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

Know What Your Body is Saying While Your Mouth is Moving to Interview Your Best

What does your gut say?

Many interviewers claim they make hiring decisions based on their “gut reaction”. Have you considered what makes up a gut reaction; most interviewers have not. Gut reactions are complex, however a substantial portion is based on unconsciously reading body language. Body language is a combination of eye movement, body orientation, hand movement, head position, and leg activity. When messages from all these parts are combined there is a lot your body is saying. The important question; is your body communicating a “hire me” message?

Lets examine some body language-

Eyes
Eye contact 60% of the time indicates interest and agreement however, eye contact 100% of the time indicates aggression. Frequent avoidance of eye contact may indicate a person is hiding something or lacks confidence. Rapid blinking indicates resistance to what is being said.

In your interview think about your eye contact. When you are asked a difficult question and you are not sure of the answers to you will tend to look away. This communicates lack of confidence in your answer and lets the interviewer know you are unsure maybe even fabricating an answer.

Think about maintaining good eye contact even when uncertain or nervous about what you are saying.

Your head
When a person’s head is tilted towards you it indicates interest. When tilted away at an angle with glances from the corner of the eye, it indicates suspicion, mistrust and disbelief. The head supported on a hand indicates boredom. Nodding indicates interest and agreement.

During the interview keep your head tilted toward the interviewer particularly when they are speaking. They will get the message you are interested in what they are saying. Avoid cradling your head in your hands. Nod in response to what the interviewer is saying, although not like a bobble head doll.

Your hands
Here is some hand communication:

• When hands are open and palms up, it conveys truthfulness and openness
• Hidden palms indicate something held back
• Clenched hands indicate tension, discomfort, or anger
• Hands covering the mouth or the nose or tugging at the ear indicates that a lie may be concealed
• A limp handshake with palm up betrays submission
• A firm handshake with palm down conveys strength and confidence
• A hand gripping the other hand, wrist or elbow communicates a desire to quell rising anxiety
• A hand behind the head betrays a need to fend anxiety, danger or discomfort.
• Steepled hands bear power and proclaims confidence and business
• The hand stroking the chin indicates ongoing evaluation of something just said
• Hands flat on the table indicate readiness to agree

Pay attention to your hands. What are they communicating to the interviewer? What are the interviewer’s hands communicating to you?

Body position
A closed position, slouching with arms crossed, communicates evasiveness and resistance. When you lean towards the interviewer you sends signals of interest. By leaning away you communicate disinterest or resistance.

In your interview keep an open body posture. If you cross your legs do not turn sideways. If your interviewer displays a closed body posture things are not going well.

Your doing well in the interview when
The interviewer maintains eye contact  70% of the time and is smiling. She faces you directly, nods frequently, leans toward you, and her arms and legs are uncrossed.

If you are not getting these body signs you will naturally,based on your gut reaction, tend to tighten up. Stay open, take a deep breath, and think about what is going on in the interview. You can even ask for some feedback about what the interviewer is thinking.

Use an interview presentation to improve your communication

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 Curiosity Helps You Interview Your Best

Curiosity actually saved the cat

Most job candidates interview for jobs in industries in which they have experience. Some candidates have 15 plus years of experience in a specific job in a particular industry. Many experienced candidates make the mistake of assuming they know all they need to know about the industry, the company, and position for which they are interviewing.

It is easy to understand how a candidate may make this mistake. Take for example a Chief Financial Officer, a Chief Information Officer, or an experienced manager who has 10 plus years of experience in their job. For years they have been exposed to industry trends, competitors, new developments in their field, colleagues and other professionals,  etc. It is natural for them to assume they know all they need to interview well and they short change themselves on their interview preparation and do not listen enough in the interview. This is the same mistake experienced sales people make when they think they know as much or even more than their customer.

Here is what even experienced candidates don’t know- they do not know about the job from the hiring manager’s perspective.

As in any good sales process, the initial part of an interview should be spent getting to know the needs of the customer (hiring manager). Listen for the following in the hiring manager’s words:

• What specific problem is the position solving
• What are the immediate, mid-term, and long term priorities of the position
• How will success be measured
• What are the specific skill sets the position requires
• Significant industry trend/challenges
• Personal success factors that fit the company culture

To learn the above information, maintain an attitude of curiosity. According to Dictionary.com, curiosity is “the desire to learn or know about anything; inquisitiveness.” Curiosity also includes an openness to view things from others’ perspectives.  The challenge is to avoid having your preconceived notions and existing beliefs block learning the hiring manager’s views and perspective. You may think the hiring manager’s thoughts are incorrect, however it is her thoughts and you need to know them. I am not suggesting agreement only awareness.

Curiosity exemplified by good questions and open mindedness communicate positive traits in the interview. Also, it is a good approach to disagree by asking questions. For example, “I understand you think the emerging trend in energy is drilling for more oil, I am wondering what your thoughts are about alternative energy such as electric and hydrogen?’ You may learn something very interesting about the hiring manager’s thinking.

Once you are aware of the hiring manager’s perspective you can target your answers more specifically to the requirements of the position. In addition, you can determine if the job is for you.

Differentiate yourself with an interview presentation

Avoid These Sales Mistakes to Interview Your Best

The following list of sales no-nos is written by Geoffrey James and posted on bnet. I have included them here because they are almost completely applicable to an interview. With the exception of #8 (although these days there are stories of candidates bringing their mothers to interviews) each of these sales warnings should be heeded for an interview.

#1: Discuss politics or religion. Such subjects are almost always a trap into opinionated quicksand that’s hard or impossible to get out of.  Fix: keep the discussion on business or neutral ground.
#2: Dive into your product pitch. Sure you’ve got something to sell, but if you pitch too soon, you’ll get pitched out the door. Fix: Ask questions to understand needs, before you pitch.
#3: Arrive late to the call. If you don’t arrive on time it tell the customer clearly that you don’t give a damn about them or their time.  Fix: Always arrive 15 minutes ahead of time.  If you drive to calls, get a GPS.
#4: Appear flippant or sarcastic. A good-natured laugh at a joke might be taken personally by someone watching out the window, without hearing the context.  Fix: Watch your demeanor at all times.
#5: Lack requisite product knowledge. The prospect doesn’t want to hear “I need to get back to you about that”…over and over. Fix: make sure you’re trained on your current products and policies…before the call.
#6: Fail to plan the call. Sounds simple, but trying to close when should be qualifying (for example) is a lost sale.  Fix: Never enter a door without first thinking about what you plan to accomplish.
#7: Be too business-like at first. Remember you’re building bridges with another human being, not just a notch in your sales gun.  Fix: Smile and be friendly… but don’t get too gushy.
#8: Show up with a crowd. If you bring too many people, it will draw customer’s comments about why your costs so high  Fix: Use webconferencing when you need to include additional resources.
#9: Fail to check your appearance. Don’t show up with something amiss that a quick stop in the client’s bathroom could head off.  Fix: Make a quick pit stop – with a look-over – before the call.
#10: Forget the customers’ names. What could be more embarrassing than actually forgetting whom you’re talking with?  Fix: Write down the names down of everyone in the room with a small table diagram.
#11: Be rude to the admin. No flirting, of course, but if you act all arrogant and superior, you’ll just antagonize the help.  Fix: Be friendly and respectful of the staff – admin and otherwise.
#12: Ask personal questions. You may think that the customer is your friend, but you can easily screw up if it gets too personal.  Fix: Keep the conversation focused on business issues, especially the customer’s needs.

The appropriateness of this warning list further supports the InterviewBest philosophy – an interview is a sales call.

InterviewBest

Prepare Your References to Interview Your Best

Reference checking is a standard although flawed process. Candidates choose references that will speak positively about them so hiring managers are expecting glowing references with little valuable information. If a hiring manager hears anything that sounds the least negative they immediately see red flags.

Instead of your reference checks being a standard procedure with little information, you can have your reference check enhance your candidacy. Once your interview is over you will have a great deal of information about the position, the qualities the hiring manager likes about you, and any hesitations the hiring manager may have about hiring you. This is all very important information your references need to know.

Call your references and prepare them for the reference check call. Tell them about the critical requirements of the position, how you fit the position, and your strongest selling points. Tell them what the hiring manager likes about you and ask them to highlight those points. Mention any concerns the hiring manager has and ask your reference to talk positively about those areas.

The Business Pundit in his online blog suggests that hiring manager ask references the following questions:
* What did he learn during his time at your company
* If you could give him a single career suggestion, what would it be?
(If the reference was a supervisor)
* How did the candidate respond to your management style?
* Would you rehire her
You can discuss these questions with your references and prepare them with answers.

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.

Prepare Prepare Prepare to Interview your Best

The key is not the will to win…..everybody has that. It is the will to prepare to win that is important.
Bobby Knight Texas Tech Men’s Basketball Coach

Research on interviewing behaviors shows that 78% of all people that interview just “wing” the interview. People applying for lower level positions do not think they need to prepare while people applying for upper level positions think they know all they need to know about the industry, trends, the position etc. As a result, most job candidates appear unmotivated, disinterested and are unable to clearly state how their background, skills, and experience match the job requirements.

Comprehensive preparation covers two topic areas 1- The company in context of the industry and 2- the specific position.

1-Researching the company has become far easier with all the information you can find on the Internet. The obvious place to start is the company’s web site which will provide the company’s view of itself (hint- read press releases they typically contain the latest information the company wants you to know). It is equally important to read news articles, industry magazines, and other sources of independent information. You can even go to www.vault.com to read what ex-employees say about the company. The information you learn about the industry and the company are particularly important as you formulate questions to ask the interviewer. The questions you ask should display a keen knowledge of the company and the industry.

2-Finding good, solid, helpful information about the position itself is more difficult. Typically, job requirements are poorly defined and include nebulous statements such as “good communication skills” or “team player” or “able to work independently”. The best job requirements are specific task or experience based statements that enable a candidate to specifically match their background and skills to the requirements. For example, “Ability to use XYZ computer program to develop direct mail marketing materials” or “5 years experience applying federal regulatory requirements in the pharmaceutical industry.” These requirements are specific and a candidate can state definitively how they have acquired the skills or experience required to do the task.

Other entries in this blog detail how an interview is a sales call. As a salesperson, it is incumbent upon you during interview preparation to uncover the position requirements. Like any salesperson, you should be asking good probing questions to learn the requirements. Possible questions include:

* What are three or four “must have” qualifications for a person to be selected for this position?
* What criteria will you use to make your hiring decision?
* What skill sets are required to be successful in this position
* What are the most important personal characteristics for a person in this position?
* What are the major responsibilities of this position?
* What is the highest priority for the person in this position?
* What are the important issues that need to be addressed immediately?
* What does a typical day look like for a person in this position?

These questions should be asked as part of the interview preparation not at the end of the interview. The answers to these questions will enable you to prepare the content they want to present during the interview. By the way, just asking these questions often impresses interviewers or internal HR recruiters. In addition, if you are working with an external recruiter the recruiter should have the answers to these questions.

The answers to these questions are best provided by the hiring manager, however other interviewers, the job posting, the HR recruiter, external recruiter, company employees, and information on the company web site are also valuable sources of information.

Here is a radical idea – prior to the interview call the hiring manager and say this, “I am preparing for our interview next week and I would like to ask you a couple of questions about the position so I can be well prepared for the interview. Do you have a few minutes to discuss the position?” What hiring manager would not be impressed and willing to spend the time to help a motivated and interested candidate?

In a recent discussion with a fellow psychologist, he stated the fear of rejection results in job candidates not fully committing to the interview and a symptom of not committing is not preparing. He stated, if a candidate does not prepare and they don’t get the job they can rationalize it by saying they were really not interested and if they had been they would have put more time into preparing. The fear of rejection lives in all of us, for some more strongly than others. Do not let fear of rejection get in the way of preparing for an interview.

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.