What Does it Mean to be the “Best-Fit” for the Job?

Determining Your Best-Fit Job

Once a Hiring Manager selects your resume from among the hundreds or thousands of applicants, conducts a phone interview with you, then invites you to a face-to-face meeting to talk about the job, sometimes your excitement begins to wane when you realize that each next step will either be a chance to make it or break it.  Why is all of this necessary when your education, credentials, and job criteria have already been met successfully?  You are told that they want to find the best fit for the job.  Okay, you agree with that – but what exactly does it mean in their eyes?

Perhaps if we put the best-fit concept within the same mindset that we use when we look for the appropriate pair of shoes, we might gain a deeper understanding of how Hiring Managers view it.  After all, one pair of shoes will not suffice for all occasions and purposes.  This is why closets overflow with them!  We have several pairs because sometimes we dress up, sometimes we play sports, and sometimes we lounge.

Let’s say you need a pair of shoes for a camping vacation.  As you walk into the shoe store, you see the large variety of footwear from which you will make your selection.  Does the campground environment call for a pair of flip-flops, tennis shoes, or high-heels?  If you plan on hiking, will a pair of rain boots be adequate?  What about a fuzzy pair of slippers or flat loafers?  Why not just go without shoes altogether and go barefoot?  If some of these suggestions caused a little chuckle, then that means you are beginning to relate to the verbiage best-fit in a work environment.  While we do admit that you can take along more than one type of footwear on a camping trip, we stand by the point that there is basically one specific type of shoe that will work the best in a rugged setting; and that is the hiking boot.  Why?  It’s because hiking boots support and protect the feet and ankles on uneven terrain, serve as a barrier between you and biting insects, scratchy and poisonous foliage, and surprised snake strikes.  Of course, if you are sitting around the campfire, you can change into footwear that is more comfortable; however, for the main purpose of the camping trip, the hiking boot will support you for the majority of each day’s activities.

Hiring Managers want to find the best-fit employee for their company culture.  Culture is the thing that is felt when you are there in the physical environment, how people treat each other, and the manner in which the workflow is done.  The company culture can be very quiet and slow-paced, very loud and fast-paced, very serious and structured, or very relaxed and non-structured.  This is a very short list, as there are countless combinations of elements to company cultures.  Each company has its very own uniqueness.  Actually, a large corporation could have its company culture defined; yet one location of that corporation can vary from another simply because personalities are distinctively different at every location.

At the stage when you will be evaluated as to whether or not you will be the best-fit for the job, Hiring Managers want to observe and determine if you can become part of their company’s dynamics.  If you are very shy and reserved, will you feel comfortable around very strong personalities?  If you are on the opposite end of that scale, will your overbearing tendencies be welcomed by the majority of very quiet employees?  If the company culture enforces strict policies and regulations, but you are the type of person who needs to be more creative and daring, will you find satisfaction or frustration at the company?  If the company is looking for an innovator, and you cannot tell the Hiring Manager about even one way that your idea made an improvement to a process, what will they conclude?

The only way that you can prove you are the best-fit for the company is to show up in-person and be yourself.  Hiring Managers already know the kind of employee they need, and they want to see if you are that exact person that will be right for the job.  Just like in the footwear examples, if they need hiking boots, they know that slippers will not do the job.  If they want flip-flops, they know that high-heels will cause issues that they don’t want.

It’s true that we all want to be the best-fit for the job; but the reality is that we cannot be the best-fit for every job.  In the event that you are not selected, you should not take it as personal rejection, but rather, they found another pair of footwear that fits better than you did at this exact point in time.  Take it in stride and know that you are the best-fit somewhere – finding it is the challenge.