching your CV.
Unfortunately the jobs I'm looking for now are few and far in between - literally - and they are poorly paid as well. But once you are working within the company the opportunities of promotion are quite good.

Anyway, I went to a job interview this week where I must have spent over 10 hours researching the company and familiarising myself with it's products. In addition, afterwards I sent an email suggesting I could do further research and they could then bring me back in and I'd show them I had gained 'expert knowledge' about a certain product, which is their main product right now, in order for me to somehow show that I'd go the extra mile.

I even had an idea of sending a 2nd email with some examples of ways to improve their product. And let me just mention in case you think that sounds a bit outrageous - that is pretty much what the job entails so it's not 'out of order'. But I thought sending a 2nd email might be a bit too desperate.

What would you do post interview to improve your chances? Or is that a case of, 'I've not done my best at the interview, so I might as well forget about it and write some more job applications'?

So, what lenghts have you gone to?

an9i77

Its good that you've done so much research but I'd be wary about overdoing it as it may come across as a bit desperate. Once interviewed with a manager for a senior role and one of the applicants had done tons of research, brought in 2 copies of a folder with all her analysis of this that and the other and the manager didn't take her to second stage as he thought it came across as a bit nutty There's a fine line between going the extra mile and overdoing it, my experience in recruitment has been that managers ususally don't like people going too far out of the defined recruitment process as a) it means that not all candidates are subject to the same process so it becomes harder to compare candidate a with candidate b and b) it can come accross like you don't think they have the ability to choose the best candidate on their own methods, rather than yours.
Having said that a little initiative can look good, just be careful that you know where to draw the line.

Arcana

Thanks. Food for thought.

Actually, I thought this thread would be full of 'here's what I did' examples by now. It's quite rare to do anything beyond sending in your CV, and after an interview, chasing by phone or email then I take it?

[Deleted User]

My first job after graduating... Research assistant at a decent uni

They had set a challenge - you had to analyse a problem, write a computer program to solve the problem, then write a presentation to explain it all. I think I must have put in 30-40 hours work for that.

As it turns out, only 2 of the people being interviewed (out of 7) had completed it all. They liked my solution the best, and I started work there a month later. Ironically, i had an interview at another place the day after; but because i'd been so focused on the other job, I hadn't put much effort into it and fluffed it up.

smileylondongal

As a former recruiter, I think there is a fine line between giving the hirer what they need on which to base a decision and going overboard and it's so hard to know if you're doing the latter (unless completely outrageous) due to you not knowing the company or those selecting you. It's always safer to follow the process, however this doesn't mean you can't put your own stamp on it.

For example, things that have previously impressed me:
- When asked to pre-prepare an interview, making this interactive, either through engaging the audience, handouts or something a little different but not too much! The amount of presentations I would sit through that would have no passion, enthusiasm or sometimes make sense, were too many, unfortunately
- Meeting people prior to application and them impressing me with the questions they asked - people would approach me at careers fairs, company presentations, etc, make an impression, and then apply a day or so later so I'd recognise their name - doesnt always work but it can if you have the gift of the gab and sell yourself!
- Finding a relevant employee, ie the current incumbent of the role or their manager, to ask them questions but not to do this for the sake of it

I think a post email would almost be like an after thought and in a selection process, all they can evaluate is what they see in front of them on the day. The tricky thing about this sort of email would be it wouldn't fit anywhere in the process, other than show them you were keen (possibly over keen).

I personally think you've done your best if you've ticked all of the selection technique boxes:
- Follow instructions
- Be aware of the reader having to read multiple cv's and applications
- Prepare your interview so that you don't need any post interview thoughts
- Show enthusiasm for the role and company on the day
- Dress appropriately for interview and ask good questions
- Respond with relevant examples

At the end of the day, if you do just that, you've no reason to think you'd not done your best.

smartpicture

Arcana wrote: »

With most jobs I guess you just spend 5 min. copying a standard cover letter, changing the 'Dear Mr. Smith' headline and then attaching your CV.

I would have said that for every job you apply for, you should do more than this, ie tailoring your CV to the particular job and writing a job-specific cover letter. You need to address why you're the perfect person for this specific job, and how you meet the specific requirements they've listed for this job, so how can a standard letter and CV convey that message?

eamon

It's always good to know more than the basics. But the amount of research should be in proportion to the job applied for. With the internet there can be too much information. I can recall applying for a job in the early 1990's (pre internet) and upon getting an interveiw I found that there was little information to be found (zilch in the various trade directories) until I found buried in the back of my mind a newspaper article from the previous Summer mentioning the new services that this company would be bringing to my city. I got the job.

Humphrey10

As a starting point, for any job application, I think you should always write a cover letter specific to the job and company (unless you are asked to just fill in an application form - always apply in the way you have been asked to, if the company wants a standard form filled in then any CVs would most likely go straight in the bin), and also have a good read of the company's website.

tizerbelle

Anyone who only spends 5 mins on a job application just sending the same bog standard cover letter and cv doesn't deserve to get an interview. You'd be surprised how blinking obvious it is to those short-listing whether someone has taken time to consider the job and apply for that specific job rather than just some generic role.

If going the extra mile (god I hate that phrase) is part of the requirements of the job then you should be showing that in the interview with examples of how you have done that in the past. The interview is as much your opportunity to sell yourself as it is the interviewers to find out about you and if that means there's a question you think is vital but they didn't ask, then you ask it e.g. at the end of your interview they will often say "Any questions" you could respond "Am I correct in thinking that this role requires people to go the extra mile?" Presumably they would answer in the positive and then you could say "In that case I would like to show you how I do this and then give your example.

Honestly, for me you would be a PITA - we do not have a seperate HR department - all HR work is part of my role along with umpteen other areas of the business - so even your first post-interview email would likely have put you in the wierdo pile as I just don't have time to deal with it/you. Mind you it probably wouldn't make any difference at all for us because we always make our decision after the final interview of the day so we'll probably already have made our decision before we even read your email. And if we do read it after we've made our decision, it isn't going to change our mind but if you apply again for another role in the company we're likely to remember you and think - oh god, it's the odd one again - lets not bother interviewing them.

an9i77

At the end of the day, rightly or wrongly, the interviewers will pick who they believe is the best person for the job, not the one who has done the most prep. Obviously doing the right amount of prep, and presenting it well, will help to show them that you are the best person for the job but there are many other factors, such as previous experience, culture/personality fit that come in to it. I think the OP is trying to make a situation which is not in her control (ie who gets the job) slightly more controllable and whilst this is perfectly understandable, there's a limit to how much you can influence the process. I am like the poster above, when I recruit (I also work in HR) I don't actually like people going out of the defined process as it makes my job so much harder. Just think, if you'd spent ages agreeing the recruitment process, perhaps desiging the tasks and setting these up, you probably wouldn't appreciate someone coming along with a load of different stuff that they wanted you to assess, when none of the other candidates were doing this. It then becomes so much harder to compare candidates and I usuallly think, I won't bother taking the additional stuff into account because then it is not fair on the other candidates who didn't do this. OP you have the best of motives but I am just trying to be honest from a recruiter's perspective. If you are the best person for the job you'll get it, if not then you're probably not going to be able to change that by doing some extra prep. There may be the odd situation where if it's a tie between you and someone else, you could swing it, but I'd say these occasions are few and far between