As mentioned throughout this section, the tone and/or style of any given interview session can vary widely. There is no significance to the tone or style. However, remember that regardless of tone and style, the interviewers are focused on seeking information that will allow them to reach conclusions about the Priority List.
Additionally, an inflection point typically occurs during an interview where the style and topics may change noticeably. By this I mean that the interview changes from inquiry-based to a more relaxed conversation. This occurs when the interviewer has reached a decision about the candidate and is not pressed for time.
At that point, the interviewer will extend an invitation to the candidate to ask questions. From my experience, the questions that candidates ask are not likely to influence the interviewer’s overall judgement of the interview, with some exceptions. Most interviewees react in one of four ways:
1.Stating that they don’t have any questions. This produces a neutral to a slightly negative reaction, but is not significant to the interviewer’s overall assessment.
2.Coming up with some polite questions, believing that not asking any questions might reflect poorly on the candidate. This is a touch worse than the first, because the interviewer knows exactly what the candidate is doing. However, it is so common that the interviewer will not exact a penalty, and asking polite questions will not influence the interviewer’s overall assessment.
3.Asking questions about the company in order to impress the interviewer. Here, the candidate has done some research about the company with the expectation that showing interest in the company will be positively viewed by the interviewer. This is a common piece of advice given by schools to student-candidates, and then it becomes a habit for life, which is passed on from generation to generation of candidates.
It is my belief that posing such questions will receive a poor reception. The interviewer may or may not be in a position to answer. I have mentioned this before, when I described my personal experience in the section dealing with writing a resume. Irritating the interviewer is exactly the reaction I got when I asked such questions.
However, asking such questions is not likely to do much more than irritate the interviewer and will not influence the hiring decision.
4.Asking legitimate questions about the job and issues related to the job. This would be viewed negatively in the early rounds of the interviewing cycle, but positively in later rounds, where it appears likely an offer will be extended. While such questions may be perceived as presumptuous at the early stage of an interview, they can be reasonably expected in the latter stages. In either case, it is not likely, as in the previous three categories, to change the interviewer’s overall assessment of the candidate.
The logical conclusion from the above is that, unless you have to, or legitimately have some questions, politely decline the opportunity and don’t ask any questions during early rounds of the interviewing cycle. You may say, “Thank you for the opportunity to ask questions, but I don’t really have anything that important at this point.”
However, the above is not my overall recommendation. As I stated earlier, there are exceptions where I believe a meaningful opportunity does exist for candidates to set themselves apart through questions. This is so because most other candidates fall in one of the above-mentioned four categories, yet a fifth category does exist that mostly goes unrecognized. Just assume for argument’s sake that there are some questions that would be viewed in a positive way by the interviewer, and that such questions would set you apart from the pack. Further assume that they are not just different but would be viewed as smart, mature, or insightful questions, leading to meaningful, positive differentiation. Wouldn’t such questions give you a real opportunity to influence the interviewer’s perception of you relative to other candidates? Of course they would. I’m here to tell you that there are such questions!
A list of these questions is provided at the end of this section (chapter thirty-two). They are different from what most candidates tend to ask and will be considered more mature, sound, and reasonable. They are also easy to answer, yet will be perceived as insightful, thereby generating a positive differentiation. However, keep in mind that it would be true only if you are viewed as a viable candidate by the interviewer.
You may ask any one or more of these questions as time allows. Be sensitive to how much time it takes. If you feel you don’t have much time, ask only one or two. If there is more time, ask more questions. Use your judgment.
We have covered a lot of information so far in this section. With few exceptions, I mostly identified for you the issues and dynamics that take place in interviews. We are now ready to address the actual, specific recommendations that I believe will significantly increase your ability to influence interviewers.
As I have said, demonstrating analytical skills is the single most important factor in obtaining a job offer. There are three interrelated dimensions that together reflect on how one’s analytical skills are evaluated and perceived. This is true not just in interviews, but in any short and condensed conversation about any topic. The three interrelated dimensions are:
1.the “way of thinking”;
2.the way of articulating one’s logic; and
3.methodologies that lead to sound analyses and recommendations.
The first and second dimensions, which I cover in this section, are the most important. However, they are based on innate talent that could be sharpened, but unfortunately there are no simple guidelines, instructions, or protocols to facilitate them. But I believe that one can become better at them, and I will give you my insights on how to improve yours. They are based on some subtleties that are easy to follow, once fully understood.
Fortunately, the third dimension is teachable, and you may be able to improve measurably your analytical skills. It involves a conceptual framework of how to properly analyze business conditions and opportunities. This is a more complicated topic to explain and will be discussed separately in great detail in a subsequent section (see section VII: “A Sound Methodology for Business Analyses”).
Obviously, one will score the highest on the analytical skills when one is able to use effectively all the above three dimensions concurrently.