Job search expert James Adams, based in California, once advised an applicant to talk about her hobby as a private pilot when interviewing for a position at a utility company.

Why?

The job required a manager to oversee a plant delivering electricity to consumers across California. Making the wrong decision -- or no decision -- would put thousands of people in the dark.

As a private pilot, this woman had safely landed a crippled aircraft not once, but twice. Had she not made the right decisions fast, while focusing on a solution, she wouldn't have survived.

By proving her decision-making ability, which transferred easily from piloting to power plant management, she aced out dozens of other applicants -- and got the job.

Action Step: I’ll say it again -- you are more qualified than you think.

If you need confirmation of this, ask the opinion of at least 3 friends or family members whose judgment you trust. They can provide insights on how your hobbies, interests and experience (paid or unpaid) have given you a valuable set of skills.

Compliments of David E Perry and Kevin Donlin. For more creative job search tactics, go to the Guerrilla Marketing for job hunters blog and download the free audio CD.