How to Influence an Employer #1

There are a lot of things that cause an employer to say – “you got the job”.

Some are obvious. Some are not.

Here’s one:

Employers will be influenced by who you’ve worked for.

It’s a matter of trust. If your previous employer has a high profile, or a record of professionalism and high achievement then one tends to ‘ride’ on the back of their reputation/brand. An employer may reason, “If they trusted this person, then this person must be good.”

How to apply this point in your job hunt:

If you’ve worked at a prominent company or an industry leader, or any company known for its quality, professionalism, etc – then say so! In your covering letter – something like “my experience includes 3 years at Nike as Financial Accountant”.

Most people, however, don’t work for high profile companies! So you have to educate. In your CV – write a quick 2 line profile of the company – what it does, what it’s achieved, who its clients are (they may be Nike!). Or in your covering letter write, “my experience includes 3 years at ACME Industries – a key Nike supplier – as Financial Accountant”

As you can see in the above eg. it doesn’t end with your employer – but extends to clients and suppliers too. Who your clients were, what accounts you worked, who you dealt with (titles), who you did presentations to, etc – it all counts. It all can play a part in influencing the employer – engendering a feel of trust.

Final point: If they trust you, you stand a greater chance of getting hired. You’ll trust a Sony hi-fi before you’ll trust a Sankoshinishi hi-fi, right?? Same applies to your job hunt.

Milk it!