The Unconventional Candidate

      You have just landed the interview for the job that will begin and develop your career in Information Technology. Congratulations! Although it may seem that you are only a dialogue away from being employed, remember that you may be against some tough competition in one of the fastest growing career fields. Many people make the mistake to fall in the traditional stereotype of the "IT Geek" and forget what they have learned from the most pronoun doctor known all over the world, Dr. Seuss:

     You are skilled, certified, confident and ready to impress a hiring manager in an interview. But how exactly do you do that? Most hiring mangers make the mistake to fall prey of unconscious predispositions such as that of the "IT Geek" and focus too heavily on experience instead of competence. It is your obligation this doesn't happen. By leading the interview, you can ensure that your conversation is different than the other three the hiring manger is having the same week. Here are five things that you can bring to make you stand out in an interview and help you take control of the interview.

1. Resume: Tweak it one last time. Even if you have customized your resume to every position you have applied to, chances are, in your extensive research of the company and the interviewer, you discovered new information that can be used to better align you with the position at hand. Take another look and see if modifying an achievement or adding a hobby that you and the hiring manager have in common may make for a better cultural fit. Then, print out five to ten high quality resumes. With a fresh stack at hand, you are ready to distribute your marketing brand to any, unexpectedly encountered, empty-handed,  additional hiring decision-makers.
2. Brag-Book: Less is not always more. This is a visual of your accomplishments that both demonstrates your qualifications and serves as an effective strategy to focus on your ability to perform a new task. What you should include your brag book is only limited to your imagination. Be creative! "Punch" out the competition! You can include your certifications, an e-mail from a happy customer, a performance
evaluation, or evidence of your multimedia skills. This gives a chance for a hiring manager to find out more about you, focus on the positive, and can also serve as an explanatory tool during a story telling scenarios.
3. Testimonials: Check me out, this is who I have wowed. Or in other words, your references. Show off your abilities to make a table graph and list your references, the company they are associated with, your relationship to them, and what they have said in the past/would say about you today. Diversify your references to show that you bring value to every aspect that the company may be involved in.
4. Future Action Plan: ROI Leave the company with no reason not to hire you by showing that you can provide a Return On (their) Investment. In your research of the company, their processes, and the general information technology industry, you will find potential challenges. Nobody is perfect. It takes a lot of guts to tell that to a hiring manger, but once you do and show an action plan of how to resolve their challenges, you will have a developed an impressive initiative. Speak on specific steps of you action plan that you will take within the 30-60-90 days of your hire.
5. Marketing (business) Card: The mini resume. Leave the conversation to be more flexible and fluid. Offer more opportunities for information sharing. Include valuable contact information such as your name, number, e-mail, and LinkedIn account. Include a tagline to further underscore your value. Use the opposite side to offer some metric-based achievements to add solidity to your "bragging".