Standing out in a crowd takes time, commitment and finding the art in your work

Q: The question on every job hunter's lips is, "How do I make myself stand apart?" It's a good question because it seems everyone and his sister apply for every job posted on the Net. The competition is deep and broad. How can a good worker stand out?

Nick's reply: You might not like my answer because it's not an instant solution. It takes time to become one of the precious few who stand out. It's not about resumes or where you went to school. It's about how your work is regarded.

How would you like to be known as coveted and rare? That's the idea in an article by R. Colin Johnson that I keep on my desk as a reminder of what it means to stand out. It appeared in the May 27, 2008, edition of Electronic Engineering Times and it reveals three important characteristics that would make employers beg you to work for them.

Johnson's article discusses analog engineering. This discipline was the core of the electronics field for decades. The circuits that engineers designed prior to the 1980s were primarily analog electronics. Think about volume controls and tubes in old FM radios, heaters in toasters and the motor driving a table saw. As digital technology exploded on the scene in the 1980s, college engineering programs started cranking out digital engineers, and there has been a dearth of analog engineers since. The result is that good analog engineers are now almost priceless. So much for "not being cutting-edge," eh?

Johnson's article reveals three guideposts to standing out. First is art. You can't just follow the rules, apply your skills, and get the work done. You must find and reveal the art in it.

Take another profession: accountants. Any good one can follow the rules and run the numbers accurately. But the art of accounting involves using your skills to identify and capitalize on trends in your company's finances. Accounting becomes art when the practitioner develops the big picture and sees the business on a whole new level. Similarly, any engineer can design a circuit. A great engineer is an artist, because she sees how a design can be implemented at low cost for high-volume production to make more money for her company. That's art. Want to stand out? Advance the art in your work.

The second guidepost is mentoring. The company in Johnson's article is successful at hiring analog engineers in part because it has a mentoring culture that grows more of them. The rare analog guru mentors the next crop. Want to stand out? Get mentored by a guru.

The third guidepost is time. (See? I warned you that this might hurt.) Turning your work into an art might make you a guru, but that takes a lot of practice. The manager quoted in Johnson's article says, "Analog technology requires five to seven years of on-the-job experience before engineers can begin making significant contributions." Or before their expertise becomes coveted and rare.

Want to stand out? Want to be worth more than your competitors to an employer? Invest the time to get mentored and to hone your skills. Show the art in your work.

Copyright 2009. Distributed by Universal Press Syndicate

Nick Corcodilos is author of "Ask The Headhunter: Reinventing the Interview to Win the Job" and the host of www.asktheheadhunter.com. He can be reached by e-mail at seattle@asktheheadhunter.com or at North Bridge Group, P.O. Box 600, Lebanon, NJ 08833. Sorry, no personal replies.