Ask Good Questions to Interview Your Best

Asking questions and listening more than speaking are widely acknowledged as excellent sales techniques. In the interview “sales call” asking questions and listening will engage the interviewer and maintain her interest. Use open ended questions to encourage the interviewer to talk about the job and give you the information you need to match your background and skills with the job requirements. Good open ended questions include:

Why is that?
What are your (ideas, opinions) on…..?
What did you mean when you said……?
Why is that important (relevant, critical, pertinent)?
How does that look (feel, seem, appear, appeal) to you?
What are some examples of…..?
What is your definition of…..?
Can you elaborate on……?
Please say more about…..

Asking good open ended questions will give you access to information you don’t know you don’t know. This is often the most critical information and will give you insights and openings that other candidates may not have.

However, asking the right questions as an interview tactic is not enough. The questions need to be based on a genuine curiosity to learn more and an openness to the answers. Without curiosity and genuineness the questions will seem forced and rapport will suffer.

Also, do not forget to ask some personal career related question of the interviewer. How did they get to their position, what do they like about the company, what do they see as some of the challenges of their job. People like to talk about themselves and enjoy another person’s interest. Again be genuine in your interest.

Don’t Let Them Forget You to Interview Your Best

To start with your interviewer will only remember 50% of what you tell them. The moment you walk out the door they begin to forget even the 50% that they remember. In fact, within the first 10 minutes they forget up to 10% of what you’ve told them. By the time they get home at the end of the day they can lose another 10%. Overall, an interviewer will forget up to three-quarters of what you tell them. Now consider that there is an average of eight candidates applying for the same position. How memorable are you?

You can help the interviewer remember you by creating a presentation worth listening to; a persuasive presentation. A persuasive presentation does the following:

Presents the central idea clearly:
The central idea of a persuasive interview presentation is that your background, skills, and experience match the critical requirements of the position and that you can do the job well. To introduce your interview presentation, clearly state that the goal of the presentation is too communicate your match with the position requirements. For example,” I have developed a presentation about my background, skills and experience and how they match the requirements of this position, I would like to share that with you, is that OK?”

Presents a clear structure:
An interview is basically a sales call, thus an interview presentation should follow the structure of a sales presentation. Begin with your understanding of the requirements of the position (based on a needs analysis) and follow-through by communicating how you match the requirements, your value ads, success stories, an action plan, a summary of why you’re the best candidate, and closing questions.

Provides a summary:
Toward the end of your presentation, include a summary reiterating why you are the best choice for the position. Be sure to clearly state how your experiences and skills will be of benefit to the position and how you will bring value to the organization.

Asks good questions:
In every interview you will be asked “do you have any questions four us”. Your presentation should include a list of good insightful questions. Questions that reflect knowledge of the industry, company, position.

Overall, your presentation should present you as the best solution to the problem for which they are hiring. Being the solution to the problem is a necessary element of creating a persuasive presentation. With a good, memorable, persuasive presentation that is written and well delivered you will be unforgettable.

Figure Out the Problem to Interview Your Best

<strong>Figure out the problem, be the solution, get hired</strong>
Organizations hire people to solve problems. The problem can vary from, we need another set of hands to get our trucks unloaded on time to our stock price has declined and we need someone to take this corporation in a new direction. When interviewing, thinking about solving a company’s problem provides a perspective that helps focus your interview preparation and guides your presentation in the interview.

The initial step in preparing for the interview is defining the problem. Typically, job descriptions do not specifically say “here is the problem, the problem is we need someone who can sell more of our product in a difficult market” or, “we need someone who can manage this new project and bring it in on time and on budget” or “we need someone to help the emergency department process medical records accurately”. Job descriptions talk about what the person needs to know or do to fix the problem but does not specify the problem directly. Interview preparation, and the initial part of an interview, should be dedicated to defining the problem in as much detail as possible. Once you have defined the problem, you can clearly state how your skills and experience makes you the best solution for the problem.

Pre-interview defining the problem is a matter of researching the company, the industry and the position. Also, use the screening interview to ask powerful questions that will define the problem. An example of a good problem-defining question is, “what are the three or four priorities for the person in this position in the next six months? Learning the priorities will inform you of what the “hiring problem” is. In the interview, spend the initial part of the interview listening to the hiring manager talk about the position and his or her needs and think, “what is the problem that needs solving?”

Once you have the problem clearly defined, follow a two-step process. First, clearly state the experience, skills, background and education that demonstrates you can do the tasks required to fix the problem. Second, provide an action plan of how you will fix the problem. What will you do in the first 30 days on the job what will you do in the first 60 days? Your action plan items can be as simple as learning company policy and procedures so you can get along in the company or as complex as an initiating an analysis of current sales strategies and market trends. An action plan communicates to the hiring manager a high level of motivation and a proactive orientation. It says, “I am going to hit the ground running and contribute to the success of this organization right away. I have good ideas and I am eager to get started”.

What hiring manager wouldn’t love to hear a candidate talk about how they are the solution to their problem and how they are going to solve it?

Consider Timing to Interview Your Best

Life is all about timing… the unreachable becomes reachable, the unavailable become available, the unattainable… attainable. Have the patience, wait it out. It’s all about timing.”
Author Unknown

The job selection process is typically long and agonizing particularly when a person is unemployed. Even if a selection process goes as scheduled, it can take 6-8 weeks to select a final group of candidates (from 100s of resumes), get candidates through multiple rounds of interviews with multiple interviewers, decide on the winning candidate and work through the job offer. With travel schedules, organizational changes, communication glitches, and general disorganization the selection process can stretch to 3-6 months. Many candidates have been surprised by a phone call in reference to a position to which they had applied but had totally forgotten over a long period of time and numerous unreturned inquiries.

Exacerbating this long agonizing process is an almost universal lack of communication. I remember interviewing for a job and being told after my interview on a Tuesday that the selection committee would be meeting that Friday to make a decision. Monday rolls around no word; Tuesday Wednesday passes no word. Finally, I call Thursday only to be told the meeting was canceled and rescheduled for next week. Nice of them to let me know! I have heard dozens of stories about difficulty contacting hiring managers to follow-up on interviews and not being notified of negative hiring decisions. Based on all the time, effort, and emotion job seekers put into interviews, the lack of contact borders on the inhumane.

So what is the solution? The best solution is for hiring managers to be empathetic and do the right thing. As soon as a decision is made, let the losing candidates know. Not being selected is bad, not knowing makes it worse. If you absolutely cannot handle picking up a phone and giving difficult news, send a letter or email. If you want to be a real human being, call the losing candidate and give them feedback about why they were not chosen. This will give them valuable information they can use minimally in their job search and maybe in their career and life in general. Why take the time out of a busy schedule conquering the business world to give feedback to a losing candidate? I could give you numerous reasons related to your company’s image and brand, your company’s ability to attract talent, what will be written about your hiring process on Vault.com, etc. However, bottom line it is the right thing to do and you will actually be happier having done the right thing.

Ok, so given that there will still be hiring manager that won’t step up, what is a candidate to do? First and foremost, and this is important, do not take it personally. Companies are almost universally lousy in communicating with candidates- it is not you or anything you have or have not done.

Second, be sure in your interview to ask questions about the hiring process and when and how you should contact the hiring manager to follow up. When they tell you when and how to contact them you can begin your contact with, “just as you requested…”

Third, realize that job search takes a lot longer than you had anticipated and your sense of time is distorted. In the throes of job search, a day seems like a month. When you were working and you set up a meeting for next week, it was part of the natural business rhythm. When an interview is set up a week from now, it seems like an eternity especially if it is rescheduled for the following week, which is not unusual.

Forth, there is a natural tendency to call hiring managers too often and too urgently. Talk with a trusted advisor and ask for advice and direction. An objective advisor can help you be more rational and set up a contact schedule that is reasonable and professional.

I often tell people that job search is about 1000 times more difficult than working. This is true for numerous reasons that will be the subject of subsequent entries. However, for the subject of this entry, the lack of communication and feedback adds extra angst to the already difficult job search process. However as Sir John Lubbock said, “When we have done our best, we should wait the result in peace.”