CX Job Seekers: How to Differentiate Yourself from the Pack

WIth the back-and-forth whiplash of the tech industry in the last few years, there are a lot of great CX folks out there looking for their next role.

The good news for recruiters and hiring managers is that they’ll have a lot of quality candidates to choose from. The bad news is that deciding between two (or more) equally good options can feel a bit like eenie meenie miney mo when everyone has the relevant experience and great interviewing skills.

To differentiate yourself have to emphasize something beyond technical skills, communication skills, and even emotional intelligence to help potential employers discern between folks who can do the job well and folks who will be a force multiplier ✨

I’ve had the great fortune to have hired many folks over the years who fit this description.

Through that experience, I’ve recognized four qualities–either innate or carefully cultivated– that have been the most reliable indicators of excellence.

And the good news for those job seekers is that if you can show that you have any or all of these qualities–even if your hiring manager isn’t specifically looking for them—you’ll put yourself in a class of your own.

🔎 Curiosity—What I’m trying to understand when assessing someone’s curiosity is: do they have the capacity and hunger to teach themselves new things? And I don’t mean just raw ability. I mean the enthusiasm to learn and the fortitude to be bad at something before they become good at it. People with curiosity want to find the end of the thread and have the patience and perseverance to get there.

🏃🏽‍♀️Range—This quality is certainly related to point 1. I don’t necessarily look for that perfect resume (which sometimes can indicate a lack of imagination), but I look for a diversity of experience. If they’ve been successful in multiple types of roles or functions, you know they’ll be able to handle almost anything. Most people can be successful in one context; it takes real talent to be successful in multiple.

🧠 Systems Thinking—Do they understand how to find the root cause of an issue and solve for that? Can they not only solve today's problem, but are thinking about the cascade of impacts an important decision could have? And if they recognize the power their decisions have, can they still make one?

🪩 Reflection—This is an indication that they can course correct their behavior, recognize patterns, have the maturity to allow their own assumptions to be challenged and to make changes when they should.