Have you been able to build a brand that is consistent, compelling and impactful? More importantly, it’s about developing the story that underpins all of this and learning and how to use it to your advantage. Employers want their decision to be an easy one and we need to help them in that endeavour. 

What if there are ways to influence the recruitment outcome and you are oblivious to what they are? What if you have an unknown competitive advantage that you don’t use to get what you want? What then?

We know that the recruitment decision-making process is frequently flawed and that it’s likely to be more emotional than logical. We also know that people running the process are busy, time-poor, may be stressed and just want the process completed.

Once you know you can make the process easier for recruiters, and you can provide a satisfactory outcome to the issues that they are confronting, then you can turn your attention to the things you can do to swing the balance in your favour. You can use nudge factors to get a jump on the competition, building advantage in many small areas … and achieve a BIG effect. Once you understand how subtle changes can have a big impact, you start sweating the small stuff … as you should. 

So, what is this nudge theory or sometimes known as choice architecture? Nudge is a concept in behavioural science, political theory and economics which proposes positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions as a way to influence the behaviour and decision making of groups or individuals. In other words, your suggestions, either overt or covert, can have an influence.

Every aspect of the job search process can improve with choice architecture that leads to positive nudge outcomes. We need to look for the 1% improvements in multiple areas, capitalising on the cumulative impact. We can’t control the response, but we can perform activity that is better prepared and more impactful than any other candidate. 

You might like to think about areas where marginal gains could be realised.

• LinkedIn recommendations and endorsements.
• Quality of your correspondence with decision makers.
• Description of values and character.
• Industry reputation.
• Personal image, style and the way you portray yourself.
• Fluency and simplicity of your pitch.
• Perceptions created by your LinkedIn photo.
• Warm introductions through networks.
• A compelling and interesting career story.
• The quality of your resume.
• The specific and semantic language that you use.
• The articulation of your gifts and skills. 
• Repetition of a concise language, ideas and messages.
• Storytelling qualities.
• Colour and design.
• Image and presence (confidence and authenticity).

As you can see, the range of areas where we can find potential nudge factors is vast. Equally, a failure in one of these areas has the ability to have catastrophic consequence to your application. You must get it right.

Research indicates that the best qualified candidates are offered the job only 30 to 35% of the time. So, what makes up the 70% that are more likely to get the role despite their limitations? Well, simply, they might not be as qualified, have as strong a history, or maybe even less experience, but what they do have is the capacity to talk about themselves in a way that is better than other candidates. That’s their advantage.

Happy to explore more?  Contact me on james@yellowboxcareers.com.au