The concept is simple: deliver more value than the recipient is expecting.
The Hiring Process
We live by unwritten rules in today’s American society. An example can be found in the hiring process. I’ve had a number of friends who struggled to find the right – or sometimes any – job. They don’t expect a company to spontaneously find them, but they don’t know how to get their proverbial “foot in the door,” either.
I recently interviewed with a company and decided I would turn the tables. I viewed the interview as an opportunity overdeliver.
In most interviews, the hiring company finds someone with a certain background they can mold into someone who brings value to their organization. They need to be taught the skills, operations, and workflow of the organization before they can make an impact.
That seemed like a waste of time to me. Why wouldn’t I bring value to the first meeting? Risk, that’s why.
When you attempt to bring more than you ought, you risk failing. You risk not impressing someone. You risk appearing overambitious. You risk the comfort to “just do it like everyone else.” You even risk appearing arrogant.
You have to be willing to be different if you’re going to stand out in an ocean of applicants.
Overdelivering 101
When I met with the two gentlemen who interviewed me, I brought copies of my resume, an extension of my resume (because they are a hackable game used by HR to disqualify people based on technicalities), my 90-day plan if I were hired, resources I would utilize to catch myself up to speed (notice I didn’t expect them to do that for me) on the industry, and ten ideas to improve their business.
It’s a bold move to tell someone with the title “VP” that you, without having worked a day in their industry, have ideas on how to improve their successful multi-million dollar operation. In fact, it’s quite risky. And if your overdelivering idea fails to impress, you’ve wasted a bunch of effort. Yet another risk to account for.
Here’s the key: overdelivering is about effort. And the good news is that everyone can do it!
There’s a 90% chance they’ve thought of the ideas I shared with them. But that isn’t what got me a second interview, it was my willingness to stick out from the crowd and put more effort into the interview than anyone else. The little things had to be right: intelligent ideas, no typos, presentable format, etc. But, if you want to overdeliver, you have to be willing to risk wasting that effort.
Everyone can do it, but not everyone will. That’s your advantage.
