Get the “wow” effect!

I was doing some business reading this morning, and an article caught my attention. It was about startups, business ideas, and the “wow” effect an idea should generate. The key point was that both parties should “wow”: the entrepreneur and the market. The entrepreneur because he owns the idea and he’s passionate of what he does; the market because the idea fills a relevant gap, it addresses a pain.

The same applies to writing a CV or a motivation letter, and preparing for a job interview. Your resume, the letter, and the conversation during the interview is not about you – it is about them. You need to answer their most important question, either “what can you do for me?” or “How ready are you for this?“.

To make the recruiter “wow”, you need to have a solid offer proposition for his organisation, some quantified evidence of what you can bring to it, and a good understanding of their needs, culture and market. Be concise, clear and factual. That’s a ready a lot, and probably the recruiter will not anyway be reading more.