Seven ways NOT to find an entry-level job in DC – be like a losing contestant on Project Runway

August 20, 11:37 PMDC Entry Level Careers ExaminerAdam Anthony

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 Credit: Lifetime

In my last post, I advised you not to falsify your resume (or hide your past) like Don Draper in AMC's Mad Men. Today, I’ll continue the cable themed post even further by advising you to not be like a losing contestant on Lifetime’s Project Runway.

 If you’re a fan of this addictive show, you know the basic theme – a “reality” competition where aspiring fashion designers battle each other to come up with the most creative and dramatic outfits and clothing lines while under a series of sometimes impossible constraints – the most unusual being the need to design outfits using only food, recycled materials, or even plants and flowers. As the show progresses, up to 16 designers are cut down to three or four – each of whom are incredibly creative and talented. In that final round, the differences between the winner and losers – who are dismissed with a double air kiss and an “Auf Wiedersehen” from host Heidi Klum – appear razor thin. Interestingly, the winner is not necessarily the most creative and talented; often, they’re the ones with the best chemistry with the show’s hypercritical judges.

This concept – chemistry – drives parallels between Project Runway and the competition for a job opening -- and can be instructive for someone looking for an entry-level position. Here are some ways to make chemistry work for you in your next job search competition.

The intangibles matter: Inevitably, the unlikeable designers in Project Runway find a way to eliminate themselves from the show. People want to like the people with whom they work – that’s human nature. To win a job opening, it’s not enough just to have a great resume or be super smart. The connections you make with your potential future colleagues and supervisors in an interview matter just as much as any qualification in determining whether or not you get a job. This idea is not to suggest that accomplishments aren’t important, or that you can succeed just by bonding with your future coworkers, but it does say that it’s better to be liked and good, rather than just liked or just good.

Overestimating your qualifications breeds unemployment: While the crying, drama and outsized personalities make Project Runway the show that it is, the cockiest contestant never wins. You might think you’ve got a fantastic resume, but you’re not the judge – the hiring manager is. They’ve likely screened scores of resumes for the job, and the differences between candidates jump out to careful and experienced interviewers. So does cockiness. There’s NOTHING more off-putting in an interview than a candidate who thinks they’ve got the position sewed up.

[You’re actually the worst judge of your abilities because you’re looking at a universe of one. Unless you’ve got a spy on the inside, you probably don’t know anything about the qualifications of the other candidates with whom you’re competing. When in an interview competition, it’s best to assume you’re right in the middle in terms of qualifications.]

Be yourself: The winners in Project Runway just look like the winners before they win – they look like they’re got the whole business of being a professional designer all figured out. During a job interview, the hiring manager for the position is actually spending most of their time with you trying to imagine you in the position – how you’d look, how you’d act, if you’d fit in with the office, etc. In the end, I’d bet 95% of successful candidates are described by their hiring managers as being the “best fit” for the position. You can’t believe how obvious it is when someone isn’t the best fit – mostly because they’re trying to make themselves into something they’re not.

The candidate who gets the entry-level job in a public relations firm, for instance, is the one who majored in communications, did public relations for their service projects in high school, interned at different corporate public relations offices over the summer, served as the public relations chair of their fraternity or sorority, and belonged to the Public Relations Student Society of America.

The candidate who doesn’t get the entry-level job in the public relations firm is the one who took a communications class in college, wrote some press releases in their last internship, and tells the hiring manager that they really want to “break into the field."  If they were being themselves, they’d admit they really just want to get a job after graduation, they aren’t sure what they want to do, and are stretching to fit themselves into this position.

If you fit the mold of this second candidate, save yourself a lot of time an effort and don’t apply, no matter how much you see yourself in the job.

Unless you’re looking to get air kisses from Heidi Klum.

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Seven ways NOT to find an entry-level job in DC this summer
1. Be THAT Bachelor
2. Ask for directions
3. Watch Shark Week
4. Be like Don Draper in Mad Men

5.  Be like a losing contestant on Project Runway