by Tony Beshara
What you say up front is really simple. You state ten to twelve basic intangible traits of a hard-working, successful, committed worker that you possess. In the final analysis, all hiring or interviewing authorities want to see is somebody who is going to possess the traits of a committed, hard-working employee.
Mr. or Ms., I’m here to share with you why you should hire me. First of all, I am: _______________________________________ (choose ten to twelve descriptive adjectives to explain your work ethic).
What you’re doing in this phase is simply communicating that you understand what hard work is. You would be shocked and amazed at the number of people who go into an interviewing situation and just assume that the interviewing or hiring authority already knows that they are a committed worker. Remember that your hiring or interviewing authority is scared of making a mistake. This person is afraid of risk.
When you communicate the ten to twelve intangible traits of a hard worker that you possess, it provides assurance in the interviewer’s cautious state that you not only know what the traits of a hard worker are, but also that you possess them. What I recommend here is stressing traits such as:
hard worker
determined to go the extra mile
accomplished
intelligent
passionate about my work
committed to the customer
love what I do
get in early, stay late
great work ethic
I cannot emphasize enough that prospective employers hardly ever hear these words from the typical candidate. You are simply communicating basic attributes that every employer wishes he or she saw in every employee.
The transition phrase leading to the next part of your presentation is:
Now, here in my background is where these features have been benefits to the people I have worked for.
You are using the terms features and benefits. It is implied that these features will be benefits to the hiring authority and his or her company. This transition phrase allows you to lead into an explanation of every job you have had, what you’ve done, how you’ve done it, and how successful you were.
You are doing their thinking for them! They don’t need to ask that stupid question, “Well, tell me about yourself.” (The worst question you can get asked.)
At this point, you are going to work backwards and give a short, but very thorough, description about exactly what job function you had, how you did it, who you did it for, and how successful you were, as well as—and this is very important—that you loved the job and why, in very positive terms, you’re looking to leave or why you left. The execution of this phase of your presentation is very important. There are clear key parts to this phase: explaining your job function, explaining why you want to leave the job, and telling stories about what you have done.
Explain your job function. First of all, you need to explain exactly what your job function is now or was in the past so that the hiring or interviewing authority understands exactly what you have done before. I can’t tell you the number of times over the years that candidates have walked away from interviews thinking that they had done a really good job on the interview—only to have the hiring authority, in giving us feedback, explain that he or she really didn’t understand what the candidate did (either in his present job or the jobs he had before).
Give a thorough description of exactly what you did, how you did it, whom you did it for, and how successful you were—in terms a high-school senior could understand:
At ___________________ (company), I was in charge of inventory control. As soon as the in-house supply of an item reached a predetermined level, I made sure a new supply was ordered immediately. I reported to the store manager. In my three years at that position, we never ran out of an item.
Hiring authorities are just as nervous as you are in the interviewing process. They feel like they have to get a deeper understanding about you and your background in order to evaluate you. They usually have to do this with a large number of people. Most of the time in the interviewing process, when a hiring or interviewing authority asks a question, partway through your answer they are thinking about the next question, and then partway through that answer, they’re thinking about the next question, and so forth.
On top of that, most hiring or interviewing authorities don’t want to look stupid or ignorant. Like most people, they are uncomfortable saying, “I don’t understand, could you explain it to me in layman’s terms so that I really get it?” After all, they are the hiring authority. They are supposed to know and understand everything as the so-called authority. So, they will act like they know exactly what the candidate is talking about, and nod their head in complete agreement and understanding as the candidate speaks in terms foreign to everyone but himself.
Then, after the candidate leaves, rather than admitting they had no idea what the hell the candidate was talking about, they will claim that the candidate’s skills, experience, background, or personality aren’t what they were looking for.
Explain why you want to leave your job. Next, you need to explain, in very positive ways, why you are seeking to leave the company you’re with now and why you left other jobs. I cannot overemphasize this point. You are going to weave into your explanation, along with what you’ve done and how you have done it, all of the positive reasons that you left the companies and the jobs that you had or the one that you are leaving now.
I have learned a tremendous amount at this job. However, I feel that it’s time to take my talents and new skills to another level. It doesn’t seem like I have much room for advancement where I am.
If you bring up why you left in positive terms—even if it wasn’t under the most positive circumstances (for example, you were fired)—the whole scenario has a tendency to be more palatable to a hiring authority.
Although I was quite successful at ______________ (company), they hit some hard times and had to let people go. I was the most recent hire in my department, so I was laid off. The manager said I would be brought back if a job opened up.
This is going to take much thought and practice on your part. You always want to tell the truth; but you might have to put a spin on it, that, if nothing else, neutralizes any negative connotations. Do not think that an interviewing or hiring authority is going to see things from your personal point of view. Trying to justify your getting fired, or quitting on a whim, the awful environment you were in, the lousy boss, the lousy pay, the lousy CEO, your stupid peers, the “going nowhere” job, and so on, will do nothing but hurt you. Communicate your positive feelings about previous employers . . . and if you can’t immediately think of any . . . think harder!
You are also going to communicate in the second phase that you absolutely loved every job you ever had. You don’t have to use the word love in every instance. But you need to communicate that you had a very positive experience with every job that you have ever had; that you learned a lot from each one; and that you really appreciated the people you worked for. You can communicate this by saying things like:
You know I really love the organization that I work for now but unfortunately . . .
In this phase of your presentation, you only need to go back maybe three or, at the most, four jobs and describe what I have suggested here. If you had jobs before that, unless they are germane to the position that you are presently applying for, you can lump them together by just saying something like:
Before that (meaning the third or fourth position back), I was in sales or accounting or engineering (insert your job area) for a number of different firms.
You want to make sure that you don’t ramble for so long that the interviewing or hiring authority gets bored. Stick to the high points in your background that are applicable to the job for which you are interviewing. It should not take more than five to seven minutes.
Tell stories. It’s very important to weave many stories about what you have done as examples of your successes. People love stories. People
remember stories. People remember you when you tell them stories about your past. Stories bypass conscious resistance and preconceived notions. Stories, analogies, and metaphors about you that pertain to the hiring authority’s need are absolutely the best way to be remembered. Of course, they need to be short, to the point, and above all pertinent to the opportunity for which you were interviewing.
When leading into a story that appropriately fits the discussion, say to the interviewer something like:
That reminds me of the time I had to fill in for the floor supervisor when he was out sick for several weeks.
We once had a strike at the plant that supplied the rubber wheels for our carts.
I worked with a person who absolutely refused to do anything that fell outside the strict parameters of her job.
Once you’ve set the stage this way, you can transition smoothly into the story demonstrating how you successfully handled a specific situation:
A number of years ago, we had a candidate who held an engineering degree from Texas A&M. He was born and raised on a chicken farm, which he noted on his résumé. Subsequently, in interviews, he told stories about his childhood on the chicken farm—how hard the work was, what he learned, and so on. The company that hired him admitted that what made him stand out from the other candidates was that his stories gave them confidence that he would be a hard worker.
The transition phrase leading to the next part of your presentation is:
Tell me, Mr. or Ms. __________, how does what I have to offer stack up with what you are looking for?
This is a powerful phrase that leads to the next stage of your initial interview technique: asking questions and gathering information. This is one the most important power phrases you will use in the initial interview. It is designed to get interviewers or hiring authorities to tell you exactly what they are looking for and, more importantly, how your skills and experience stack up with your competition.
I can’t emphasize the importance of this question enough. Candidates are always impressed with the reaction that they get from most interviewing and hiring authorities. It is a courageous question and gives you exactly what you need to know.
Asking Questions and Gathering Information
This is a crucial phase of the initial interview, where you begin to dig deeper into the details of what the company is looking for, how well you fit, and who your competition is. When the interviewing or hiring authority starts answering your question of how you stack up with what he or she is looking for, take notes. When the interviewer stops answering that question, you want to have a prepared set of questions ready.
Some questions that you may ask are:
What are the most important qualities that a successful person in this position should possess?
How would you measure the success of the last person that was in this job?
Why was he or she successful? or Why was he or she not successful?
In your opinion, what is the most difficult part of the job?
Mr. or Ms.__________________, how long have you been with the company?
Why do you like working here?
What is the most difficult part of your job?
I could go on and on, but you get the idea. Ask enough questions to engage the employer or hiring authority in the conversation. You want this person to open up to you as much as he or she possibly can about what they want in the person they are going to hire. You then have a better idea of how to sell yourself into the job.
The following is very important. As the conversation progresses and you write down some of the highlights of what the employer is looking for, you will reinforce the fact that you are a qualified, excellent candidate by going back to some of the jobs that you had, or the job you presently have, and talk in even more specific terms than before. As the interviewing or hiring authority is sharing with you his or her exact needs, you need to be able to relate exact experience, responsibilities, duties, and successes that you have had that specifically address the particular issues being discussed:
I agree with you that quality is the number-one priority. When I worked at ______________, I always made sure to check my figures twice. To me, there’s nothing worse than making a mistake that could have been avoided with a little extra effort.
In the presentation you made, you talked about each job that you either currently have or have had, your duties and responsibilities, and your successes. But you did it in a very broad, descriptive way. Now you are going to use the information that the interviewing or hiring authority is giving you and bring up examples in your current job or your previous jobs that specifically demonstrate your ability to do the job under consideration. Whereas your initial presentation about your experience and background was detailed enough for the interviewing or hiring authority to understand what you have done, you now get specific about particular things that would be of value to the interviewing or hiring authority based on the conversation that results from the questions you ask:
You say there’s a need to take action when a project is running late. I never feel right when things fall behind schedule. I do all I can—come in early, stay late, work weekends—to get the job back on track.
After the conversation has begun to wind down and you can see that the interview is nearly over, you close by stating that your background and experience fit what the employer is looking for, and then you need to ask:
What do I need to do to get the job?
This is the hardball part of the interview. You are either a candidate or you’re not, and you need to know right now!
This is one of the hardest phrases to get candidates to use. I hear it from candidates, from radio callers, and from my own candidates: After I have instructed them to ask this question, even after they have agreed to ask it, they don’t. They will even admit, “I know I should have asked, but it didn’t seem appropriate . . .”; that is, “I was just too darn scared to ask . . . afraid they’d simply tell me I wasn’t going to be considered.” Listen to me: “No” is the second-best answer you can get. More often than not at this point in the interview, most candidates are going to fear “no” so much, they avoid the rejection.
Interviewing and hiring authorities want to hire an individual who wants the job. I cannot tell you the number of candidates over the years that failed to ask this essential question in the interview and ended up being dismissed by the interviewing or hiring authority. I know that this is terribly unfair. But life is unfair. This is a part of the interview that truly is a contrived event. The truth is, there is no real way of knowing whether or not you really want this job right now. But, unless you ask for the job, you’re never going to get beyond first base.
Whatever you do, don’t fall into the trap of thinking, “Well, I’m not really sure that I want the job so, before I commit, I better think about it.” Remember, while you are thinking about it, somebody else is getting an offer. You don’t have anything to decide about until you have an offer.
Asking “what do I need to do to get the job?” takes courage. That’s okay. But if you’re serious about finding a job, you will use this question at the end of every interview, especially the initial one.
SUCCESSFUL INITIAL INTERVIEW TECHNIQUE #2
This technique is for those people who feel more comfortable with trying to find out what an interviewing or hiring authority might be interested in before they talk about their experience. That way, they have some advance warning and can start formulating their thoughts ahead of time on what they will say as the interview progresses. It seems to work best with analytical types of hiring authorities who are not sales oriented: accountants, finance people, and information technology folks.
It isn’t much different than the first technique, except that you ask the question about what they are looking for before you talk about your intangible attributes and other experiences and background. Here’s how it works.
You sit down in the interviewing or hiring authority’s office, take a
deep breath, and after the pleasantries (as you put the legal pad down in front of you), you say:
Tell me, Mr. or Ms. __________, what kind of candidate would you ideally like to find?
As the hiring or interviewing authority speaks, you take notes about what they’re looking for in an ideal candidate. You may ask a number of questions, but the idea is to find out—in the employer’s words—what they’re looking for. Then you can start matching your skills and experience to the job opening:
If you will allow me, Mr. or Ms._____________, I would like to explain why I would fit what you are looking for and how I could do the job.
First of all, I am _________________________________________ _____________________________________________ (ten to twelve
descriptive adjectives to explain your work ethic).
Now is the time to start selling yourself as a candidate:
Based on what you said you wanted in a candidate, I would like to demonstrate where these features have been beneficial to the people whom I’ve worked for, in the light of what you need.
I am currently (or most recently have been) at _______________ (company). I have functioned for them in the capacity of ______________________________________________________________ ____________________________________________________________ ______________________________.
Give a thorough description of exactly what you did, how you did it, whom you did it for, and how successful you were—in terms a high-school senior could understand. You then emphasize how much you love the job and the company and the reason you have to leave or why you left in very positive terms. Tell a story or two.
