Your real competition isn't some job hunter off the street. It's the candidate who was coached by The Headhunter. Use The Headhunter's insider perspective to your advantage; don't let it sneak up and bite you!
 

From The Archive

42. Choice & control.
Don't let America's employment system limit your job choices. Don't let it  control your search for a job.

The jobs you consider are served up to you, rather than selected by you. These jobs appear in want ads and on the Internet. This is called a "forced choice": you pick from what you're offered. Is it any wonder people take jobs, only to be out searching for new ones a year later?

When you ignore the forced choices and instead pursue the companies you really want to work for, you are able to interview more intelligently and effectively. When you pursue what you really want, you can marshal both your motivation and your work skills to demonstrate how a company will profit by hiring you. That's what gives you control in an interview.

Preparing such a demonstration takes a lot of effort; only companies you carefully select are worthy of it. (You will find that there are very few interviews worth going on.) The alternative is to sit and be interrogated by a company you know very little about -- for a job that doesn't really mean much to you.

Make your own choices; don't settle for what's served up to you. Then take control in the job interview by demonstrating how you will make the manager's department more successful and profitable. That's what will make him choose you.