How to Kick it Up a Notch to Interview Your Best

Which One Are You?

You are competing against 12-15 other interviewees, are you different?

If you read about job interviews every day like I do you would quickly realize that most of the advice is really elementary including:

• Good handshake
• Eye contact
• Be on time
• Dress right
• Don’t chew gum
• Be ready to answer questions

All good suggestions,  but way too elementary to win an interview in this competitive environment. So here are some things you can do to really improve your interviewing.

Your interview is a sales call be prepared to sell
An interview is a sales call; be a sales person. Like any good sales person, do a needs analysis (research) about the company and hiring manager, understand the value you will contribute to the company, and be assertive about selling yourself in the interview. An interview will only be a question and answer interrogation if you let it happen. Go in with the mindset of any good sales person, you have important information to communicate and you won’t leave without telling your story. There is no reason to be pushy or arrogant, but being assertive is a great quality in any employee.

Pay attention to how sales people sell things to you. What works what does not? Read information and books about selling. You don’t need to be a professional sales person, but you should develop a sales orientation to kick your interviews up a notch.

Be a Presenter
When is the last time you were in a sales situation and the sales person did not have a prepared sales presentation? Be prepared to do a brief focused presentation in your interview, even if you have not been asked to prepare a presentation for the interview. Your presentation should focus on how you meet the job requirements and why you are an excellent candidate. (Go to www.interviewbest.com for comprehensive interview presentation information). Just preparing to present will kick your interview up a notch.

Communicate your personal brand
Personal branding has become important for career management. What is your personal brand? Your brand is what people think and feel about you and it is what  makes you successful on the job. Determine what it is and be sure to talk about your brand in the interview. If you have successfully communicated your brand, when you leave the interview the interviewers will have your brand words in their mind. “That guy Joe is a really analytical team leader who is persistent and customer focused. We could use a person like him.”

Prepare a Strategic Action Plan
Companies are all about performance. Tell them what you will achieve in the first 30 and 60 days to provide value to the company. A Strategic Action Plan displays knowledge about the company, the industry, the job and communicates interest and motivation. Think of it as the implementation part of your sales presentation. Don’t worry about being 100% accuarate just presenting a plan will kick your performance up a notch.

Prepare success stories
People love to hear stories. Stories capture the imagination and stir emotions. Prepare stories of when you were at your best in you career and your life. Use these stories as responses to the questions you are asked in the interview. Question “Have you ever had to work with a challenging client?” Tell a story including what was the situation, what did you have to overcome, what actions did you take and what was the outcome. Don’t take more than two minutes to tell your story.

Many people ask me, “Are many job candidates doing these things?” My answer is “absolutely not” However, the candidates that are find themselves impressing hiring managers, acing interviews, and landing jobs!

Kick Your Interview Up a Notch

Why Your Brain Keeps You From Interviewing Your Best

We are all walking around with primitive brains more suited for surviving in caves than managing the demands of the 21st century (including interviews).

One of the things our primitive brain does is that when we get stressed it narrows our thinking. When extremely stressed we can only think of one of two things-fight or flight. However, even under lower levels of stress we lose full access to our creativity, memory, problem-solving skills, humor, and interpersonal skills. Here is some proof-have you ever been in a situation where you were in a heated or stressful discussion and the moment you leave the room you bang yourself on the forehead and say to yourself  “I should have said…” The moment you left the room you calmed down a bit, your thinking expanded, and you remembered what you could have said. I just spoke with a client that when driving home remembered a lot of things he wished he had said in his interview.

Interviews are stressful situations. Even if you do a great job of preparation, you will be nervous and your thinking will be diminished; know it plan for it. Here are a some suggestions for overcoming your primitive brain:

Remember this

Prepare a list of reminders:
On a pad of paper write down the things you want to remember in the interview. Include things like smile, good eye contact, no ums, take a deep breath, and don’t fidget. Also include a list of questions to ask, a list of accomplishments, a reminder to ask for a business card, and the interviewer’s name(s). As you take notes on the pad you will see your reminders and remember to follow them.

Take a deep breath
Swami’s have know for centuries that good breath control leads to calm. During your interview, about every 5 minutes, take a good deep diaphragmatic breath. This will calm you down and improve your thinking. Put this on your pad as one of the things to remember.

Slow down your answers
An interview is not a timed test. You do not have to have immediate answers for every question. Slow down and take some time to formulate your answers. By slowing down you will be less stressed and will think more clearly.

Shift your position
When under stress many people tend to tense their muscles which raises their heart beat. By shifting your position you will relax your muscles and you will calm down.

Smile
When your facial muscles are smiling it causes a calming effect. So smile in your interview. This will also invite the interviewer to smile and help relax her.

Prepare an interview presentation
The best way to support your primitive brain is to have a written presentation to use during your interview. An interview presentation will insure you communicate all the information the interviewer needs to know about you to make a well informed hiring decision. Because all the information is written, none of it will be forgotten and you will be more confidant and relaxed.

You primitive brain does a couple of other unhelpful things including focusing on the negative and assuming the worst in the face of uncertainty. So you probably did better in your interview than you think and just because you haven’t heard yet it does not mean you did not get the job.

Help your brain with an interview presentation

How to Establish Rapport and Interview Your Best

Build rapport

The first challenge of any job interview is establishing rapport with the interviewer. Rapport can be described as the feeling you experience when you are with someone you intuitively like. People only hire people they like; rapport is critical.

How do you establish rapport in a job interview?

Here are some of the common things-
Be on time
The first tactic may seem obvious but it is critical…be on time. If you are late to the interview you have destroyed the foundation for rapport. Be there 15 minutes before the appointment.

Eye contact
Look the interviewer in the eye. Eye contact establishes a connection and a trust. I am not suggesting a stalking type stare but do look the person in the eye for 2-8 seconds and then look away and then back again.

Smile
Be sure to smile. Smiles are contagious and will set a tone of friendliness and connection.

Be yourself
Be yourself be relaxed. This may be a challenge in an interview situation but keep in mind an interview is two human beings meeting one another. Treat the interview as an opportunity to meet someone and get to know them. This shifts the context and helps to develop rapport. Also, being authentically yourself communicates honesty.

These are a bit more advanced
Be observant
Look at the interviewer and and the surroundings, really observe them. What do you learn about them from what you observe. By paying attention to the interviewer you tune into their world and become more open and sensitive to them as a person. This will be communicated in your attitude and verbal/non-verbal communication.

Be tribal
Human beings are basically tribal. We tend to like and trust members of our own tribes. Fortunately human tribes are very broad and include almost any connection. Search for a commonality that will put you in their tribe. The commonality can be geographic, interests, sports, hobbies, schools, prior jobs, etc. etc. Almost anything will do to establish a tribal connection. However caution; avoid discussing anything that will put you in another tribe so politics and religion are areas to avoid.

Ask questions, listen, and communicate understanding
When you ask questions really listen and understand. It is helpful to echo the answer just to be sure you understand and to let the interviewer know you are tuned in. “Am I correct that you are saying that the company is very family friendly but at the same time focuses on performance?” Being heard and understood is very appealing to human beings and fosters rapport. Listen particularly carefully for the interviewer’s goals and concerns, position, expectations and needs.

Be relaxed be confidant
Recent research shows that emotions are contagious. Come into an interview nervous with low confidence and the interviewer will sense it. Anxiety (fear) and low confidence inhibits rapport. The one best way to increase confidence and reduce anxiety is to be well prepared.

Be curious
This is the most critical element in establishing rapport. Be genuinely curious about the interviewer as a person. I am not suggesting you ask about personal issues; an interview should be professionally focused. Find out how the interviewer came to their position, what they like about their job and the company, their challenges on the job, their professional goals, their management style. It is important to be genuinely curious. If you ask questions as an “interview technique” you will not come across as genuine and you will be perceived as less honest.

Establishing rapport is essential to being selected for a position. As mentioned above, the most important part of establishing rapport is being open, curious, and genuinely interested in establishing a relationship with the interviewer.

Using an interview presentation will help you be confidant and establish rapport

Avoid Bad Sales Habits to Interview Your Best

Once again lets say it together, “An interview is a sales call.” Because an interview is a sales call, bad sales habits can lose the job just the way they lose a sale. Here are some bad sales habits to be aware of:

Talking too much:
Sales is as much about listening as talking. You certainly want the hiring manager to know your strengths, skills, and experience but listen first so you know specifically what the hiring manager is looking for. Also, when you are being asked a question. Listen to the whole question first and be sure you understand it before answering. Many people start to formulate their answer in their head before the question is finished being asked.

Assume information leading to wrong answers or bad strategy:
If you have been in the same profession or the field as the job to which you are applying, there is a strong tendency to make lots of assumptions. Even if your assumptions are 95% correct the 5% can kill you. Use your assumptions to display knowledge, but test your assumptions carefully. You may assume that the company to which you are applying has the same challenges as the rest of the industry but what is their position toward the challenges. Example, “I am aware that many meat packagers such as Meatco are really being hurt by rising feed costs, are you experiencing the same raise in cost?”

Not analyzing performance:
Like sales calls, some interviews go well and others go poorly. Take the time following each interview to analyze your performance. What went well what can be improved? What was unique to this interview and what was your typical performance? What questions did you nail and which ones stumped you? What did you learn?

Not knowing what business problem you are trying to solve:
Every candidate is hired to solve a problem. Know the problem you are being hired to solve. This may be more challenging than you think. You may be interviewing for an accountant position so you would think that the problem is making sure company finances are in order. However, it may be that the more specific problem is the account receivables are delayed or the accounting system needs updating. Be sure to listen and understand the details of the problem.

Not knowing how to cope with a loss:
Not every sale goes through. Some go right down to the final decision and are lost at the end. This is particular difficult with an interview. Not only don’t you get the job but it feels very personal. Many people go into a slump when the lose a job they really wanted. The slump results in depression, lost momentum and loss of self confidence. The only answer is to have a full pipeline of opportunities so when you lose one you move on to the next. This means staying busy looking for new jobs even as you interview for a job you really want and for which you think you are well qualified.

Don’t know how to draw upon resources or get outside help
Typical candidates get called for an interview and just show up. Good candidates get called for an interview and the go into high preparation mode. They will not only research the company but try to find people they can speak with about the company and the job. They will practice their interviewing skills and will put together an interview presentation. They will show up confidant and prepared.

Setting up unrealistic expectations or making commitments you cannot fill:
Depending on your situation, you may be desperate to land the job. Landing a job you cannot do is worse than being unemployed. You will get the job, be miserable for a while and then be unemployed again and starting from scratch.

Packaging and selling yourself to a prospective employer is challenging and exciting. After all you are your most important product.

Be the Solution to Interview Your Best

Figure out the problem, be the solution, get hired

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 demonstrate you can do the tasks required to fix the problem and you can do them with good quality. 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 solution of this problem right away. I have good ideas and I am eager to get started”.

Hiring managers love to hear a candidate talk about having identified the hiring problem and how they are the best choice for someone to solve it.

Use a Presentation to Interview Your Best

Most Candidates and Hiring Managers think that an interview is a question and answer process. However, the best interviews consist of a combination of conversations, presentation, and questions. This article will focus on the presentation aspects of an interview.

Within an interview, candidates want to communicate their match with the critical job requirements, their fit with the company culture and how they can bring value to the organization. Most candidates hope they will be able to bring this information into the interview in response to questions from the interviewer. If the interviewer is skilled, they will typically be able to elicit most or all of this information. An unskilled interviewer will miss most of this information shortchanging the candidate. To assure all the important information is covered in the interview, the candidate can use a presentation to guide the interview and communicate why they are a good match for the position.

Using a presentation strategy, a candidate can either put together a well-crafted presentation they bring with them to the interview and go through from start to finish or find opportunities within the interview where they can give brief “mini-presentations”. Regardless, a candidate needs to develop a presentation as part of their interview preparation and then decide their presentation strategy.

An effective interview presentation, or any presentation, consists of a structure that frames the objective (presenting the reasons a candidate is the best choice), covers all relevant material, transitions smoothly from topic to topic, and finishes strong. In addition, it should be well organized, short, focused and relevant. A powerful interview presentation includes the following:

A purpose –
This is the one thing the candidate wants the interviewer to remember when they leave the interview. Typically, this is the same for any interview – based on my background, experience, skills, education and personality traits I am the best candidate for this position. An interview presentation can be introduced with this exact purpose. For example, “I have a presentation which communicates how my background, skills and experience match the critical requirements for this position and makes me an excellent candidate can I share it with you”.

Critical Information –
The most critical information in an interview is how well the candidate can perform the job. Performing well consists of doing the job tasks with high quality and getting along with others.The first piece of important information is the critical job requirements a candidate must do well to excel at the job. Thus, this becomes the first part of the presentation; “These are what I consider to be the critical job requirements for this position. I would like to discuss them with you to make sure we are in agreement about the requirements.” This aligns the candidate’s and hiring manager’s expectation and once there is agreement about the requirements, the rest of the presentation focuses on the match with the requirements.

Benefits –
Every person listening to a presentation is thinking, “How does this affect me or benefit me?” If there is no effect or benefit, the person quickly loses interest. Each item presented in an interview should be linked to a benefit for the hiring manager. For example, “You are looking for a person with experience in new consumer product introduction. In my last position, I introduced three mass consumer hardware products that accounted for $4.5MM in sales. As part of the introduction, I was responsible for consumer research, product development, marketing strategy and sales. As you introduce new products, I will be able to provide expert leadership in each of these areas which means that you will require fewer managers, save personnel costs and bring products to market faster”.

A written visual presentation (which makes an excellent leave behind) with all of the above elements plus good insightful questions, is the most powerful way to present in an interview. Candidates who have used interview presentations report amazing results and hiring managers are bowled over by their level of preparation, professionalism and organization.Even without a written document, developing an interview presentation as part of the preparation process is an excellent way to organize critical information that can be “presented” when the opportunity presents itself.

By thinking as a “presenter” a job candidate becomes an active participant guiding the interview as opposed to a passive participant hoping for the right questions.