Interviews
January 26, 2023 | Author: Anonymous | Category: N/A
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Inteiew Tat Win Jo This is NOT a free e-book!
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This book is designed To provide AccurATe informATion on The subjecTs covered. however, iT is sold wiTh The undersTAnding ThAT The publisher is noT engAged in rendering legAl, AccounTing, or professionAl services. services. if legAl Advice or oTher professionAl AssisTAnce is required, The services of A compeTenT professionAl person should be soughT. AnY nAmes used in The TexT Are ficTiTious ficTiTious And for illusTrATive purposes onlY. AnY resemblAnce To AcTuAl persons or compAnies is purelY uninTenTionAl And coincidenTAl.
DEDICATION: Ti eot i dedicated to knowede, coae, and eitence, te tee mot imotant qaitie needed to cceed in any man caene, eeciay a jo eac.
About the Author Gary Bencivenga t ’ t t at tat a a at te self-marketing . h -at -at
tat a a taay ta a a a t y, a y, a aat tt ay t aat ay tt a “ a.” h ay, “T t tat 12 y’ a t a a a, ‘ Find Find out what people want, then show them how to get it.’” T t, ay y da ca “h t w f & i p,” t a t at a ay -at a a. Yt t aat ’t a a at t ay t t t, t do a , at a aata. T t aata y a at t a t a t -. T , tat tat a t a y t a y at t ty y , a y, a y a t t t a aat.
TAblE Of CONTENTs INTrODuCTION: H ErE ErE’ S tHE EDGE Y ou ou N N EED EED IN t t oDAY oDAY ’ ’ S M ArkEt .............................................................10 A bt--t-bt ct stat Tat w ey e cat, c at, ey ity ......................... ............................1 ...111
ChApTEr ONE: t HE GrEAtESt J .......................12 J ob ob-F INDING INDING SECrEt .......................12 h t ha t w’ mt p st w t j Y wat, e w Y’ nt t mt qa caat ........................... ........................................................ ................................12 ...12 T ltt-k pa T T ca Atay i it t Persuade Themselves Tat Y Y A t bt caat t j j.......................... ...........................................12 .................12 s! wy t bt-qa caat uay d nt gt t j o o ............................. .......................................................... ................................15 ...15 n u T w w a it it............................ ......................................................20 ..........................20 wat it pz mt caat caat ......................... .........................................22 ................22
ChApTEr TWO: SECrEtS oF A k IllEr ......................23 IllEr PrESENtAtIoN ......................23 h t ma a mat ptat Y Y qaat, u t “pAr “pAr fa” .......................... ...............................................23 .....................23 A Ttat Ttat t rt Y it ......................... ..............................................24 .....................24
ChApTEr ThrEE: H oW ...........26 oW to M AkE I NtErvIEWErS NtErvIEW ErS lIkE Y ou ou ...........26 T eat way way t gt a it t l Y iaty................................. iaty.............................................................. .........................................................2 ............................277 d Y Y ha T Ay cata hat? i s, ct T n! ............................. ......................................................... ...............................27 ...27 ct t 25 bt it T........................ ........................................28 ................28 T 5 mt c it mta................................................29
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T s paty Tat Tat p y 98% 98% h et .......................... ....................................................30 ..........................30 s lyaty t Y Y f ey ......................... ...............................................30 ......................30 “hty w pa mt p a At ey”—ma Ta a........................... ........................................................ ................................30 ...30 sy: T l a d et it it ...................31 h t dtat Y Y itty ......................... ...................................................... ................................32 ...32 sa l a f At, nt a ba...................................... ba........................................33 ..33 T eat way way a ey ca k w Y’ nt T t Tt (wtt e c Y Y r) .......................... ....................................................... ....................................33 .......33
ChApTEr fOur: H oW oW to bE tHE bESt -PrEPArED C ANDIDA ANDIDAtE tE.....34 A s way t ot vtay Ay e ct c t t Y Y t sa pt ............................. .......................................................... .......................................................... .....................................34 ........34 T w g Y Y gat c, c , h Y ra, a ma a gat i Ay it................................................. it.............................................................................. ..........................................34 .............34 i Y ray wat t i Y it, d T.....................36
ChApTEr fIvE: I NSIDEr t IPS IPS FroM tHE orlD’ S S A AvvIESt vvIESt H EADHuNtErS EADHuNtErS ........................................................37 W orlD
b s t cat Ay la Tat c Y way......................................... ay...................................................................... .......................................................... .................................37 ....37 d’t lt Y k A Y T T ............................. .........................................38 ............38 eat way t ma Y T T m ly t gt h ............................. .......................................................... ..............................................38 .................38 wt day t w ... wt T day t b it.......................................... it....................................................................... ...............................................38 ..................38
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d’t k Y Y ot t r t vy ft p ca........................... ca........................................................ ........................................................3 ...........................399 T ra ra wy Att “c,” a h t u T k t p baty w Y “da j” i t l ......................... ...................................................... ...............................................40 ..................40 h t l l Y Y Aty l ........................... ........................................................ ................................40 ...40 Y it’ it ’ gatt eta n— a h t saty it ......................... ...................................................... .........................................................4 ............................411 mt T T cta a it w l Y ............................ ......................................................... .......................................................... ......................................43 .........43 b pa t 64 Tt it qt.......................... qt ...........................44 .44 vaz Y s ............................. .......................................................... ...................................................44 ......................44 A gat gat it st r ......................... ...................................................... ....................................45 .......45 ct Y Y a a ea, nt a ba ......................... ..........................................46 .................46 A s way way t eta rat t a it......................46 it ......................46 h t ma t la Aa Aa w w Y ........................... ..................................47 .......47 i Y w, w, Ta nt, t t A ft ft.......................... .....................................................4 ...........................477 d’t stat saay ntat T T eay .......................... ...............................................48 .....................48 h t Tt Y Y At A t tt s l a baat............................ baat ......................................................... ...............................................48 ..................48 11 ltt T Y mt nt T T o ........................... ................................................50 .....................50
ChApTEr sIx: I NtEr EtIQuEttE—tHE u NSPokEN r rulES .....52 NtErvIEW vIEW E ettt ct—t rt T t d Before, at t Beginning , a During Y it ......................... ......................................52 .............52 h t d Y Y it .......................... ....................................................... ....................................53 .......53 Tat rtt t utt rt.................................................54 n d T! ........................... ........................................................ .......................................................... .....................................54 ........54 T mt itat T T mt Y Y it .........................54
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bt pa t st w b it .......................... ...............................................55 .....................55 bt way t ba t i....................................... i.................................................................... .....................................56 ........56 rtaat it—s Y pay? ......................... ...............................................56 ......................56 ok t d a mat it? ........................... ............................................56 .................56 A eat saa! h’ wy .......................... ....................................................... .....................................56 ........56 i it e ok t s d a it?.........................................57 it?.........................................57 ba Tat ma it T Tat Y’ TOO n .......................... ....................................................... ...............................................57 ..................57 d’t Ta Ta w Ty’ ra Y r ............................ ...................................58 .......58 90% caat w’ b la o ma T it mta .......................... ....................................................58 ..........................58 Ay va va hat Y Y may nt raz Y ha ....................58 T stt “T “T-mt -mt r” .......................... ....................................................... .........................................58 ............58 n r T way, n matt h d Y it ’ qt................................................59 qt................................................59 h t mat m at Y Y v v s t it w At sy l Y ............................ ......................................................... ..........................................59 .............59 bt ry Aa Aa pa t cat .......................59 h t pay Y Y it t utat ct .....................60 eat way t b a w-ca lt a wy ey it l T Tat Tat ............................ .................................................60 .....................60 T #1 st t mt s sa a h t u it Y it........................... it ......................................................6 ...........................600 i Y Y it i itt, b s t d T! .......................... ............................61 ..61 mt p—i Y it— A sta Attt. h t u T t Y Y Aata ............................. .......................................................... .........................................................6 ............................611 n itt Y it b h s f a qt............................. qt .......................................................62 ..........................62
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Y by laa ca h Y eta m gat rat........................... rat ........................................................ ....................................62 .......62 h t u ey ctat t c A a ftt, nt sty sty............................ ......................................................... ....................................62 .......62 fatt way t st a Ya............................. a.......................................................... ..........................................63 .............63 e i Y’ n, n lt Y ft ha btay Y T way! way! ............................. ........................................................6 ...........................633 d T cy d a dtt. ma s Y Y d T ita ........................... ........................................................ .....................................63 ........63 itat T mt et by laa st mat mat sa ......................... ...................................................63 ..........................63
ChApTEr sEvEN: H oW oW to SIDEStEP tHE l AND M INES INES HAt HA t loW
oSt ANDIDA ANDIDAtES tES
ut oF oNtENtIoN
....................65 b M C o C h t s t ita w-ot p..............................65
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h t ha t mt st it st..........................66 h t ha t T T mt dt Ty Ty it Y’ e fa ............................. ........................................67 ...........67 T da “st it”— h t c T t fy c.......................................... c.............................................69 ...69 oaa “b la” Tat Y may et—a h t ha T ............................. ...................................................70 ......................70 Tat Tat s it it u t py itat Y Y .......................... ....................................................... ....................................70 .......70 h t ha t ga vaty vaty “ht it”...................71 it ”...................71 h t l u a Aaty dtt it ................72
ChApTEr EIghT: H oW oW to ASk QuEStIoNS t HAt S SEt Y Y ou ou A APArt .........................................................73 satt qt t A Y Y it .......................... ................................73 ......73
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s qt Tat T Y wat Y ey i l mt ......................... ...................................................... ................................74 ...74 qt t A ut at Y’ Y’ o t pt pt..................78 ..................78 d’t ma a fa ca These i..........................................78
ChApTEr NINE: t HE rIGHt W W A AY Y AND tHE W roNG roNG W AY A Y to “CloSE tHE S AlE” At tHE E ND oF Y Y our ...................................................... ................................................80 ...................80 our I NtErvIEW NtErvI EW ......................... pa don’T f T ot-rat A! ............................ .............................82 .82 o Y mt et T “c t sa” a r t j o......................................82
ChApTEr TEN: t HE E ASIESt W W AY A Y to GEt bEttEr AND S HArPEr WItH E EvErY I I NtErvI NtErvIEW EW ..................................84 T mt itat st et et f-u ........................... .............................85 ..85
ChApTEr ElEvEN: H oW oW to M AkE tHE F INAl INAl Cut ..........................87 h t gt it ba t s a T it a T b st t #1 c ......................... ..........................87 .87 s Y Y s it b h ........................... ......................................88 ...........88 h t ma Y ft it Y Y stt Aat ........................... ......................................................8 ...........................888 h t s g g it ........................... ......................................................8 ...........................899 w o t pt, s Y At t st T it o? ............................. .......................................................90 ..........................90
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I NtroDuCtIoN : wy Y mt ha a e Tay’ fy ctt et j mat ... a h T e- w g it t Y
s you undoubtedly know, given our current economic climate, it is especially difficult to land a good position today.
A
Competition for white-collar job openings has grown so fierce that a single help-wanted ad in a major newspaper can pull in upward of 1,000 resumes. That’s more than four large mail sacks bulging with resumes — from a single ad. And that doesn’t count scores of additional resumes submitted online. How can you possibly win against odds like that? The only way you will win is by having an edge ... an edge that virtually all your competitors do not have ... an edge so powerful that it will enable you to position yourself as the number one candidate even when many others may seem more qualified “on paper.” In the first chapter of this e-book, you will
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be given this priceless edge. Apply it as I teach, and it will work like a charm for you. In subsequent chapters, you will be given many additional edges to help lock in the position you seek. These are all proven, field-tested strat strategies based on extensive research by leading executive recruitment firms, corporate personnel departments, management studies conducted by leading business schools, and the experience of leading executive placement experts. This e-book is a concise, best-of-best collection of the most effective of these strategies. They have consistently been proven to work in every economic environment, in every industry, and for every type of position. Put them to use and they will work for you as well. With these strategies working for you, you are now much, much closer to your next great job.
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our Y our J ob ob-W INNING INNING
EDGE #1:
h t ha t w’ mt p st gtt h Ay ity, e a d ey a w Y A nt t mt qa caat
uring many years of research in the executive job market, I have identified one strategy that will give you a massive advantage in today’s hypercompet hypercom petitive itive job market.
D
As our first order of business, you are going to discover this strategy and how to apply it ... This deceptively simple yet remarkably effective strategy is just one of the secrets you will learn in this e-book. But it is the most important, which is why I am putting it first. The beauty of this technique is that it induces your interviewer to persuade to persuade h himself or herself that you are the right person for the job, rather than you having to perform that daunting task. In effect, it makes your interviewer tell you — and usually only you — exactly what to say during your interview in order to land the job.
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It’s as if your interviewer will be handing you, without even realizing it, the questions to the final exam before you take it. This strategy has been adapted from a highly effective technique used by master salespeople in all fields. It was perfected many years ago by a man named Fred Herman, hailed in his prime as “America’s greatest salesman.” He was famous for his extraordinary ability to induce people to persuade to persuade themselves to want whatever he was offering. And he did this not with high-pressure selling, pushy tactics, or clever manipulation, but with just the opposite — the softest, gentlest touch imaginable, so that his persuasion was not only devastatingly effective, but also seamless, effortless, and completely invisible. Now before we go further, please don’t think, simply because you may not be in marketing or sales, that this most powerful technique ever discovered in the world of salesmanship has nothing to do with you or the position you are seeking. I know from experience that when many job seekers at high corporate levels, and especially in academia, hear the word “salesmanship,” they think, “That doesn’t apply in my profession.” For them, the very word “salesmanship” instantly evokes images of used car salespeople and mail order hucksters. Of course, if by “salesmanship” you mean pushy, obvious, high-pressure sales tactics or using
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manipulative tricks to put something over on someone, then you are absolutely correct and I would agree with you. But by “salesmanship” I mean the high art of knowing how to induce in anyone — at any level of any organization — a strong desire to want what you offer over and above what anyone else has to offer, which of course is your primary mission in a job interview. To succeed in any job interview, you must know how to persuade your interviewer to hire you in preference to all other candidates. And you want to do it with effortless grace and professionprofessionalism. This is what I am talking about. And it’s precisely what this technique will do for you — position you as the leading candidate much if not most of the time, even against a large and highly competitive field of candidates. I say “much if not most of the time” because no strategy will land every single job you apply for even if you are highly qualified. But what this will do is stack the probabilities — your odds of being singled out as the number one candidate — overwhelmingly in your favor much of the time, and that is the best you can do. And it will be more than sufficient to land a job you want, because from now on, you will be consistently superior in the interview process at positioning yourself as the number one candidate almost regardless of your competition. Indeed, while there is enormous competition out there for every job opening today, the good news
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is this: Surprisingly, the best-qualified candidates on paper usually don’t land the position. Indeed, research indicates that about 65% of the time, the hired employee meets fewer than 50% of the job qualifications. How can this be? The reason is because job offers are most frequently extended to those candidates who, regardless of formal qualifications: 1. Se Sell ll th them emse selv lves es be best st; ; 2. In Inti timi mida date te le leas ast; t; 3. Listen th the mo most. In other words, job offers usually go to those who make the best impression in their interviews, which is where you are now going to have an enormous advantage. OK, enough buildup. Let us now explain this core strategy. Then I’ll give you a few pointers on it, to make sure you attain mastery and can bring it off with aplomb when you need it most — right before the lights turn up and it’s suddenly “Showtime!” — the start of your next interview. The main secret behind this technique can be summed up in twelve simple words. From now on, in every phase of your job search, but especially especially before before and during your interview, remember that you can get virtually anything you want in life (including the job you want) if you
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first ... Find out what people want, then show them how to get it. Those are the most powerful twelve words you can ever know to persuade anyone to do anything, including getting someone to hire you. These twelve magic words are so powerful because they take ta ke yo your ur me ment ntal al fo focu cus s off off wh what at yo you u wa want nt an and d put put it where it should be — on what your potential employer wants. And this gives you a whole different perspective ... and gives your potential employer a much more favorable impression of you. Applied to the job interview process, what this means is ... During the interview, your most important objective is to uncover your interviewer’s most ardently felt wants, problems, needs, desires, goals, or priorities. As critical as this is, virtually no one does it! Virtually everybody makes the critical mistake of talking about themselves and their qualificaqualifications in a vacuum, that is, before they know what the interviewer is looking for most in a candidate. In marketing terms, they start to sell before they know what the buyer most wants to buy. From now on, remember that it’s absolutely foolhardy to start describing yourself and your qualifications until you know what the employer’s
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salespeople people and greatest needs are! As master sales marketers know, don’t start to sell anything until you know what the buyer is buying! Of course, the problem becomes how to accomplish this when your interviewer is in control of the interview and often begins by saying, “Tell me about yourself.” Here’s a good way to do it, but one that will take a little rehearsing before your next interview ... After the small talk, be ready to gently, nonchalantly seize the initiative by asking, “Before we get started, could you fill me in a little bit more about this position? All I know is what I heard from the executive recruiter (or saw in the classified advertise ment ... or ment whatever the case may be).” This first question can lead to others, each of which can help you elicit the information you need so that when it is your turn to speak ... ... you will already know how to position your qualifications to perfectly match what the interviewer just told you he or she is looking for. As I said, once you do this, once you induce the interviewer to first tell you what it will take to get hired, i.e., what he or she is looking for most in a candidate, it’s as if you’ve been given the questions before you take a final exam. You gain an immense advantage. immense advantage. You should rehearse this approach so that you
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are sure to bring it off tactfully, effortlessly, and nonchalantly, to avoid the impression that you’re trying to take over the interview. inter view. But you must do it if you truly want to be a master at giving the interviewer what in he getting or she wants, which is the most critical factor the job offer. If, after the introductory small talk, your interviewer beats you to the punch by asking the first question, you must of course answer it, but then try to regain the initiative by asking for more information about the position and how you can better present your qualifications qualifications in light of his or her needs. For example, let’s say that your interviewer ends the small talk by saying, “Well, I’ve read your resume, but why don’t you tell me a little more about your qualifications.” Your best answer would be to give a thirtysecond-to-one-minute summary of your strongest qualifica qualifi cations tions and then, without pausing, immediately continue by saying, “I have a number of accomplishments I’d like to tell you about. To focus on the ones most relevant to you, may I ask you a question or two about the position?” Then you have your interviewer’s permission to ask several questions that will draw out his or her greatest needs, wants, desires, goals, or problems. No matter which question your interviewer asks at the start of the interview, you should give a brief answer, then get back to this strategy of
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uncovering his or her greatest wants. Applying this strategy is not necessarily easy at first. You have to practice it to feel comfortable and natural with it. But it is the only way to maximize your opportunity to offer your potential employer exactly what he or she wants most in the ideal candidate. If you try to present your qualifications before you know what your interv interviewer iewer wants most, you may well emphasize qualifications of little immediate reference to his or her needs. For example, you may emphasize your long experience when he or she is much more interested in someone who can initiate changes. versa.
Or vice
Or, among all the skills and knowledge that you possess, you may choose to talk about an area that has little relevance or interest for your interviewer, when you could have chosen to describe skills and knowledge that he or she might be fairly desperate to bring aboard. This difference is critical in swaying your odds of getting hired. So you you must must — abso absolut lutely ely mus must! t! — get you your r interviewer talking about his or her needs and wants before you talk about how you can fulfill them. An excellent way to get the ball rolling is to ask questions such as “What would your highest expectations be for the person who fills this position?” ... “Why is the position open?” ... or “What would be the highest priorities for the
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person who fills this position?” Once your interviewer begins to talk about his or her wants and needs, keep the dialogue going with further probing questions such as “That’s interesting ... Why is that the case?” ... “How would you like to see this situation remedied?” ... “What would the person in this position have to achieve to be considered successful?” or “What is your biggest concern about XYZ?” After the interviewer has finished answering your questions, in effect revealing to you exactly what the company is looking for most, it’s a good idea to recap and feed back what he or she has just said. Doing this will show the interviewer that you are someone who listens well and respects those you will be working with. You will have paid your interviewer the high compliment of listening attentively. This will also ensure that you fully understand his or her wants and needs. To summarize what the interviewer has just told you, you can say something like “In other words, the person you hire for this job should be able to ... ” (and then fill in the blanks with a brief summary of the most important criteria your interviewer has just described). As you feed back your understanding of the most important wants and problems you have uncovered, please do not use the word “problem” in describing any of the challenging situations your interviewer is dealing with. Many people resist having to acknowledge to someone outside the firm that they
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have a “problem,” even if they do. Be diplomatic. Use words such as “highest priority,” “most important goal,” “greatest desire,” etc. Once he or she confirms that you understand the situation perfectly, only then are you ready to begin talking about your qualifications in earnest. The genius of this strategy is that at this point, you have everything you need to make a masterful presentation, one that matches — like a key to to a lock lock — your your most most releva relevant nt quali qualific fica ations to whatever your interviewer is looking for. To make such a masterful presentation with great finesse, you will use our next strategy for gaining a job-winning edge, the “PAR Formula.”
* * * To sum up the strategy you have just learned: 1. Always Always, , alway always, s, alwa always ys fin find d out out duri during ng the the interview what the company wants from the person to be hired — before before you you present your qualifications — so you’ll know which credentials and achievements to emphasize, like fitting a key to a lock. 2. It hel helps, ps, bef before ore you spe speak, ak, to summ summari arize ze and and feed back the main wants and needs that the interviewer has just revealed to you, to be sure you understand them correctly and to show your interviewer that you’re a good listener.
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3. Only Only the then n are are you you read ready y to pr pres esen ent t your your qualifications that most closely mirror your interviewer’s greatest wants.
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Wat Inteiewe pize Mot in Candidate ra at t iaa uty pat o ta yt t a t ay tat t t at . T ty tat ay t aat t t a “ a” ty t t a t a t aat t . T t t ty t t a t a t a t t t’ cmmnicain sis a aty t expi he face--face ineiew. T aat t t t tta y’ att at, , a . Ty t a at a t a a t tat tat tat ty ty t t y’ att a t y ty a t t t. T a ty ay tat t t t t t azat y a t a t a aat. aat. Ty a t at at t y a tt . i t , ty tat a tt t ay.
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our Y our J ob ob-W INNING INNING
EDGE #2: h t ma a mat pt ptat at Y qaat, u t “pAr fa”
nce you have elicited and then fed back your interviewer’s greatest wants as explained in the first chapter, you are ready to make a killer presentation of your most relevant qualifications and accomplishments.
O
You will do this by using the PAR Formula. Here’s how ... You are going to provide anecdotes of how you achieved success in similar situations. In doing so, you will keep the descriptions of your achievements and the problems you’ve solved concise, specific, and factual, taking no more than a minute or two. For each of your success anecdotes, use the PAR Formula as follows: Describe your accomplish ments ments by stating the Problem you faced, the A ction you ction took, and the Results you achieved.
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As you do this, allow your interviewer to interrupt with questions if he or she desires. As you make your presentation using the PAR Formula, resist the temptation to offer, on the spot, any comparable solutions to your interinterviewer’s greatest wants, needs, and problems that you have uncovered. The purpose of your PAR Formula achievement achievement anecdotes is to demonstrate how you think, how you approach problems, and that you are an achiever who has accomplished success in similar situations. You are not there to solve the company’s specific problems problems instantly. Trying to do so would be counterproductive, because you don’t have all the facts yet, and you don’t want to seem like someone who shoots from the hip. Also, trying to solve the company’s main problem or problems on the spot could easily be perceived as condescending, as if you are trying to show up the interviewer by implying that he or she must be rather dimwitted to have overlooked such obvious solutions as those you suggest. suggest. To sum up this strategy ... 1. Use the PAR For Formul mula a to des descri cribe be in in conci concise, se, specific vignettes (no longer than one or two minutes each) your major accomplishments that match up to your interviewer’s greatest wants:
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A. A similar Problem you faced. B. The A ction you took. ction C. The Results you achieved. Have these memorized and well rehearsed before your interview. 2. Answer Answer any fur furthe ther r ques questio tions ns you your r inte inter rviewer may have. These first two chapters constitute your core success strategy for landing your new job. Now let’s examine a portfolio of additional research findings, techniques, and strategies that will further enhance your odds of success.
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our Y our J ob ob-W INNING INNING
EDGE #3: h t ma it l Y
o matter what your qualifications, qualifications, no one is going to hire you if he or she doesn’t like you.
N
So after the basic assumption that you are qualified for the position, the most important reason an employer will hire you is because he or she likes you. This is understandable because your boss and others at the company may spend more waking time with you than with their own spouses! Compatibil Compatibility is essential. Yet the overwhelming majority of job seekers, even those at the highest executive levels, have no clue of how important this “likability” factor is. This represents an enormous opportunity for you to leapfrog over others who may be better qualified on paper, but who don’t know how to present a more likable image to the interviewer. Based on a small mountain of research, here are the easiest ways to make yourself more likable to
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any interviewer ...
1. Above all, listen attentively and respectfully when your interviewer speaks. This is the easiest way to get your interviewer to take an immediate liking to you. Through such focused listening, you show respect and consideration, consideration, two qualities that all people crave and appreciate. If you have the annoying habits of interrupting people before they finish their sentences or listening only partially because your mind is racing ahead to think up your next clever response, you’d better practice correcting these bad listening habits now. Just as you notice these traits in others, your and inter interviewerirritating will instantly spot them in you, this can easily kill your chances of getting hired, regardless of your qualifications.
2. Leave the obituary face at home. Most people are understandably tense before an interview. But don’t let this tension reflect itself in a frown or stern look. It makes you unlikable and threatening. Look upon the interview as an opportunity to meet a new and likable friend. 3. Be yourself. It sounds trite, but in interviewing, one of the most important pieces of advice is simply to be yourself and not try to be someone else. Giving yourself permission to be you takes some of the pressure off the interview, helps you relax, and enables your natural strengths to shine through. Of course, you want your best self to shine through. So within the framework of your own
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Te 25 biet Inteiew “Tno” natural personality, here are some of the qualities that virtually everyone, interviewers included, find liklikable in others ...
4. People like others who are positive, and they dislike those who are negative. For this reason, don’t say anything negative about anybody or anything in your interview. Try to be as positive as you can about all things that you talk about.
5. People like others who are confident, and they dislike those who are weak, selfdoubting, and suspicious.
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— 28 —
Te 5 biet Inteiew Mitake doesn’t mean that you should tell ethnic jokes or do your Richard Nixon imitation.
7. People like goaloriented candidates and dislike those without focus or direction. 8. People like others who are straightforward, straightforward, and they dislike those who are otherwise. 9. People like others who show a genuine interest in them and enhance their sense of importance, respect, and self-esteem. They dislike — sometimes intensely — those who in any way slight their sense of self-respect.
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10. People like others who are good-natured and open, and they dislike those who come across as suspicious and wary.
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11. People like others who are down-to-earth, and they dislike those who are haughty. Of course, you may not be
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haughty, but your behavior may make it seem so. For example, if you let the interinter viewer carry the burden of doing all the talking, treating him or her as if he or she is the host and you are the honored guest, you may well seem aloof and unfriendly.
12. People like others who are interesting,
Te siin peonaity Tait peeed y 98% o hiin Eectie A y y h-c & Aat tat 98% 737 t t a aat t a good sense of humor a ty. say Forbes aaz, “A t y a a ay t -. - . ra a a t t a - - a . p ty j b, p ta a 20t-ty Aa at bt uty, ay a ay a a a t. A ty a t tt .”
and they dislike those s, ’t aa t who are boring. To be a aat y more interesting, talk t. bt ’t a y. about what you find interesting, interest ing, as long as it’s relevant to the concon versation. ver sation.
13. People like others who take responsibility and don’t blame others. They dislike those who point fingers. 14. People like others who are loyal. Always show loyalty to your former employers. Interviewers will assume that you are a loyal team player and will give them that same admirable loyalty in your future relationship. 15. People like others who are truthful. If you don’t know how to answer a question, say so. If you’re not sure of what the interviewer is driving at, don’t be shy about asking him or her to clarify the question. Also be honest in your
30
answers to questions. As Mark Twain once said, “Honesty will please most people and astonish everyone.” 16. Most important, people like others who like them, and they dislike others who project critical or suspicious feelings. Tip: Keep your eyes open to notice somesome-
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thing you genuinely r b t at t like about your t t at 60% interviewer or the t. b t t ay company, and don’t be ay 12% t aay 45%. afraid to offer a compliment, perhaps r d a a y 25% t about the office t a ty ty y 21%. decor, the building, r A t t at t or anything else ay ta 80% appropriate that you a t y. may have genuinely admired. Be sure that your compliment is sincere, or it may appear to be manipulative flattery. Your interviewer will be much more likely to perceive your compliment as sincere if you give a brief one-sentence reason for admiring whatever you’ve complimented. This “reason why” makes your compliment credible.
31
A Few More Tips on How to Be More Likable in a Job Interview 17. Never get into an argument with your interviewer, even if you strongly disagree with what he or she is saying. This sounds so obvious that you may wonder why I even include it. Well, you’d be surprised at what even intelligent, highlevel candidates sometimes do in an interview, when they feel stressful, want to come across as strong, or have done things quite differently in their previous firms and believe fervently that their own ways are superior. So let’s leave nothing to chance here and advise that you don’t press a differing viewpoint on anything too aggressively. This is not to imply that the interviewer is always right. And you are free to state your own viewpoint enthusienthusi astically as tically and positively, positively, without bickering. Just remember that if you get into an argument, you won’t win either the argument or the job.
18. Demonstrate integrity. Never divulge confidential information about your previous employers, even if pressed to do so, whether in a friendly or high-pressure manner, if only for your own self-interest. Some interviewers will test you by trying as hard as they can to pry such information out of you, showing outright outright annoyance if you don’t yield. Hold your ground. This is usually a ruse designed to bring maximum pressure to bear on you
32
to test the limits of your trustworthiness. You will pass this “test” only if you steadfastly refuse to divulge such information. If you eagerly serve up confidential information in your desire to please the interviewer, you will almost certainly be eliminated from consideration, and rightfully so.
19. Speak like a free agent, not a benchwarmer. In describing your achievements, generally speaking, don’t fall into the “we” syndrome ... “we did this, then we did that,” etc. The inter interviewer wants to know what you contributed. He’s not hiring your former team.
* * *
Te Eaiet Way an Emoye Can Know Wen a Jo Candidate I Not Tein te Tt ... ... t tt ty t t , t, a .
33
our Y our J ob ob-W INNING INNING
EDGE #4: h t b t bt-pa caat
nother simple strategy for outperforming your
Arivals
for candidate, any position is nobody to flatelse out even be the best-prepared with a close second. Researching the company thoroughly before your interview will confer three wonderful benefits upon you. First, it will make you more confident during your interview because you will be able to converse more intelligently about the company. Second, this greater confidence will help you feel more relaxed, allowing your best qualities to shine through. And third, you will make a much better impression upon your interviewer. Indeed, interviewers are shrewd and demanding judges of how much homework you’ve put in before your interview, as this is a strong indicator of your work habits, your preparation skills, and
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your desire for the job. Someone who walks into an interview knowing almost nothing about the company or organization and its products or services is demonstrating little interest and zero initiative, both very negative marks in the mind of any hiring executive. To avoid making such a mistake, gather as much information as you can about the company or organization and the department where you may be working. Study this information thoroughly, formulating intelligent questions. Your mission is to be the number one best-prepared candidate. Your homework will also help you identify the possible problems, needs, goals, or desires that you may uncover during your interview. If it’s a publicly held company, be sure to read its annual report for its most recent fiscal year and even further back if you can get copies. (Tip: Call the investor relations department at the firm and ask for whatever material it can send you.) Read all such material over several times, identifying the corporate culture and dominant ideas you see expressed. Also try to get a few copies of the company’s newsletters or ezines. These will give you a good overview of how the company sees itself, as well as the corporate culture. If you know anyone who works at the company, supplies the company, or knows anything about it from any angle, try to get as much information as you can from these sources as well.
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Respond to the company’s advertisements and carefully review the material you receive. If practical, buy some of its products. Send for any information that the public relations department may be able to give you. In addition, research the company’s competition, a topic very much on the mind of every company. Check out the company’s website and spend a fair amount of time there. Google the company and read whatever articles pop up. Then go the extra mile and visit your local library. Many libraries subscribe to electronic databases such as Dow Jones and LexisNexis, which can serve up a cornucopia of information about the company. These steps will help you create an informed list of questions that you can bring up at appropapprop riate times in the interview. They will enable you to get a mile-long head start on the majority of candidates who haven’t shown such initiative. And you’ll instantly leapfrog past the surprisingly high number of interviewees who think nothing of blurting out during the interview, “I’m really not that familiar with what your company does ...” Such a statement conveys a feeling of indifference and perhaps even arrogance to your potential employer, whose life is wrapped up in his company’s operations. During your interview, don’t force your company knowledge into the conversation or try to flaunt it. To make a really strong impression, let it come out naturally in the course of conversation. * * *
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our Y our J ob ob-W INNING INNING
EDGE #5: i T t w’ sat hat
T
o put this book together, I have sought the advice of a wide range of the most successful and respected executive recruiters in the business. Most were very gracious in sharing their favorite “insider” tips for succeeding brilliantly in your job search. Here are their best-of-the-best recommendarecommendations:
1. Clear the decks for your incoming calls. Before you can perform well in an interview, you must secure that interview. If you invest considerable time, expense, and effort to generate qualified job leads, it only makes sense to be ready to capture them when opportunity knocks. First and foremost, remember that when someone in the business world places a phone call, he or she is accustomed to getting through to someone or
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something — whether a receptionist, assisassistant, or voice mail machine — capable of
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taking a message.
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This expectation carries over to you, even though you may be out of work and using your home as your new “office.” Make sure that you have some way to receive incoming calls at all times,
t 55.8% t t, ta t t ty.
even if it’s an answering machine.
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If you have just one phone line that you Wot Day o te Week ... and your family tie up Wot Time o Day to be Inteiewed for long periods, the smartest thing you can A a t ha, at a a ty a tat may do is install a second , y a, t t ay t t phone line during your t a . T t time search. If a potential a t at at. employer enthusiasticenthusiasticY ’t a a t t ally responds to your , y t t y aata . resume but gets a busy signal two or three times in a row, you may have lost that lead forever. Make sure that the initial impression the caller gets is a first-class image. Always have a responsible, English-speaking adult or reliable answering machine available to answer your phone.
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If you have an answering machine, never use one of those novelty tapes to answer your phone (imitations of celebrity voices, musical messages, etc.). Neither should you have one of your children record the message. You should record it, and rerecord it if necessary, until it sounds highly professional. If you’re using an answering machine and you go on a trip, try to be in touch with your recorded messages every day. Few things are more irritating to someone who’s trying to reach you than receiving the same recorded message several times in a week, without a clue as to how long you’ll be gone or when you can return the call. It’s most unprofessional ... and damaging to your chances of employment with that caller. At least once a week, call your answering machine yourself and leave yourself a message. You’ll not only appreciate how someone else perceives your message, but you’ll be doublechecking the reliability of the machine.
2. Never give out too much information during the initial phone contact. Initial telephone interviews have one purpose only — to uncover a reason why you are not qualified. It’s a screening-out process to whittle down the field. Therefore, if you’d really like to maximize your chances for exploring this job, your goal is to give as little information as possible and, instead, ask a few questions about the position and why it’s open, then assume the caller is desirous of setting up a personal interview.
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3. Throughout your job campaign, to minimize anxiety and fear of rejection, realize that you’re playing a numbers game. The real reason that some athletes choke in a big game is not because they lack skill or don’t care enough. It’s because they care too much. They want success so badly that they try to force their skills, making themselves so nervous and so tight that they simply cannot relax enough to let their skills perform to their highest level. The same can happen to you in your job campaign. A certain amount of nervousness is always going to be present during a job interview. But if you find yourself so nervous that your tightness is not allowing the real you to shine through, then take a tip from master salespeople who face this problem all the time. To succeed, on the one hand, you must prepare thoroughly. But on the other hand, you cannot allow yourself to want this position too much. This can be hard to do, especially especi ally when you’re out of work, desperate for money, and your “dream job” is riding on the outcome of your interview. But precisely because the stakes are so high, you must learn the skill of lowering your desire in order to lower your level of nervousness. You will give yourself your best shot of capturing the position only if the “best you” shines through, and that can take place only when you are not in the death grip of desperation and fear of blowing the opportunity. You must tell yourself before the interview that if landing this position is meant to be, it’s
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meant to be. You must also look at your job search as a numbers game, just as master salespeople do. They get rid of nervousness by not trying to force each situation their way. Rather, they rehearse and polish their presentations until they are truly masterful in knowing their information cold. But they never know which specific prospect is going to be the one out of three or one out of fifty who buys. So they don’t worry about it. They know if they give fifty masterful presentations, somewhere along the line they will get their ample share of sales. This strategy — of thinking of the interview process as a numbers game — is the key to being able to relax enough in all your interviews to let your knowledge and genuine personality come through. Paradoxically, by having a more relaxed attitude, you will raise your “closing ratio” (number of job offers) much higher.
4. Know that virtually every interviewer’s greatest emotional need is the SAFETY of the hiring decision. All great salespeople know that you will be far more successful in selling or persuading anyone if you address their emotional needs during the sale. In your job search, this means that you will do much better in interviews if you go into them realizing that your interviewer is quite anxious and that his or her greatest emotional need is most likely the safety of his or her hiring decision.
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To understand this, you must realize that for most executives, interviewing is a function performed only occasionally. So it brings with it the inherent discomfort of unfamiliarity. As a rule, most executives would much rather be doing what they do best instead of interviewing you. Greatly magnifying the inherent discomfort of performing perform ing an activity outside their daily comfort zone are the onerous consequences of making a mistake. If they hire someone who turns out to be a disaster, that disaster may be hung around their necks like an albatross. A bad hiring decision can impede their own careers. They can also cause them a loss of prestige at the firm, disrupt prepre viously harmonious work teams, hurt employee morale, and lower productivity. Hiring someone who doesn’t work out can also mean that pet projects get botched or essential work is postponed until someone qualified is found. Finally, hiring mistakes mean that the hiring executives, after all these bad consequences have befallen them, their careers, and their firm, will most likely have to undo the damage, fire the person recently hired, and go through the awful process all over again. In sum, it’s a very high-risk situation. Therefore, you will have much greater success in interviews if you give the interviewer what he or she is emotionally seeking most. And that is a feeling of SAFETY, a reduction of the risks that hiring you represents. How do you do that?
By doing everything you
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can to make the interviewer feel safe and secure about you. Specifically, to feel safest with you, the interviewer will be looking for you to meet three criteria: a) You are qualified to do the job. b) You are motivated to do the job. c) You are “their kind of person.” There’s an old saying in executive recruitment that “like likes like.” The more you are like the people already working at a firm, the safer your interviewer will feel about you and, in short, the more he or she will tend to like you. So, as much as humanly possible, you should try to reflect the interviewer’s corporate culture ... to look, talk, think, and act like they do and share their interests and values. The closer your presentation comes to assuring the interviewer about these three requirements, the safer the interviewer will feel about you and the greater your odds of being hired. This holds true for every position at every company that interviews you. So the bulk of your preparation for any interview should be targeted at meeting these three essential criteria.
5. Review your resume before your interview ... and be prepared to use it as your “script” in answering interview questions. Remember that your cover letter and resume were impressive enough to have gained your interview. In other words, so far, it’s a winning combination. So before your interview, study your resume, no matter how many times you reviewed it before. Keep your greatest
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achievements fresh in your mind, ready to feed them to the interviewer, matching them up with his or her company’s needs.
6. Be prepared for tough interview questions. Throughout your job campaign, you should regularly review the questions in one of your accompanying e-books, How to Answer the 64 Toughest Interview Questions, and rehearse your answers. Pay special attention to the answers you plan to give to questions about why you’ve left each previous position ... your greatest weaknesses ... what salary you want ... and other sensitive matters most likely to come up. You do not want to find yourself ad-libbing your answers to these questions. As you rehearse your answers to anticipated questions, make them concise enough to fit into one- or two-minute segments. No answer to any interview question should go beyond two minutes. If your interviewer wants more information, he or she can ask after you finish your one-to-two minute summary.
7. Visualize your success. Another highly effective technique for preparing for topflight interview perfor mance is to use the same method mance employed by championship championship athletes. That is, videotape a rehearsed interview. You can ask a friend or your spouse to interview you for the position you are seeking and videotape the entire session. To make it easy for the person, you can have him or her ask you questions from one of your accompanying e-books, How to Answer the 64
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Toughest Interview Questions. Then review your performance as if you were watching someone you are thinking of hiring. Make any improvements you deem necessary. Then go through the process again, until you feel that your interview technique is in tip-top shape. For many people, this is an uncomfortable exercise, because few of us like to see or hear ourselves on tape. But it’s an invaluable way to see what you may be doing wrong and correct any problems before they hurt your chances in an actual interview, when it will be too late. A related technique, and a great interview stress reducer, is simply to use your own mind to visualize the interview unfolding as you would like. See yourself succeeding brilliantly in listening to your interviewer, uncovering his or her main wants, letting your interviewer finish every question completely before responding, and then providing an answer that perfectly matches his or her needs with your qualifications. Imagine seeing your interviewer quite impressed with your credentials. Imagine that you sense very strongly that he or she likes you and would get along well with you and that the chemistry between you is fabulous. Such visualizations, especially performed at night before you go to sleep, are extremely powerpower ful in harnessing your subconscious mind to bring your best resources and personality to bear during your interview the next day.
Following this prac prac-
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tice on a regular basis will work like a tonic to put you in the right frame of mind and build your confidence. Another similar exercise is to stand in front of a mirror and imagine how your body would look and feel if you were naturally and genuinely brimming with confidence, enthusiasm, and drive. Get to know and feel comfortable with your own “success posture,” and then, whenever you want to project an image of success and self-confidence, just assume that posture, whether you’re initially feeling that way or not. You’ll be surprised how the posture itself will help trigger these positive emotions within you ... and thereby project a strong, confident image to anyone in your presence.
8. Comport yourself as an equal, not a beggar. Look upon your interview as a meeting between equals. The company needs good people like you as much as you need the company. Being subservient is just as damaging to your chances as being arrogant. Remember that the person who’s inter interviewing you was impressed enough with your resume to invite you for the interview. This is a positive start and should be the basis for optimism.
9. Try this technique for establishing rapport. A classic management principle that encourages a bonding between two individuals is to switch a situation from “you against me” to “you and me against the problem.” If there is some need or problem that the interviewer has and that you can identify with, perhaps you can use the “you and me
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against the challenge” technique.
10. Be on your toes at all times and with every person you meet. You must assume that every question asked, and every remark made, is for a reason. Never be so casual at any point in the interview process that you’re not thinking your answer through or giving it your best shot. Also assume that anyone you meet may have the power to derail your candidacy, candidacy, including an assistant. Never let your guard down or assume that a given person is unimportant in the hiring decision.
11. If you wish, take notes, but ask first.
If
you’d like to take ask write permission first. Accurate notes willnotes, help you a dynamite follow-up letter. If you choose to go through the interview without taking notes, be sure to jot down the main problems, desires, goals, etc., of your interviewer immediately after the interview. These will form the basis of a powerful follow-up letter.
12. Don’t let untalented, insecure, or insensitive interviewers get you down. Try not to feel offended, intimidated, or otherwise put off by anyone you might encounter during your job search. Take it all in stride and try to be yourself as best you can in each situation. Just bear in mind, it’s a numbers game, and look forward to your next interview. The more leads you generate, and the more people you see, the more offers you will receive. That’s making the law of averages work for you.
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13. Don’t ask the employer about salary until you’re offered the position. To get into a salary discussion too early will handicap your negotiating ability. Make sure the employer wants you first — then you will negotiate from strength.
14. How to trumpet your achievements without sounding like a braggart. The best way to talk about your achievements without seeming full of yourself is to talk about specific results and let the specific numbers and achievements carry the weight of the description. This is another instance where a thorough resume will help you immeasurably. You can use it as a basic script for reviewing the achievements that your interviewer would like you to talk about. So instead of saying, “I am the best salesperson at the firm,” you might say instead, “For each of the last eight years I have never placed below the top 10% in gross commission production. And for most of that period, I have placed in the top 3%. Then follow this up perhaps with additional sales volume figures. Another technique: Describe what other people say. For example, “My immediate supervisor has described me as ...” “My staff tells me I get such superb results out of them because ...” or “Last year I was named manager of the year thanks to the results I achieved by ...” A similar technique: Describe evidence of top performance, including promotions, special awards, citations, performance appraisals, etc., always citing the specific results that caused you to win them.
Such “third-party evidence” puts the praise
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in the mouths of others, not in your own mouth. Another technique: Express how proud you are of a certain achievement and express that pride in your delivery. For example, after the Gulf War, General Schwarzkopf proved himself a master at effectively and graciously acknowledging his own accomplishments by stating how proud he was of the brilliant performance of his troops. Of course, we automatically attributed much of the credit to him, but the fact that he did not try to claim all the credit positioned him as an even more admirable manager. Instant stardom and a multi million-dollar book contract were just two of the rewards showered upon him not only for his brilliant performance in the war, but for his understated skill in telling the world what a great job he had done. Another technique: State your abilities in terms of what you enjoy doing most. For example instead of saying, “I am an outstanding creative thinker,” it sounds a little less braggy if you say, “I really love the creative aspects of this work, and I think I’ve shown my ability in this regard with ideas such as these ...” (Then describe why the ideas were so strong and what results they achieved.) Additional phrases that can come in handy: “I really have shown outstanding ability in situations that call upon me to ... (fill in the blank, then prove your claim with specific achievements and results).” Or, “There is nothing that gives me a greater sense of satisfaction than to ... (fill in the blank, then prove your claim with specific achievements and results).”
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Little Things That Can Make a Big Difference Difference 15. Before the day of the interview, get a good night’s sleep, so you can be well rested. 16. Review the directions to the interview to make sure you’re not going to get lost. 17. Listen to the weather forecast in advance to see if you’ll need an umbrella or boots. It won’t help your image at the moment of your big interview if you look like a drowned rat the cat dragged in. 18. Be sure you bring extra copies of your resume, as well as a pen and notepad, should you need them. 19. Never wear wrinkled clothes to an interview. 20. Polish your shoes. Some people will judge your character by your shoeshine. Never wear shoes with worn-down heels. They may be the last impression you leave on your way out of the interviewer’s office. 21. Dress conservatively and tastefully. When in doubt, dress more formally rather than less. 22. Go lightly on cologne, perfume, or makeup. 23. Of course, observe all the basics of good grooming. 24. Try to arrange your most important interviews for Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Mondays and Fridays are the busiest days in an interviewer’s week ... and the days least likely to result in a
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job offer.
25. Throughout your job campaign, and for the rest of your life, bear in mind that two of the best ways to project a strong, relaxed, confident image in all situations is to exercise every day and get a good night’s sleep, going to bed before 10:00 p.m.
* * *
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Y our our J ob ob-W INNING INNING EDGE #6: T u r it ettt (ba T c ct Y t j o)
M
any of the following points will seem obvious. Nevertheless, they are presented here for two reasons. First, to be thorough. And second, because etiquette can be a funny thing. Sometimes you’ll know nineteen out of the twenty rules that govern a situation but break the one rule you don’t know about. As a result, you may lose the job offer. So while most of these rules are painfully obvious, be assured that supposedly sophisticated executives execu tives have broken every single one of them. Don’t you be caught breaking even one!
1. Don’t insist on making your appointment at a time that your interviewer indicates may be inconvenient. Try to be as accommodating as possible. 2. If you are offered reimbursement for travel, hotel, and food, it’s best to be frugal with your potential employer’s money.
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3. If you’re sick or otherwise under the weather, reschedule the interview for another time. Don’t try to tough it out when you’re not at your best. 4. Dress conservatively. And remember that appropriate attire in one part of the country may seem quite out of step elsewhere. For example, cowboy boots worn with a suit may be fine in Arizona but will raise eyebrows in Boston. A blazer with slacks may be OK in Southern California but never on Wall Street. 5. Go light on jewelry, cologne, perfume, and cosmetics. 6. Never wear sunglasses. 7. Never chew gum. 8. If your glasses are broken, fix them before your interview. 9. Don’t take up the time of an important executive, asking him or her for instructions on how to find the building. Call the receptionist and get the information from that person. by calling the 10. Always confirm your appointment interviewer’s assistant one day before your interview.
11. Always be at least five to ten minutes early so you can dash into the restroom for a final check. You may be brilliant at what you do, but if all your interviewer interviewer sees when he looks at your smile is a piece of spinach salad wallpapered to your front tooth, your prospects are dim. 12. Always treat receptionists and assistants with
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utmost respect. They are often asked their opinion of candidates, and even if not, they can sabotage you with a single cutting remark. They are also the gatekeepers who can make your life much easier in follow-up appointments. If you go out of your way to be nice, it can pay big dividends. It’s your best way to get strangers inside the company to put in a good word for you.
13. If you come into the office wearing a coat, hat, or other outdoor clothing, take it off in the reception area. If you carry it into the interinter view office, you’ll be emphasizing your image as an outsider, a commercial visitor, and not one who already belongs in the company. 14. Never invite your spouse or friend along. Your spouse may be very important in helping you make decisions. He or she may even have made a long-distance trip to scout your potential new location. But to have your spouse waiting in the reception area sends a signal that you may be too dependent on your spouse. Wrong signal.
The Most Important Three Minutes of Your Interview The most important three minutes in any interview are the first three minutes because that’s when your interviewer interviewer will form his or her first and lasting impression of you. Here’s how to make the best impression possible:
15. Begin and end every interview with a firm handshake and direct eye contact. Yes, you should actually test your handshake on friends, who will
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tell you if it’s too firm or too squishy. As with your shoeshine, a good number of people judge your character by your handshake and eye contact. Remember that how you look, smell, sit, and comport yourself yourself will play a major role in whether the interviewer likes you as a person, so try to relax and let your best self shine through.
16. Be gracious and enthusiastic in your greeting, but not artificially so. 17. Never address the interviewer by his or her first name, unless you are invited to do so. If he or she calls you by your first name, you may ask whether he minds if you do the same. 18. If your interviewer is female, wait until she offers her hand before you offer to shake hands. 19. If your interviewer is female and you do not know her marital status, address her as “Ms.” 20. Don’t be seated until the interviewer is seated or invites you to be seated. 21. Try to choose a chair that’s adjacent to the interviewer’s desk and move it slightly so that interviewer’s you can face the interviewer. Try to avoid sitting in a chair that will put you at an uncomfortable uncomfort able disadvantage, such as sitting side by side with the interviewer, forcing you to look over your shoulder to make eye contact. Also, try to keep yourself out of the line of the sun coming through the interviewer’s window, so that your eyes won’t seem squinty and shifty. If the sun is in your eyes, there’s no harm in asking if the blinds can be adjusted.
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22. Sit with good posture, back straight, feet planted flatly on the floor. 23. Best way to break the ice in the initial few minutes of the interview: Talk about something that the interviewer seems interested in. You may look around the interviewer’s interviewer’s office and find some clue of common interest. As Paul Ivey says in his book, Successful Salesmanship, Salesman ship, “There is one surefire way of arousing interest: Find out what they are already interested in and then talk about it. If you talk about what they are interested in, they will later on be willing to consider what you are interested in.”
24. If your interview is at a restaurant ... a. Offe Offer r to pa pay y fo for r yo your ur ow own n me meal al. . If yo your ur host insists on paying (as he or she should), accept with a gracious thank you. b
Avoid Avoi d li liqu quor or at me meal als. s. If yo your ur ho host st in insi sist sts s and you feel like it, have a drink, but never more than one. If your host insists and you don’t feel like it, politely decline and choose a nonalcoholic beverage. Don’t be pressured into anything you really don’t want to do. You needn’t compro mise your mise dignity merely because you’re looking for a job.
c. Avoid Avoid slo sloppy ppy or har hard-t d-to-m o-mana anage ge foo foods. ds. Sta Stay y away from splashy sauces and multicolored salads that can leave multicolored salad bits on your teeth. Avoid anything that requires a bib and any food that can easily
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result in stains on your clothing.
No Matter Where Your Interview Takes Place ... 25. Smile easily and warmly. 26. Use correct grammar. 27. Feel free to use the interviewer’s name in your conversation. This shows respect, and we all like to hear our own names. But don’t use a person’s first name unless he or she invites you to do so. Some people resent the presumed familiarity that goes with use of their first names. 28. If you smoke, and assuming it’s even legal to do so in the state where your interview takes place, never light up during an interview unless your interviewer interviewer is already smoking. Don’t smoke a cigar unless your interviewer is smoking one and invites you to join him. (Even a cigarettesmoking interviewer may take offense at your filling his office with cigar odor.) And leave your pipe at home. Pipe-smoking executives are sometimes perceived to be like college professors — too contemplative contemplative and not action oriented.
29. Avoid nervous habits such as pulling your earear lobe, rubbing your nose, straightening your tie, tugging your wristwatch, or rubbing your chin. 30. Never try to read documents on the interinter viewer’s desk. 31. Never pick up objects from the interviewer’s
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desk. 32. Never talk while your interviewer is reading, especially when he or she is reading your resume. 33. Always hold your temper in check, despite any provocation, which may be intentional as part of a “stress interview” (more on this later). 34. Keep your ego under control. Never practice one-upmanship with your interviewer. You can only lose.
When You Speak ... 35. The “Two-Minute Rule.” Don’t mask your nervousness by talking too much. At least 90% of discharged managers seeking new jobs make the mistake of talking too much. Be concise. Say what you want and no more. Maximum time for each answer is two minutes. Rehearse your answers to anticipated questions, and make them concise enough to fit into one- or two-minute segments. If your inter interviewer wants more information, information, he or she can ask after you finish your one-to-two-minute summary.
36. If you frequently use “verbal filler” in your sentences, try to break this annoying habit. Eliminate such phrases as “you know,” “uh,” and “I mean.” They are distracting distracting to most people and unbearably grating to some. 37. In describing your achievements, you don’t want to seem like an egomaniac in taking credit for everything done in previous positions.
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However, you should generally give yourself ample credit. Forget the “we” in every description. Remember that you’re no longer on the old team. Use “I” instead. Focus on the new firm and what you can do for it, not on where you used to work.
38. Never say, “Well, I would rephrase that question and answer it this way.” That is a nottoo-hidden criticism of your interviewer’s question. 39. Try to modulate your voice and pacing according to your interviewer. If your interviewer speaks slowly and methodically, it’s likely that he or she will not have rapport with someone who gives rapid-fire answers. Notice how your interviewer speaks, and try to present your thoughts in a similar manner. When you do speak, don’t mumble. Try to avoid nervous gestures such as touching your face, lips, or glasses. Keep your hands still. Don’t twist your pen or a rubber band and never glance at your watch or clock on the interviewer’s desk, even if you think that he or she wouldn’t see you.
When in Doubt, Ask a Question Question ... 40. If there is a long, awkward pause in the conversation, you can always ask a question. 41. Indeed, the best way to establish rapport with an interviewer is to ask intelligent questions. Almost all interviewers enjoy being asked about their companies, its various departments, the position that’s open, and what is expected of the
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person who will be hired. Questions will not only tell you how to position your own qualifications, but will also demonstrate your genuine interest and allow the interviewer to feel very comfortable with you.
(More on intelligent questions later.)
When Your Interviewer Speaks Speaks ... 42. Pay your interviewer the ultimate compliment by listening intently to his or her questions. Listen closely and think through your answers before replying. 43. The greatest and simplest secret of the most effective listeners: having a sincere interest in what the other person is saying. And you should have such an interest, because the more the interviewer talks, the more he or she is telling you what you should say in order to get yourself hired! Laymen think that the best salespeople are the best talkers. Not so. The number one secret of the greatest salespeople is that they are the best listeners because they let their prospects tell them everything they need to know to close the sale. Let your prospect talk — indeed, use questions to encourage your interviewer to talk — and he or she will pour forth the information you need to present your qualifications in a way that matches up with his or her greatest wants and needs.
44. Another excellent listening skill: After the interviewer makes an important statement, feed back your understanding of it in your own words,
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to be sure you understand and to show the interviewer how well you were listening. Example: “If I understand you correctly, your greatest concern in this area is ... ”
45. As part of demonstrating your attentiveness, be on your toes if your interview is interrupted. When telephone calls, urgent messages, or other people in the office interrupt your interview, take note of where you were in the interview. Often the interviewer will turn to you after the interruption and ask, “Where was I?” If you haven’t a clue, it will seem as if you weren’t even listening. 46. Another way to demonstrate your sincerity in listening is to ask permission to take notes, and then on a small pad or an index card, to jot down key words that will help you write a powerful pow erful follow-up letter about the interviewer’s greatest concerns and key ideas. But perhaps the most important effect is to show the interviewer inter viewer how interested you are in his or her thoughts. This subtly compliments the interviewer and shows what a good listener you are. 47. Finally, on the importance of listening: Remember that most people are starved for attention. Interviewers may feel that their spouses don’t listen, their children don’t listen, their co-workers, their customers, and even their dogs don’t listen. When you hang on every word, it’s extremely flattering. It establishes instant rapport and shows respect. And everyone in this world is desperately searching to have relationships with
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those who will give them respect and enhance their self-esteem. Rapt attention while listening is your most powerful tool for fulfilling these universal needs.
48. Never interrupt your interviewer before he or she finishes asking a question. The last few words of a question may change the meaning altogether or carry a subtle hint as to how you should answer. Resist the temptation to jump the gun. Allow your interviewer to finish completely, and even then allow a second or two to compose your thoughts. Few habits are more irritating than when someone perpetually grabs the conversa conversational tional football before the speaker is ready to hand it off, only to race downfield toward the wrong goalpost because he or she doesn’t wait to hear the final words of a sentence.
Use Body Language to Your Advantage ... 49. Related to good listening skills, use your body language to show you are listening. Occa sionally nod your head in agreement or lean sionally slightly forward in your chair to show your interest.
50. Maintain good but not unnatural eye contact. Keep your eye movements relaxed and steady. If your eyes are darting everywhere, your interviewer may mistake your nervousness for shiftiness. Be especially sure to maintain good eye
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contact when answering questions. Don’t look away or down, as this might indicate indi cate you’re trying to hide something or not telling the truth. If you’re naturally shy, practice practice speaking forthforthrightly and confidently, either with strangers or in front of a mirror.
51. In general, sit up straight in your chair, but don’t be too rigid. Try to convey a feeling of enthusiasm and confidence. Never slouch in your chair. This is taken as a sign of laziness, sloppiness, and disinterest. 52. Never yawn. If you need more air, take deep belly breaths. Taking deep breaths, using your abdomen through nervous row and
as a bellows, and inhaling and exhaling your nose will also relax your entire system. (Try it two or three times in a you’ll see it works like a tonic.)
53. Never tap your foot; drum your fingers; crack your knuckles; twirl a pencil; or show anxiety through your legs, feet and hands. These are the most common ways the body expresses tension. 54. Remember that closed postures such as crossed arms and/or crossed legs convey dislike and distrust. Open positions and a forward lean express openness and enthusiasm. 55. Use this fascinating (and very powerful) body language technique of master salespeople: Subtly mimic the body language of your interviewer. If he leans toward you, you lean toward him slightly. If she holds her hands in a certain way, hold them in a similar pose. If you take notice next time you are in a
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nervous situation such as an interview, you will probably find that this is what you’ve already been doing without having realized it. But here’s thediscovered interesting that master salespeople have to twist enhance rapport. After your body language has subtly mimicked your interviewer’s for several minutes, then you can start gently changing your body language to be more open and receptive, and you will be surprised to see that the interviewer’s body language starts to mimic yours. This is a highly effective way to establish subconscious rapport. Before you dismiss this as New Age gobbledygobbledygook, try it on one of your less important interviews, or in any conversation for that matter, and be ready for a shock when you see how easily you can get people to start mimicking your body language and become more open and receptive to you. * * *
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Y our our J ob ob-W INNING INNING EDGE #7: h t st t la m Tat b mt caat ot ctt
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f you are to win the job search process against a large field of other well-qualified candidates, it will help you immeasurably to look at the process from your interviewer’s side of the desk. Realize Realiz e that that he or she she is not not loo lookin king g to lavis lavish h attention on you and your qualifications, as much as you’d like that. Rather, since your interviewer is confronted confronted by dozens if not hundreds of candidates, his or her main job at first is to severely winnow down the field. Different interviewers do this in different ways, so you must be prepared for their various methods. For example, a common technique is to ask each candidate tough questions and then eliminate those whose answers don’t measure up. Another is to encourage candidates to relax and talk about a wide range of subjects, which induces unwary candidates to let their guard down, talk
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too much, and unwittingly reveal information that undermines their chances. Here’s how to avoid the major land mines that knock most candidates out of the running:
1. First and foremost, regularly review your accompanying e-book entitled How to Answer the 64 Toughest Interview Questions. It covers the most commonly asked tough questions and suggests the best strategies for answering them. 2. Steer clear of controversial subjects such as religion, politics, etc. 3. Never discuss personal problems you may have. 4. Don’t reveal to your perspective employer the other positions you may have been turned down for. 5. If you are physically challenged, talk only about your abilities, not your disabilities. 6. Never disparage former bosses, former compancompanies, or former employees. 7. Never be negative about anything. 8. Never be the first to bring up the subject of money. If your interviewer raises the issue, try your hardest not to give salary information, either past, present, or future. You can answer such a question by saying, “Well, I am somewhat flexible on salary. What is the range for this position?”
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If you are asked what was your salary for your previous position, be prepared to answer with a range that includes a generous allocation for all your fringe benefits and other perks.
9. Know how to handle the two most difficult types of interviews. One is the “Disarmingly Relaxed Interview” ... and the other is its evil twin, “The Stress Interview.” Let’s take a look at each.
The Disarmingly Relaxed Interview A relaxed, casual manner that immediately puts you at ease is usually the mark of the most highly skilled interviewers. Such a person realizes that most candidates are well rehearsed and know all the “right” answers to expected questions. So this clever interviewer does the unexpected. He or she creates such a casual, friendly, and disarming atmosphere that you irresistibly lower your guard and, without realizing it, spontanespontaneously reveal more about yourself than may be prudent. Such an interviewer may even go so far as to seem to be on your side in little little ways. He or she may take pains to establish common ground with you and sometimes allude to a shared camaraderie as members of the same craft, industry, or profesprofession. All this is designed to lull you into thinking,
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“Hey, this person really likes me ... We’re on the same wavelength. Getting through this interview is going to be a piece of cake.” Indeed, interviewers meeting new such people and making genuinely them feel enjoy right at home. They can be naturally warm and friendly. All this, in turn, works an irresistible, inevitable magic, inducing you to feel relaxed and comfortable as you unconsciously start to lower your guard and speak more spontaneously. This is exactly what your interviewer wants. As part of this technique, your interviewer won’t exhibit the slightest trace ofsomething surprise or disapproval should you slip and say negative about your former boss ... or perhaps reveal something negative or confidential that you shouldn’t have ... or inadvertently bring up something incriminating about your credentials or current situation. Yet despite his or her lack of reaction, you may rest assured that your unguarded comments are all being taken in, recorded in memory for scrupulous review and evaluation later on. The best way to deal with interviewers is to accept and appreciate their warm hospitality and be gracious in return. But do not allow yourself to relax too much! Remember the purpose of the interview that is being masked by the disarming manner. That is, you are being scrutinized and evaluated according to how well you might fulfill the firm’s needs. Any slipup can easily get you knocked out of the running, so stay on your toes!
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By all means be pleasant and cordial yourself, but don’t let all this cordiality derail you from your main mission, which is what I emphasized on page 12 of this e-book, i.e., “The World’s Most Powerful Secret for Getting Hired in Any Industry, Even in a Down Economy and When You Are Not the Most Qualified Candidate.” And that is, your mission is to uncover the greatest wants and needs for the position and then explain why your past achievements make you especially well qualified to meet those needs, giving lots of specifics to back up this premise. This also holds true for the second type of difficult interview ...
The Stress Interview This type of interview is far less common than the disarmingly relaxed variety, and you will probably never even run across it. But if you do, you’ll never forget the experience. In this type of interview, your host does whatever he better or she to canobserve to place youreaction under maximum stress, the your to frustration and pressure. Some people believe this is the only way to get a quick read on your ability to handle stress. In certain professions, such as union negotiator, press spokesperson, or customer service manager, the ability to handle hostility and stress are at the very top of the qualifications list. Your best strategy: Don’t let yourself get
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defensive and caught up in emotion. Remember that you personally are not the target for the interinter viewer’s hostility and that this interviewer is, in reality, merely playing a role. Your role in this drama is to be the cool, calm, and collected one, an unflappable authority figure who addresses the issues, not the emotion or stress the interviewer is throwing off. A few other stress interview techniques you may run into:
*
The broken chair technique. This sounds so childish and “bush league,” but some interinterviewers may actually invite you to sit in a chair where one of the legs is intentionally shorter than the other, placing you in a very awkward position. Every time you shift your weight, the chair threatens to deposit you on the floor. Best response: Simply change chairs, asking permission first.
*
You may You may al also so be se seat ated ed in th the e dir direc ect t lin line e of of the sun. Here you can ask the interviewer to adjust the blinds or to change your seat.
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The peasant-at-the-feet-of-royalty maneuver. The interviewer puts you at a disadvantage by placing you a great distance from his or her desk or at a height lower than his or her “platform” position. Not much you can do unless you see an alternate place to sit.
*
The ka The kang ngar aroo oo co cour urt t pr proc ocee eedi ding ng. . You may be interviewed by two or more people at once, caught in a withering crossfire of questions. Again, make the best of the situation, but if
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the stress level becomes ridiculous, simply get up and leave. You don’t want to work for people like this.
The Garden Variety Hostile Interviewer Not all hostile interviewers are conducting a purposeful stress test. Though this may come as a shock to you, there are actually a few SOBs in the business world. Even more shocking, every now and then, you may run into into one. It’s all part part of the numbers game you’re playing. On those rare occasions when you may be confronted by a genuinely hostile interviewer, your smartest approach is to empathize with the upset feeling behind the hostility and tactfully ask a question or two to get to the bottom of what seems to be bothering him or her. Example: Your interviewer is obviously under great pressure at the time of your interview. He’s trying to put out three fires while the phone rings off the hook. His assistant reminds him of a meeting in ten minutes, and there are other people shouting outside. In the middle of this tense atmosphere, your interviewer says with noticeable impatience, “Look, you’ll have to pardon me, but we’ve got a ton of work to get out today. You’re the fourth person this week Bill has sent to me for an interview, and frankly, I’ve got more pressing concerns to think about right now. So we’ll have to make this fairly brief.” You could offer to come back at another time.
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But he’ll likely be just as gruff and harried then, or even worse. So you can try to salvage the interview by empathizing and then uncovering his greatest needs. For example, you might say, “It sure seems like things are hopping today, and it’s not the best time for an interview. But let me ask you a fast question. Assuming someone will be hired for this spot, what is the one way that person could best help you be more productive, especially at busy times like this?”
The Disinterested Interviewer Another difficult situation you may run into is when your interviewer seems distracted or uninteruninterested. The best approach here is to ask a few questions to draw out his or her chief area of interest, and then talk about why you can help in that area. Since we’ve once again touched upon the subject of asking questions, let’s really get into it in the next chapter.
* * *
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our Y our J ob ob-W INNING INNING EDGE #8: h t A qt Tat st Y Aat
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sking questions in your interview is essential, for four reasons:
1. To achieve your master strategy, that is, uncover your interviewer’s interviewer’s greatest wants and needs before you start to sell your own qualifications. You must sell what the buyer is buying. And before you can do that, you must find out what the buyer is buying. 2. To show your interest in, and enthusiasm for, the position and company. 3. To get enough information so that you can judge whether you want this opportunity or not. 4. To demonstrate to the employer that you place a high value on yourself — that you’re carefully evaluating the company as much as the company is evaluating you and that you’re obviously not someone willing to jump at or settle for just anything. This last item is a very important point that many job-hungry executives overlook.
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You can greatly enhance an employer’s desire for you by not appearing desperate, and questions will go a long way toward helping you avoid such an image. Let’s now examine the questions you might ask to achieve each of these objectives.
Questions to Achieve Your Master Strategy — Uncovering Your Interviewer’s Greatest Wants and Needs for the Position Once again, let us repeat the most important strategy in this e-book. You can get anything you want in life if you first find out what people want, then show them how to get it. During the interview, your most important objective is to uncover your interviewer’s most ardently felt want, problem, need, desire, goal, or priority. You’re not going to sell anything until you know what the buyer is buying. The only way to accomplish this is by asking questions. Let’s repeat the example mentioned earlier ... After a few introductory remarks, you can seize the initiative by saying, “Before we get started, would you fill me in a little bit more about this position? All I know about it is what I heard from the executive recruiter (read in your advertisement ... or whatever the case may be).” If, however, your interviewer asks you the
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first question, answer it and, as soon as you feel the timing is appropriate, try to regain the initiative by asking him or her to reveal more about the position. The key point is, no matter how your interview begins, you should get back as soon as possible to your basic strategy of uncovering his or her greatest want. And you must do it nonchalantly, so that it doesn’t seem as if you are aggressively and inappropriately trying to grab control of the interview. Here, listed roughly in order of their effectiveness, are some excellent questions to help you uncover what the interviewer wants most. Several of these questions overlap, so choose the variations you feel most comfortable with and always be ready to ask them in your interviews ... *
What wo What woul uld d you you sa say y are are th the e thr three ee th thin ings gs yo you u would most like someone to achieve in this position? Wait for an answer, then follow up with, And of these, which is the most important? Then, if it’s not clear why this goal is so important, ask, And just so I’ll understand, why is this especially important to you at this time?
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What ma What majo jor r str stren engt gths hs sh shou ould ld a per perso son n pos posse sess ss to perform well in this position?
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What wo What woul uld d you your r hig highe hest st ex expe pect ctat atio ions ns be fo for r the the person who fills this job?
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What wo What woul uld d be be the the hi high ghes est t pri prior orit itie ies s for for th the e person who fills this position?
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*
Why is the position open?
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If yo you u had had a mag magic ic wa wand nd an and d wit with h one one wa wave ve co coul uld d take away a given concern or fulfill any given challenge in this department, what would that be?
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I am a st stro rong ngly ly go goal al-o -ori rien ente ted d pe pers rson on. . Wh What at would I have to achieve in the coming year for you to consider my work very successful? What would you most like me to achieve in this position?
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Which Whic h are areas as of th this is po posi siti tion on co coul uld d be be bet bette ter r performed than they have been in the past?
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What ki What kind nd of pe perf rfor orma manc nce e wou would ld yo you u lik like e to to see see from the person who takes this position?
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Are any Are any majo major r res respo pons nsib ibil ilit itie ies s in th this is pos posit itio ion n not currently being met?
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What ma What majo jor r cha chang nges es or im impr prov ovem emen ents ts wo woul uld d you you most like to see brought about by the person who takes this position? What Wh at ob obst stac acle les s mi migh ght t st stan and d in th the e wa way y of realizing this achievement?
Once your interviewer starts to open up about his or her strongest priorities, goals, etc., be sure to probe a little to flesh out details with questions like “That’s interesting ... why is that the case?” ... or “How would you like to see this situation remedied?” With this information in hand, you will be in an infinitely stronger position to present your qualifications in the manner that will most
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impress your prospect that you are superbly qualiquali fied for the job. Uncovering your interviewer’s greatest wants, needs, goals, etc., is by far the most important function of your questions. But as your interview proceeds, or as you are invited back for a second or third interview, you will want to raise other questions that help you evaluate the opportunity that the position represents and whether you will be happy there. For example, you may wish to ask questions such as ... * *
What ar What are e the the un uniq ique ue op oppo port rtun unit itie ies s in in thi this s job job? ? To whom would I report?
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Who Wh o are are th the e key key pe peop ople le I wou would ld wo work rk wi with th? ?
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How lo How long ng ha has s th the e po posi siti tion on be been en op open en? ? Wh What at happened to the individual who previously held this position?
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How wil How will l I be ev eval alua uate ted d ... ... us usin ing g wha what t criteria?
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How Ho w wou would ld yo you u def defin ine e the the fi firm rm’s ’s ob obje ject ctiv ives es? ?
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How is the company doing?
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What are What are the the org organ aniz izat atio ion’ n’s s grea greate test st str stren engt gths hs and weaknesses?
Also, since most interviewers will give you high marks for the intelligence and thoroughness of your questions, never be shy in asking about ...
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*
The com The compa pany ny — its its pr prod odu uct cts, s, se serv rvi ice ces, s, distribution channels, sales, growth, profitability, problems, strengths, weaknesses, ownership, competitors, market share, etc.
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Your pl Your plac ace e in in the the co comp mpan any y — yo your ur jo job b tit title le, , your responsibilities, responsibilities, your place in the organizational structure, your reporting relationships, your authority, and the expectations management has of you.
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The dep The depar artm tmen ent t whe where re yo you u wil will l wor work k — it its s pla place ce on the organizational totem pole, present reputation within the firm, goals, functions, budget, problems, personnel, strengths, weaknesses, history, etc.
*
*
Potent Pote ntia ial l off offic ice e pol polit itic ics s — Wh Why y is is the the fi firm rm hiring from the outside rather than from within? Might your being hired create any problems for any individuals in the company? Your po Your posi siti tion on — Wha What t ar are the the te tech chni nica cal l requirements? What would a typical day be like? Will you have the resources you’ll need, based on your past experience of what such a position requires?
Questions to Avoid Until after You Are Offered the Position *
Questi Ques tion ons s abo about ut th the e hir hirin ing g arr arran ange geme ment nts s — salary range ... compen compensation sation package ... medical, hospitalization, and dental plan ... life insurance ... retirement program ... pension plan ... vacation ... and other perks.
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Also, when you are offered the position and wish to inquire about these, be casual about it. You don’t want to seem overly interested in them. Your employer may quickly get cold feet if he senses that the tiger he was about to hire starts to look like a benefits chowhound, someone who’s suddenly more worried about vacation time than setting new sales quotas. Remember that even once you’ve been offered the position, there are several runner-up candidates in the wings, candidates your interviewer may have liked just a hair less than you. Don’t give these contenders the chance to come back off the canvas and beat you in the final round. Don’t get greedy or cute in your final negotiations. *
Questi Ques tion ons s ab abou out t re relo loca cati tion on. . Yo You u do don’ n’t t wa want nt to bring these up before you’re offered the position, but once the offer is extended, you will want to know the firm’s relocation policy. Are all relocation expenses paid? Just some? Does the firm have a policy regarding travel expenses to scout out a new home or living
arrangement before you make the move? Again, don’t make a federal case of these issues. Just raise them and find out what the employer believes is reasonable and fair.
* * *
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our Y our J ob ob-W INNING INNING EDGE #9: T rt way a t w way t “c t sa” at t e Y Y it
any executive recruiters tell their clients (i.e., the hiring companies) that if two candidates are more or less equally qualified, they should hire the person who wants the job more.
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This is because the two greatest predictors of success are inevitably (1) a person’s qualifica qualifications for the job and (2) his or her motivation to do the job well. This means that you should always indicate that you would like to be hired. Salespeople call this closing the sale. But there are right ways and wrong ways to close the sale. Here’s the right way: At the conclusion of the interview, you should try to close the sale with a three-part statement: 1.
A summary of your qualifications, especially tailored to the potential employer’s greatest
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wants and needs. 2.
An expression of your desire for the position. The best ways to express this interest without sounding too pushy or desperate would be with statements such as: a) “My app approa roach ch to to all all my my work work is is to giv give e more more than expected. This is what you can expect should you decide to hire me.” B) “Shoul “Should d you hir hire e me, Ms. let you down.”
Kelly, Kel ly, I wil will l not
C) “Mr. “Mr. For Forsyt sythe, he, it’ it’s s bee been n my exp experi erienc ence e tha that t the best candidates for any position are those who have the knowledge to do the job and who are highly motivated to do the job well. As I’ve tried to show in my resume and in my responses to your questions, I certainly have the knowledge to do the job well. And I assure you that no one is going to be more motivated than I in giving you the outstanding results you seek from the person in this position.” To appreciate powerful statements in influencing thehow person with these the authority to are hire, try to remember your own hiring decisions when you were evaluating candidates. If there were several people with relatively equal credentials, wouldn’t you be most impressed with the candidate who sincerely uttered one of the above statements? 3. An exp expres ressio sion n of of your your int intere erest st in how the process will proceed. You don’t want to push too hard to force a commitment, but there’s
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certainly no harm in asking, “What happens next?” ... or “Where do we go from here?” One final point about not pushing too hard. Believe it or not, some resume books advise you to close the sale the same way a hard-sell encycloencyclo pedia salesman might, saying something like “Well, Mr. Smith, I think we have a perfect match here. I could start either on Monday the 15th or Monday the 29th. Which would you prefer?” Even more incredibly, some executives have actually followed this idiotic advice, invariably with disastrous results. An executive job search is NOT the type of sale that can be closed with high pressure. To show your sincere interest in the position, stick with the three-part formula and specific phrases mentioned above and you will strike the perfect balance. Finally, another extremely powerful tool for closing the sale is a well-crafted follow-up letter, one which again applies your master strategy emphasized throughout this e-book. That is, you will use your follow-up letter to thank the interviewer for the opportunity to discuss the position and then immediately review your understanding of the employer’s greatest wants, desires, or goals for the position. Then you will proceed to explain why you believe you are uniquely qualified to give him or her exactly what he or she wants most. Allow your follow-up letter to be as long as needed to paint a full picture of why you are so
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well qualified to give your interviewer what he or she wants most. Even if you go to six pages, it’s fine. “The more you tell, the more you sell.” Almost all books on finding a job will tell you to always keep your follow-up letters short — one or two pages max. This is not true! Think about it: If you you were were about to make a hiring decision, wouldn’t you want more information about a candidate rather than less? Remember that your potential employer is hungering for more information that will guide him or her in making a correct decision. This means he or she can’t get enough information about you and the other candidates being considered. You will often gain an enormous edge with a more thorough follow-up letter. Don’t hold it back because some resume book says your follow-up letter shouldn’t be longer than a page. This is utter nonsense! In professional direct mail, long letters invariably pull more orders than short letters because they give more information to help close the sale. The same holds true in follow-up letters for job openings. Nothing will rocket you onto the short list of final candidates faster, if not win you the position outright, than a thorough, thoughtful follow-up letter spelling out why you are uniquely qualified to meet the employer’s greatest desires for the position. * * *
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our Y our J ob ob-W INNING INNING EDGE #10: T eat way t gt btt a sa t ey it
he easiest way to get better and sharper with every interview is to conduct a relaxed but thorough self-examination afterward.
T
You should do this as soon as possible after each interview, and definitely no later than the same evening. This should be an “easygoing” review because your objective here isn’t to beat yourself up and hurt your possibly already-wounded self-esteem. Keeping your spirits up and your self-esteem high are among the most important tasks of your job search. Rather, you want to take an objective, nonthreatening look, as if you are doing it for a friend’s benefit, at what you did right; what might have gone better; and, most important, how you could improve your presentation for the next go-round.
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Which case history examples could have been expressed more forcefully or concisely? Which questions threw you off guard, and how could you improve your answers? Every human activity gets better from practice, and since you’re playing a numbers game anyway, you’re not going to worry too much about how any particular interview might have gone. If you didn’t get this job, it only means that it wasn’t meant to be and there’s probably something even better in store for you. If you practice these easygoing selfevaluations after each interview, you will virtually assure yourself that bigger and better opportunities await you and, when they arrive, you will be ready with your best presentation ever.
Two More Points about Following Up after Each Interview 1. Don’t dally in providing requested material or information. If your interviewer asks you to forward additional information or material after your interview, provide it as quickly as possible. Most people in this world say they will do something, then don’t follow through. You want to jump at this opportunity to prove you’re among the few reliable souls who can be counted on to do what they say. So do it in a hurry. Every passing day will brand you as less and less reliable.
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2. Always follow up an interview with a letter, written as discussed on page 82.
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our Y our J ob ob-W INNING INNING EDGE #11: h t ma t fa ct (h t gt it ba t s a T it a T b st a t #1 c)
ou’ll hardly ever be hired for an executive position on the basis of one interview alone. But the dynamics of second and third interviews are somewhat different from those of a first interview.
Y
Let’s see how. First, before any second or third interview, you should once again review all the information regarding a first interview presented already in this e-book. All these rules still apply, plus a few more I’ll now cover. Second, you should realize that the odds of success are much greater in your second interview. About 60% of the time, when an executive is invited back for a second interview, he or she is
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virtually certain to be offered the job. So the very fact that you are invited back for a second interview is extremely favorable. But you’re not yet a lock. Success in the second interview actually begins at the end of the first. Before your first interview is over, ask for any material that you don’t have: annual reports, product information, brochures, catalogs, anything else that may have come up during your first interview. Then make it your business to study these materials as if the job offer depended on it. In addition to your further preparation, map out your strategy for the second interview. Realize that since you have been invited back, you’ve made the first cut and have obviously done a number of things right. Figure out what these were. Think hard about why this company seems to want you, and build your follow-up plans around the conclusions you reach. Especially bear in mind, and be ready to address, the greatest wants, desires, priorities, and goals you have uncovered, and why you have such outstanding credentials for meeting them. You can also assume that your first interviewer is now likely to be on your side and feeling a little more friendly, a little more comfortable about you. Don’t be afraid to seek his or her guidance on how you can succeed in your follow-up interviews. Asking his or her advice will win your interviewer over to your side even further and can gain you extremely insightful guidance on how to succeed from here.
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Don’t be afraid to ask about the identities of the people you will meet on your follow-up interviews and what each may be looking for in the hiring decision. You should also realize that since you obviously did well your first time out, you now want to repeat the pattern with each new person you meet. Before your second interview, mentally review what you did well during your first interview and plan how you can repeat and build upon that performance. Should you meet with a group, treat each person with respect and make eye contact with everyone. Take no one for granted. Assume that everyone you meet has the power to turn thumbs up or down on your candidacy. Believe it or not, I’ve sometimes seen a recently hired management intern, invited to sit in on a group discussion merely as a courtesy, make the most influential comment in turning the tide against a senior manager’s candidacy. Remember that second and third interviews go into more depth about the position than the first interview. So be especially prepared to show why you are a problem solver who can help this company with its specific needs. But also remember not to use the word “problem” in describing the company’s needs. Use “challenges,” “goals,” or “priorities” instead. Also use the second and third interviews to ask questions based on the information you’ve already gathered. Ask questions about the nature of your
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role in the company; the company’s commitment to your division, department, or project; the opportunity for growth in your position; the scope of everything that this job entails; and any other questions of concern to you in determining whether this position is a good fit for you as well as for the company. At the end of each interview, make sure that each key “hiring authority” knows you are interested in the position. You can do this with the three-part method described above or, more simply, with a short statement of your definite and enthusiastic interest in the position. When you are offered a position, don’t feel pressured to say yes or no on the spot. In general, you should never accept or reject an offer on the spot. Accepting immediately can make you appear too eager. Feel free to allow yourself 24 hours or, if you wish, 48 hours to weigh the pros and cons and talk it over with your family. However, as with all rules and guidelines, there may be an occasional exception, a time when it’s clear to both you and the hiring company that this is an outstanding opportunity, that you both want the match to take place and have already talked through all the relevant issues. In these cases, when both your heart and head are screaming “Yes! Go for it! Take it!,” go with your judgment and close the sale on the spot.
The End ... but the Beginning of an Exciting New Chapter in Your Life
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