Differentiate Yourself From the Other Stars to Interview Your Best

You are a star in a very dense universe. What does this have to do with interviewing? Everything! Most candidates don’t think about how they are perceived in the bigger world or how they compare to hundreds of competitors. They focus only on their own basic skills which does not differentiate them from all the other stars.

Most candidates claim: “I have the skills; I’m a good, smart person; and I’ll work really hard for you.” That line describes you and about 20,000 other “stars”.  Skills aren’t enough these days because they’re just a baseline of what you offer. What you need to promote is your unique skills that will provide different and remarkable benefit to the hiring company.

Here is an example, I am working with a client that was a mid-level manager working in a large telecommunications company doing accounts receivables. Accounts receivable sounded pretty ho-hum until she began to talk about managing monthly receivables for Federal and Government business units for contracts valued between $2M and $20M. Expertise at collecting money from the government as Obama’s stimulus package gets delivered; that is a great selling proposition. Collecting government funds is the most unique benefit or value she can offer to an employer.

Take your value a step further
When preparing for an interview, first understand the company’s and the hiring manager’s basic needs and understand how your skills, experience, education match those needs. Then take it a step further and identify your outstanding area(s) of value; and yes we all have one or more. Once you have identified your outstanding value, prepare examples of times when you applied that value successfully in a work situation. During your interview be sure to talk about these examples. Do not leave the interview without having clearly communicated the outstanding, and differentiating, value you will bring to the company. If the interviewer does not ask questions that elicit the value just say, “I have outstanding value I will bring to your company, I would like to give you examples”.

Your Hired

In our current economy companies are interviewing more candidates for each position. Their belief is there are a lot of stars looking for jobs and they can be choosier than in the past. Every person interviewed meets the basic requirements of the position. You need to meet those requirements and then shine brighter to ace the interview and land the job.

Use an Interview Presentation to communicate your unique value

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