A Prime Day Take on Prime Candidates

I’m a big fan of Amazon and while their company story is impressive, it has less to do with what they sell or how they sell it and more to do (much more, actually) with the fact that they consistently solve problems for me. That’s why I come back time and again and practically beg them to take my money. Too many flies in the garage? Bam! Blue light bug catcher. Bed sheets balled up in the dryer? Ta-dah! Plastic clips to keep them separated.

As a recruiter, I also help solve problems. I talk to dozens of candidates and review thousands of resumes to help managers uncover the strongest talent in the market to deliver on their business goals. What I’ve learned through my experience as a people leader turned recruiter (who also happens to have too many smile boxes on her front porch) is that the same characteristics responsible for my brand loyalty to Amazon and their financial success are much like the attributes hiring managers continue to clamber for in top candidates.

With special thanks to Amazon for the barrage of Prime Day media placements to spark my thinking, here’s my Prime Day Take on Prime Candidates list.

Fast Delivery

Just like how Amazon delivers products quickly, being a great candidate means you can hit the ground running in a new role. Your ability to adapt, learn fast, and contribute effectively ensures that you can deliver results promptly, adding value to the company from day one. The best way to demonstrate this is with fact-based, metric-driven examples of how you’ve accomplished similar work. Sound obvious? Perhaps. But you won’t believe the hundreds of resumes I read that spell out what people do each day, without mentioning the speed or impact of how they deliver their work.?

Value for Money

On Amazon Prime Day, customers can get great value for their money with fantastic deals. Similarly, as a standout candidate, your potential to drive innovation, solve problems, and deliver company growth provides employers with great value for their investment in hiring you. You are not an “asset” but an incredibly valuable addition to the team and a key player in achieving a company’s mission. The more value you can deliver for the company, the better. Strong performance is a win-win for you and the company in a performance-driven environment. Value doesn’t mean something was a bargain, either. Know your worth! But everyone appreciates getting more value than expected for their money.

Exclusive Deals

Much like the exclusive deals and discounts on Amazon Prime Day, being a top candidate for a job allows you access to exclusive opportunities that others may not have. Your unique skills, experiences, and qualifications are your ticket to unlocking special career prospects, openings, and even opportunity hiring. Skill-based hiring continues to grow in popularity and candidates who have thoughtfully harnessed their skills on their resume and have clear insight into their most transferable skills demonstrate their exclusivity in the market with flair.?

Easy and Intuitive

Shopping on Amazon is intuitive, seamless, and flexible. They meet you where you’re at and anticipate your needs. The power candidates I see today are crushing it in the soft skills department. They are anticipatory leaders with high EQ and an innate business sense. They meet the business where it’s at – their stakeholders, too – ?and drive incremental success at the pace of business. They are digitally forward and keep their skills relevant to adapt and innovate with changing business needs.?

Impactful Marketing

Amazon benefits from one of the most powerful marketing tools out there – the consumer-awarded five-star review. Trust is meaningful and it still rings true that one of the best predictors of future success is the relevance and quality of current performance. In addition to robust LinkedIn profiles, clear and concise S.T.A.R. interview examples, and a professional network with champions who will endorse you, I’m seeing more and more resumes where candidates have included quotes from key stakeholders that “market” their performance. Selling yourself is a skill and when you’re a candidate among 800 other applicants, don’t assume AI is the only one reviewing your credentials.

Each role I recruit for is different and it would be unfair to leave out that timing also plays a significant factor in hiring. Simply put, a candidate’s functional skills also need to reconcile with the most pressing business needs at that specific point in time. But when the cart is full of qualified candidates and I see leaders at checkout, it’s the talent who brought these prime characteristics to the conversation who are winning each time.

?I’d love to share more, but I’ve got big decisions to make right now between the Dyson vacuum, portable ice machine, and 44-piece Tupperware set in my cart. I mean, who can’t use an extra set of leak-proof bento boxes?

#CareerAdvice #JobSearch #AmazonPrimeDay #TopCandidate #InterviewTips #Prime #Recruiter

?