INTERVIEWING SUCCESS STRATEGIES
by Wendy S. Enelow, CPRW, JCTC, CCM
President – Career Masters Institute
A job interview can often be a quite stressful situation. Companies want to
hire competent, successful, articulate, and accomplished executives, yet
their very first encounter often places the candidate in an uncomfortable
situation. It’s difficult enough to interview one-on-one. What can be
worse is if you find yourself in a "panel-style" interview where it’s you
on one side and five company managers on the other side, each armed and
ready to assault you with questions. It’s a pretty threatening situation,
the exact opposite of the type of environment that should be created to
allow you to demonstrate your best.
However, the reality is that you must deal with the hiring process the way
that it exists. And, to accomplish that, you must learn how to comfortably
manage and control your interviews. To help you with that process, here
are five key strategies for interview success.
Strategy #1 – You’ve Already Passed The First Test
You’re nervous. You’re sitting in the executive conference room with the
President of a company. Take a deep breath and remind yourself that you’ve
already passed the first test, generally a phone screening to determine if
you have the "right" stuff for the position. And, if it’s a job at the
level where you’re first interview is with the top executive of the
company, you know that they’re interested or they wouldn’t be committing
the time to you and your interview. Therefore, go into the interview
knowing that you’ve already got them on the hook or you wouldn’t be
sitting there. Be confident.
Strategy #2 – Use The Big-To-Little Sales Approach
Suppose your interviewer asks you if you have any experience with selling
new products into the market. To organize your thoughts, make your
response flow seamlessly, and make it easy for your interviewer to
understand your specific experience in that area, use the big-to-little
strategy. Start with an overview of your experience in new product sales;
just a few sentences to describe your overall scope of experience. (That’s
the "big" part.) Then, follow up with 2-4 specific achievements, projects,
or highlights that are directly related. (That’s the "little" part.) In
essence, you’re communicating, "This is what I know and this is how well
I’ve done it."
Strategy #3 – Sell It To Me, Don’t Tell It To Me
Interviews are NOT the time to "tell" what you’ve done. Rather, interviews
are the time to "sell" what you have accomplished. For example, if you’re
asked how many people you managed in your last position, you might just
answer with a quick, "I had a team of 15." However, it’s a much strong
presentation to respond with, "My staff at Digital included 15
professionals and support personnel. Not only was I responsible for
managing those individuals, I also handled all recruitment and hiring
activities, facilitated annual performance reviews, and coordinated staff
training. What’s more, my team reduced manufacturing costs 12% within just
one year!" When you respond in this fashion, you’ve "sold" what you have
achieved, and not just "told" what you were responsible for.
Strategy #4 – Transition Every Negative To A Positive
What do you do if your interviewer asks about your experience working with
Excel spreadsheets and you have none? Your first inclination would be to
say that you don’t know Excel. Don’t do that! Instead, use related
experience. For example, you’d answer with, "I have extensive experience
designing Lotus spreadsheets, so I’m sure getting a handle on Excel won’t
take any time at all." Then, even though you’ve been honest (you never
said you knew Excel), you’ve positively positioned yourself.
Strategy #5 – Take The Initiative
You’re nearing the close of an interview and the topic of training has
never come up, yet it’s an area in which you have a great deal of
experience and which is pertinent to the position for which you are
interviewing. You mght comment, "Before we end, I’d like to share one
more thing with you that I think is quite important to the position
and to my fit within your organization."
There is no doubt that an interview can often be a stressful and
difficult situation. However, it’s your professional life on the line.
You must walk into each interview with an agenda – the information you
want to communicate to demonstrate your qualifications – and you must
"quietly" control the interview to position yourself as the "right"
candidate.
About the Author:
Wendy S. Enelow
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