Process: A Spotlight on Creativity and Solid Practices
“We know what a person thinks not when he tells us what he thinks, but by his actions.”
—Isaac Bashevis Singer
Once you’ve begun the interview with a results statement of no more than ninety seconds, go right into the “P” step of REAPRICH: Process. Process simply explains how you achieved your results. Understanding a person’s pathway to excellence is a greater chance to create a long-lasting connection and deep relationship with them.
Many managers will think, “Oh, that’s great. He’s gotten results. I’m really excited. But how did he get there? Did he beg, cheat, borrow, and steal? Or can he talk to me about integrity and great processes for getting to those results?”
Insider Secret #4:
Fear of the unknown is a huge unconscious motivator. If a hiring manager doesn’t understand how you got to your results, she may not trust the positive impressions she’s formed so far.
Your process statement should follow your results with no more than a two-second pause. Succinctly articulate and discuss the processes you used, developed, or put in place that allowed you to get phenomenal results. If you’ve done great things, managers want to understand how you got there.
A good manager will think about how your process may work within the context of his own job:
You’re in great shape if the manager ends up saying, “I want you on board so you can do this for me or my team. I want this to be a part of our skill set and our arsenal as we move forward as an organization.”
Let’s use my career as a recruiter as an example this time. I’d begin with, “Listen, it’s great to be here today, and I appreciate your time. I was a number one worldwide recruiter for four Tier One companies …” I’d finish my results statement, then go right into: “The way I did this was cold calling more than anyone else on the team. I was also there earlier each day. I set up programs for employee referrals that people would get excited about. Sometimes we gave away an automobile. We gave away things that people wouldn’t buy for themselves. We did that because we found that if we gave them money, it didn’t generate the same excitement as offering them a new experience. These programs cut recruiting budgets by 50 to 75 percent.
“We also created sourcing programs where we researched and acquired names and phone numbers of the best people in the world. We found out how to get them excited—without being threatening or direct, of course. I also developed and taught ways to sell the company’s vision and how to brand that company. And if they didn’t have a strong brand or something that was a ‘wow factor’ about the company, we put together all the key pieces and made sure we spoke about that and got it right into people’s minds the minute we got on the phone with them. I created a program focused on security, opportunity, and possibility in ways that locked in top candidates. We said, ‘Let me tell you about Oracle. It’s the number one company in the database world. They have more opportunities than anywhere else to learn each type of technology that is cutting edge, strategic.’ This set us up to have instant credibility.
“I found out, too, the most effective way to utilize job boards, how to write really powerful marketing messages and ads so that people wanted to come to the company. So that’s a little bit about my process.”
The process portion of the interview is the best place for demonstrating your creativity. I don’t mean creativity as in artistic ability. I’m talking about creating something unique that helped you get to your results or showed a high level of thinking. An example: A manager from a top engineering company hired a man, in part, because he’d built a car during the summer between high school and college. He hired this bachelor’s degree recipient over other candidates with PhDs because this candidate had demonstrated the ability to think and create. Creativity and its companion, curiosity, are top attributes that managers search for in candidates because it means they have the ability to learn, think, and explore.
Every manager looking to hire someone wants to gain a strong sense of how a potential employee does things, and how he or she reaches the achievements that we think of as outstanding or elite in the world. Effectively communicating that will put you head and shoulders above the crowd.
Next, we’ll examine one of the most important aspects of business success and how it can help you ace the interview process: Relationships.
Process Worksheet: