Edge

Last night we talked about competitive advantage. What do we have that makes us special? And more importantly can we communicate that to someone else if presented the opportunity? And maybe even more importantly, can we make that opportunity occur? You can make that opportunity more likely to occur by being persistent, putting yourself out there, and improving yourself to make yourself more desireable to an organization--build up that resume and get it out there for everyone to see. But once you've got your foot in the door, what about the rest of you? And what about the next door, and the door after that? You have to go through a series of doors to actually be where you want to be.

Doorway 1: The human resources robot filters resumes and allows yours to come through.
Doorway 2: A person reads it and doesn't throw it away.
Doorway 3: Someone else reads it and still doesn't throw it away.
Doorway 4: Someone else reads it and invites you for an interview.
Doorway 5: You get to the interview and they don't send you away immediately.
Doorway 6: You're in the interview and they ask you about yourself.

So you need to have something prepared for that little window of opportunity. I have a competitive advantage and disadvantage at the same time. I am an American who will be applying for a job in a foreign country. The good side is that I stand out from other applicants. The bad side is that many of my accomplishments may be unfamiliar to people outside of the United States. For instance, ask anyone in Europe if they've ever heard of Purdue University? My GPA means nothing over there, the average person on the street wouldn't know what it is. I may also have to combat negative stereotypes. So I am mostly at a disadvantage here, for which I must compensate even more. The fact that I cannot just talk about what I've done in the past and expect them to be impressed, makes this a real challenge. I will have to rely solely on my ability to exude character and confidence, which so far, isn't that great.