You’ve been preparing for your interviews. You’ve been reading books about interview questions and answers and you’ve been practicing—you’re still not getting the results you want. What’s not working for you? Why aren’t you getting invited back for a second interview? Why haven’t you received a job offer? What can you do to improve your chances in this competitive job market?
There may not be simple answers to those questions, but one thing is for sure: if you continue doing the same thing over and over and continue to get the same results, nothing is going to change. (Albert Einstein described this repetitious pattern of behavior as the definition of “insanity.”)
If you want different results to happen, something has to change. This would be a good time to start thinking out of the box and change the way you’ve been preparing for your interviews. If you are willing to let go of what you’ve been doing, and are now willing to try something new, this is the book for you.
The purpose of this book is to demonstrate a new technique; a technique that teaches you how to think beyond the questions and answers as the only way to prepare for an interview. By learning to “read between the lines,” this book will show you how to think like an interviewer thinks. You can stop worrying about the questions being asked, and start thinking about the concerns behind the questions.
Using this book to prepare for your interviews will introduce you to a new approach and way to think about the interview. Up until now, the preparation has focused on the questions that may or may not be asked by an interviewer. In this book, I will introduce you to a new method of preparation. Using the methodology that I have been using with thousands of clients over the past 15 years, I will share the tools and techniques that have successfully worked for others. The technique is to focus on the key factors of the job as the basis for the interview preparation so that you can answer any question the interviewer asks.
In an informal survey, some colleagues found that most candidates have one fear in common about the job interview: the fear that they will not have the answers to the questions that could be asked. Most candidates continue to think of the interview as a test with right or wrong answers. There are no right or wrong answers, but some answers are definitely stronger and some weaker than others; some are downright killers.
The method used in this book is to focus on the factors of the job rather than on the questions and answers. By identifying the key factors, and what is behind the interviewer’s questions, you will have a better idea of what the interviewer is looking for in a candidate. For example, if interviewers ask you, “What are your goals?” are they interested in your goals or are they asking how long you are going to stick around? They are probably interested in the latter. They will be listening during the interview to hear why you are interviewing for this particular job. Are you looking for this job as a quick fix? Or, are you really interested in what this particular company does and in the company’s mission statement?
By reading between the lines of what the interviewer is asking, you will be able to give him or her an answer to the question that is really being asked. Begin to think, What is really behind the question being asked? What does the interviewer really want to know about me? There is more than likely always another reason that the question is being asked—the hidden meaning behind the question.
The first step on the way to change is to visit a bookstore. The bookstore can be online or an actual store. If you search under the category of Career Books, you will find a wide variety of books on the subject of job interviews. Many of these books deal with questions and answers: 101 Smart Questions, 101 Great Answers, 201 Best Questions to Ask, 301 Smart Answers, How to Ace the Interviewer’s Questions, and the list goes on and on. These books work well if you are focusing only on the questions and answers that take place in an interview. The problem is that you don’t know what questions will be asked in the interview, or what the interviewer is looking for.
If you are really ready to try something new and change your thinking, this book is a good place to start. Stop thinking about the questions and answers only and begin thinking about why the interviewer is asking the question. In other words, what’s the interviewer really looking for in your answer?
This new process will require you to study each job posting or job description that you are interested in pursuing and analyze what it will take to do the job successfully. Your task will be to figure out what factors are being sought.
Factor is the term that will be used in this book to describe the key abilities and traits needed to perform the job. You may have seen these factors referred to in other books, or in job postings, by other names such as core competencies, critical skills, or dimensions, to name a few. They all deal with the same principle but just use different words.
The factors are sometimes spelled out for you and easy to work with, while other times you will have to dig to discover them. Sometimes you’ll have to read between the lines. By looking at each factor and what it entails you will have a stronger base to start your preparation. If you can demonstrate through your answers that you have the desired qualities and abilities, and even some past experiences, you will begin to be of special interest to the interviewer as the right person for the job.
There will be exercises to work on as a part of your preparation for using the factors as your base. It isn’t until you can identify the factors yourself that you can achieve the skill to perform the task.
One of the key questions the interviewer is asking himself during the interview is, “Do I want to work with this person? Will this candidate fit in as part of the team?” A primary mistake that many candidates make going into an interview is to try to be someone other than themselves. If you try to impress interviewers by being someone else, you could be making a huge mistake and giving the wrong impression of who you are and what you are capable of doing in a job.
In Chapter 5 of this book, there will be exercises to help you answer that dreaded question: “Tell me about yourself.” The answer to this question can set the tone for the rest of the interview. This question will also give you the opportunity to incorporate the key factors into your response.
Walking through the process will assist you in becoming a savvy interviewee. You will be able to stop worrying about the questions and focus on the factors that the interviewer will be focusing on. By breaking the chapters of the book into categories, we will cover all of the topics mentioned.
There are three primary concerns going on in interviews. The interviewer wants to know:
1. Can this candidate do the job?
2. Will this candidate “fit” into the department? The company culture?
3. Can we afford the candidate?
Chapters 2, 3, and 4 of the book will cover these categories with specific sections to break down what you will need to deal with these concerns.
Although the criteria will differ from job to job, from field to field, and from industry to industry, these concerns are more or less consistent as a basis of what the interviewer is seeking. As you can see, some of the concerns are more subjective than others. No matter how hard you try, there is a certain amount of subjectivity and likeability in any meeting between people, especially the job interview, where you are being evaluated. The more the interviewer gets to know you as a person and what you have to offer, the more convinced he or she will be that “you can do the job,” and that “you will fit in” with the team and the culture or work environment of the company.
The book also covers the question of whether you are “affordable” as a candidate by giving you tools and methods of talking about salary more confidently. Money is one of the most difficult subjects to deal with in any situation, and in interviews it can be twice as painful.
An interview technique that is becoming more and more accepted by companies is behavioral interviewing. We will cover behavioral style interviewing in Chapter 6. Behavioral questions seek examples or stories about your past behavior as an indicator of your future success. In other words, if you can prove through an example that you have done whatever it is you have said or written about yourself, the interviewer will have proof that you can do what you say you can do. The interviewer is trying to see a clear picture of who you are, and he can get a better picture of you through your stories and your patterns of behavior.
When you are asked a question that begins with the words: “Give me an example …” or “Tell me about a time when …” you are being asked a behavioral question. The premise behind the behavioral question is that if you can prove through your example or story that you have successfully done something before, chances are that you will repeat that behavior again. This type of question solicits far more information for the interviewer than the questions that can be answered with one or two words or a hypothetical answer. Unfortunately, the behavioral interview puts the burden on the candidate to come up with examples of past experiences.
There is no way to accurately predict the questions that will be asked in an interview, but by focusing on the key factors you can prepare before the interview and feel more confident about the process. By taking the time to prepare for each job individually, and by using the factors as a guide, you will have a better idea of what’s behind the interviewer’s question and be ready with your own stories to convince the interviewer that you are the best person for the job.
The following sections will give you tools and techniques to use to write your examples or stories related to the various factors. You will build and organize an inventory of stories to pull from and use as proof that you have had the experiences you claim you’ve had.
In Chapter 8, the book will deal with the five categories of questions asked in most interviews. By categorizing these questions, the task of being prepared for all the questions you might be asked becomes more “doable.” You will use the factors that you have identified to blend your stories and experiences into the categories instead of memorizing hundreds of questions and answers.
Finally, Chapter 9 of the book will provide a quiz that will help you practice thinking factor first, question second.
There are certain situations in an interview that will be out of your control. You will have to let go of those things. What you can control is your confidence and demeanor. The more confident and prepared you are for the interview, the better your chances will be of impressing the interviewer and convincing him or her that you are the right person for the job. Preparation will improve confidence. Confidence will improve your interviews. Improved interviews will result in more success and possible offers.
Join me on the journey to a new way of thinking about job interviews. I will show you how to think “factor,” as well as what’s behind the questions being asked by the interviewer. This will give you an edge over the other candidates.
Are you ready to begin?
It’s time for a change!