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3 Ways to Make Yourself the Obvious Choice, with Leila Singh

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Online applications attract thousands of people looking for a job, but they rule out their ability to stand out from the crowd in a sea of applicants. Find Your Dream Job guest Leila Singh says it isn’t difficult to distinguish yourself. You start by connecting with others. Cultivate a network that you can turn to. Second, captivate the hiring manager with your presence. Stand, speak, and behave in a way that commands respect. And lastly, Leila suggests working on your self-confidence. If you don’t believe in yourself, nobody else will believe in you. 

About Our Guest:

Leila Singh is a leadership, career development, and mindset coach. She also hosts the weekly podcast, Life Leadership. 

Resources in This Episode:

Transcript

Find Your Dream Job, Episode 502:

3 Ways to Make Yourself the Obvious Choice, with Leila Singh

Airdate: May 21, 2025

Mac Prichard:

This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want, and make a difference in life.

I’m your host, Mac Prichard. I’m also the founder of Mac’s List. It’s a job board in the Pacific Northwest that helps you find a fulfilling career.

Every Wednesday, I talk to a different expert about the tools you need to get the work you want.

You apply for a job.

You have the experience and skills the employer wants.

But you don’t get an offer.

Why didn’t the hiring manager choose you?

Leila Singh is here to talk about three ways to make yourself the obvious choice.

She’s a leadership, career development, and mindset coach.

Leila helps you elevate your career, overcome your limitations, and learn from other successful leaders.

She also hosts the weekly podcast, Life Leadership.

She joins us from London.

Well, let’s jump right into it, Leila. Many job seekers rely on online applications as their main job search strategy. Why isn’t this approach effective?

Leila Singh:

I think that the working landscape has just completely changed over the last several years. And you know, particularly at this moment in time, you’re competing in a really crowded, competitive market.

And online applications are attracting hundreds and even thousands of applicants. And that makes it difficult for you to stand out. If you put yourself in the shoes of a recruiter or a hiring manager, they’ll often skim through resumes, and there’s a saying that they’ll spend up to six seconds looking at one.

So it’s difficult to stand out just from that resume. And even with a good one, you still risk being lost in the algorithm-driven system that a lot of places are using now, and that gets prioritized over your actual potential and your actual talent. So that’s the main thing is the competition and the crowded market.

In addition, you’ve gotten the hidden job market which is where most of the best opportunities can be found. And many roles are not publicly advertised, or when they are, they’re already, you know, the next person to be hired has already been decided.

So you want to be the person who is being referred, or through your network, people have you top of mind.  In addition to that, hiring managers also want to work with recommended people, trusted recommendations to make their lives easier.

Mac Prichard:

So if you’re applying online, you’re competing against a large number of people. It’s hard for even the best resume to stand out. And many jobs are getting referred, or rather, are getting filled through word of mouth.

Are there other factors that make applying online alone ineffective?

Leila Singh:

Yeah, because they can’t really get to see you and know you, and I think it’s beyond just your skillset and your experience now. People are looking for that holistic, ideal candidate, and you can only really, you know, show your real potential and what you bring to the table in person.

Through other people recommending you, being your advocates, or building your network where you can have those people have you top of mind. It isn’t about just sitting there and submitting your resume online and hoping that something will land. I think it goes much, much further than that.

And often, it’s a safer feeling for people to blend into the crowd instead of standing out. And that means that they, you know, the online application process makes you look the same as everybody else. And you don’t really get to showcase your personality, your leadership, your drive, your ambition through that process.

Mac Prichard:

So we’ve talked about the drawbacks to relying exclusively on online applications, but it remains a popular strategy, Leila, for many candidates. Why is that?

Leila Singh:

I would say it’s because it feels safe for people.

If they don’t want to want to raise their head about the parapet and, you know, risk rejection for example, or it might be imposter syndrome that’s keeping them playing small and not reaching out directly to those hiring managers, to those decision makers, or looking to build the relationships before they need a job.

And oftentimes, I have people come to me who are now looking for a job, they’re in the job market, and haven’t even considered the fact that they haven’t invested time and effort in cultivating and nurturing their network.

For some people, depending on the personality profile, it might be that they just feel more comfortable applying online than putting themselves out there in the network.

In addition to that, there’s still a school of thought that that shouldn’t be necessary and that they should be interviewed and hired simply through what is on their CV, their experiences, and their skills. And I think that that’s a very outdated approach now, given the technology that we have and the way that the working hiring landscape operates.

Mac Prichard:

Well, let’s talk about how to stand out. As you’ve outlined, simply sending in an online application is not an effective way to do that.

You’ve got three steps you recommend candidates take in order to make yourself a clear choice, the obvious choice, when you apply for a job.

Let’s walk through them one by one. And the first of your three steps is to connect.

What do you mean when you say connect, Leila, and why is relationship building, which you’ve touched on a number of times now, so critical?

Leila Singh:

Well, first, exactly that, connect is all about cultivating and nurturing your networks and looking to do this before you actually need help. And almost wanting to look at how can I help others as I connect with them, not just waiting for when you need something.

And it’s important because opportunities come through your network, through people, not through applications. Particularly if you’re in a more senior-level role.

As well as that, if you consider that decisions are often based on trust, people who know, like, and trust you, they’re recommended to you. Hiring managers, if they’re faced with thousands of applications for a role, they’re more likely to refer to what people have been recommended to them.

Also, I talk about honing your professional advantage. And a big part of that is your network. So cultivating that circle of advocates, of mentors, and sponsors, will keep you visible, will keep you top of mind for those key opportunities.

Mac Prichard:

And how do you do that in a strategic way, Leila?

Everybody has a network; there’s so many people each of us could reach out to during a job search, but how do you identify the people that are going to be the most helpful to you in a job search?

Leila Singh:

That’s a really good question because oftentimes, people will actually just believe that it’s the people who are senior to them, are the people that they need to build that network with in terms of elevating their career.

When in actual fact, cultivating a relationship with your peer group, people who are at the same level as you, is just as important. Why? Because those are people who may get a step up the ladder before you, and may turn around and raise a hand out to you to bring you up with them.

They might be looking to hire somebody, and remember they had a good relationship with you, they’ve worked with you in the past. Or even if you’re at a certain point in time, you’re on the same level, a peer group level, it doesn’t mean you should just dismiss those people. It’s important to look at your broader network.

Again, from my own experience, what I’ve witnessed is often people stay within their own, let’s say, if you look at a larger organization, within their own team, for example. They’ll get to know their own team, but they won’t step out and get to know people across the wider organization.

And it’s not about necessarily wanting to move into a different part of the business. It’s simply that people in other departments, for example, if you’re a finance person, go speak to sales. Go speak to HR, and operations, and delivery. Because you never know who those people are talking to and who might be looking to hire somebody like you.

And I always say, one conversation can change your life. And in this context, it’s so so true and I’ve witnessed it over and over again. I think it’s really important to think laterally in terms of your network; people at different levels, people in different kinds of roles to yourself, so that you’ve got a broad, diverse network of people that you can reach out to.

Mac Prichard:

And when you’re doing that outreach, Leila, what have you seen be effective? What are some specific ways to connect with people, either in your peer groups or more senior to you, or in other departments or organizations?

Leila Singh:

Yeah, so one of the things is to be authentic in your approach. It’s very easy to sense if someone is coming to speak to you because they’re after something, and they just want something.

I always say, or encourage people to come from a place of curiosity and just genuinely wanting to get to know other people. So getting to know what they do, why they do it, what they’re passionate about in their career, that kind of thing. Or maybe if they’re someone who’s senior, being curious about how they got there and what challenges they overcame. Where they want to head in terms of their career trajectory.

So being genuine, authentic, and honest in that engagement is a key one.

Secondly, it’s active listening. Because in typical networking environments, people are waiting for the opportunity to speak, so they’re not really listening to the other person. And again, the recipient of that can sense it often and realize that the person is not really fully present with them and then they’ll probably move on to speak to somebody else.

Therefore, if you can be fully present with someone and actively listen to them, and again, maintain that curiosity, you’re creating a memorable experience for that person.

Mac Prichard:

Terrific, we’re gonna take a break. Stay with us. When we come back, Leila Singh will continue to share her advice on three ways to make yourself the obvious choice.

We’re back in the Mac’s List studio. I’m talking with Leila Singh.

She’s a leadership, career development, and mindset coach.

Leila helps you elevate your career, overcome your limitations, and learn from other successful leaders.

She also hosts the weekly podcast, Life Leadership.

She joins us from London.

Now, Leila, before the break, we were talking about how to make yourself the obvious choice, especially in a job market where too many people rely only on online applications and they struggle with standing out.

You shared the first step that you encourage your clients to take, which is to connect and build relationships with others, and you outlined some of the benefits of that.

The second step you recommend is to captivate. So first, connect. Second, captivate.

What do you mean by captivate, Leila, and how will doing this help make you the obvious choice to a hiring manager?

Leila Singh:

Yeah, great question. Captivate, in my mind, is all about your executive presence, so demonstrating your presence, your gravitas. As well as mastering your non-verbal communication, which, in fact, is 55% of our communication. Most people think communication is all about what we say, and in fact, it’s about the non-verbal aspects of that, as well as how we say what we say.

And in terms of its importance, perception shapes opportunities because people will decide if you, for example, are leadership material within the first seven seconds of meeting you. Often, at that point, you haven’t even uttered a word.

So, how you show up influences other people’s decisions, and non-verbal cues carry a lot more weight than the words. So, for example, our body language, our tonality, our eye contact, all of these impact our levels of confidence, credibility, and our trustworthiness, as well.

In turn, it can help us to influence others. So when it comes to being in the job market, interviewing and building relationships, you want to be able to influence the people around you. So, how do you do that?

Number one is to own the room with presence. So when you walk into a meeting or to an interview, you walk in with purpose. In other words, you maintain a strong posture. And that can mean looking in the mirror and practicing how are you standing, shoulders back, head up, smiling, eye contact. Using deliberate, composed gestures, for example, and not, you know, fiddling with your fingers or tightening your fists or anything like that because you’re anxious and nervous. So, being really mindful of how you’re carrying yourself.

In addition to that, you want to master the power of silence and pace. And this is something people struggle with, particularly when they’re nervous. They tend to speak really quickly, and often, they don’t even take a breath because they just want to get everything out and say as much as they can, so they don’t have to speak.

So you want to slow down, speak clearly and articulately, and pause, because pausing creates impact. And this exudes confidence, and it commands attention. Because that pause will draw people in, wanting and waiting to hear what you’re about to say next.

And finally, on this point, I would say, be congruent. In other words, ensure that your facial expressions, your posture, and your tonality align with your message. And part of that message is your confidence, having that level of belief and certainty in yourself.

So what I mean by that is if we’re creating mixed signals because we’re nervous, we’re anxious, we’ve got self-doubt, that can weaken your presence. And then it shows a lack of congruency.

So a key point here is when you’re speaking and you’re making a point, what people often do is that their tonality goes up at the end of a sentence, so it sounds as though they’re asking a question. Like this, how I’m speaking now, as opposed to, they’re making a statement, and you want your tonality to go down at the end because again, that shows certainty at what you’re saying.

Mac Prichard:

That’s a lot of good advice. How do you recommend that people learn how to do this?

Leila Singh:

There’s a few things you can do. I mean, there’s a lot of training around this on YouTube, for example. I would always recommend identify someone you’ve worked with in the past or are working with currently and observe them.

Within LLP,  we call it modeling excellence. It is identifying people you aspire to be like and observe them, look at how they carry themselves, how they show up. Particularly those who are confident.

Because the confident individuals are the ones that people gravitate towards. So look at how they exude that presence. How do they speak? Do they pause, do they slow down? Are they more considered in their responses? Do they make eye contact and smile? How do they shake your hand? All of those things is observing what other people are doing that carry that level of executive presence.

In addition, there’s, as I’ve said, there’s trainings out there. It’s about also practicing either in the mirror or recording yourself, which is something I know a lot of people feel uncomfortable with doing.

When I work with people on their, for example, their presentation skills, one of the things I will get them to do is to record themselves, whether it’s on the laptop or on a phone. And record themselves speaking, with some hand gestures, the smiling, noticing their posture.

You know, one of the big things with posture is we often stand in a relaxed manner with our weight to one side. So more weight, for example, on your left leg than your right. That’s okay in a relaxed environment, but the minute you equalize that weight on both feet and have them hip-width apart, you’re already standing in your power. You’re standing in your confidence. You will feel different, and other people will perceive you differently.

And the easiest way to notice this and to never stand in that relaxed fashion again, in a professional environment, is to film yourself. Because when you see the difference, you will feel that level of confidence immediately.

Mac Prichard:

Well, confidence, of course, is the third of the three steps you encourage job seekers to take in order to make yourself the obvious choice. And you’ve outlined a number of ways to demonstrate confidence.

What about mindset? What role does mindset play in helping you both feel and show confidence to employers?

Leila Singh:

In my view, mindset is 80% of your success. And I think it’s Tony Robbins who says this: that success is 20% strategy and 80% mindset. Because we all love to look for the tools and the strategies and the “what to do’s,” but if internally, we don’t believe it, if we don’t have that belief in ourself, we don’t have that certainty in ourself, then that’s going to come through. There’s going to be that lack of congruency that I mentioned earlier.

Your mindset determines your results, and if you don’t believe in your own value, when you’re communicating to others, people will sense that. It will also come through in the language that you’re using. You know, someone can be saying something to me, but the words that they’re using, the language, to convey their message, could be at conflict with what they’re actually saying.

Mac Prichard:

So there are three steps you encourage candidates to take to stand out and make yourself the obvious choice to a hiring manager; it’s connect, captivate, and confidence.

For someone who wants to act on these ideas, Leila, what’s one small action you can take today?

Leila Singh:

I think the smallest and most powerful action you can take is to start to build your self-awareness. And how do you do that, is pick one of these actions that we’ve spoken about today and start to embody it.

So even posture, it’s the simplest thing you can do. Stand in front of the mirror and notice your posture. How can you improve it? What can you do differently and better? And notice how you’re feeling as a consequence of that? Because that in itself will instill greater confidence in you, which will then have you show up differently.

And when we act as if, and I don’t believe in “fake it till you make it.” I come from a place of – you feel it within you because of the inner dialogue you’re having – and then acting as if you are confident in the way that you carry yourself, and the language that you’re using will have you feel confident through your actions.

And that in itself will have you stand out from many, many others, particularly when it comes to the job search.

Mac Prichard:

Well, it’s been a great conversation, Leila. Now tell us, what’s next for you?

Leila Singh:

What’s next for me is I’m currently pivoting from B to C business, so working one-to-one with individuals, transitioning to working with teams, organizations, and leaders.

Because I’ve recently added a new tool to my toolkit kit which is the Enneagram, and it’s a powerful personality framework that helps individuals gain deeper self-awareness and uncover their blind spots while developing their emotional intelligence. This is essential for accelerating career growth and enhancing our leadership skills, all the things we’ve been speaking about today.

In addition to that, I’ve also just in this year launched the Leadership Launchpad, which is a group program for individuals who want to build their executive presence, enhance communication skills, and position themselves for leadership roles.

As part of that, you get to engage with a private community of like-minded people. So again, coming back to building your network, and again, you just don’t know where those conversations can lead.

Mac Prichard:

Well, I know listeners can learn more about you and your work by visiting your website www.leilasingh.com. We’ll be sure to include the link both in the show notes and in the website article about your interview. You also invite listeners to connect with you on LinkedIn. And when you do reach out to Leila, I hope you’ll mention you heard her on Find Your Dream Job.

Leila, given all the useful tips you’ve shared today, what’s the ONE thing you want a listener to remember about your three ways to make yourself the obvious choice?

Leila Singh:

Here’s the thing: you own your career, and you are your own brand.

So, harness your competitive advantage by embracing the three areas that we’ve spoken about today. And you will stand out. You will be remembered for the right reasons.

Mac Prichard:

Next week, our guest will be Charles McGee.

He’s the director of operations for Workplace Change.

It’s a human resources firm that offers culturally inclusive solutions for people and organizations.

Your qualifications alone – no matter how impressive – won’t get you your next job.

That’s because you’re competing against others with similar backgrounds.

So how can you stand out from your competitors?

Join us next Wednesday when Charles McGee and I talk about what you need to tell employers.

Until next time, thanks for letting us help you find your dream job.

This show is produced by Mac’s List.

Susan Thornton-Hough schedules our guests and writes our newsletter. Lisa Kislingbury Anderson manages our social media.

Our sound engineer and editor is Matt Fiorillo. Dawn Mole creates our transcripts. And our music is by Freddy Trujillo.

This is Mac Prichard. See you next week.