Much of what you have done thus far to help you get job interviews will also serve you well during your face-to-face meetings. Now, focus your attention on behavior to make your interviews more comfortable and successful,
Your top priority at this time is getting employed. True, you must still devote time to your family, attend to your personal business affairs, and keep healthy in body and mind. All other matters must be relegated to low priority. This is not the time to spend hours in front of the television set, or go on vacation, or engage in other time-consuming diversions.
Planning and preparing are fundamental efforts in determining your degree of success in your job hunting efforts. Although the importance of planning and preparing was stated in the introduction, it bears repeating here, and often: The best candidate usually does not get the job. The job goes to the BEST PREPARED candidate. Your most important preparations will result in the development of the questions you will ask during your job interviews.
An interview is a conversation, and conversations are driven by questions. In an interview, you will be asking and answering questions. The more important questions will be those you ask because these are the ones that keep you in control. The questions you ask tell much more about you than your answers to the other person's queries.
Questions You Will Be Asking
A top priority for your job search is that you develop a number of questions designed to convey to the interviewer your knowledge and expertise in your field. As we just said, your questions tell more, and are more important, than your answers.
When you meet someone at a party and it turns out that he or she is a professional in your field, you ask "insider type" questions to impress your new acquaintance with the fact that you, too, are a professional in that same field. These questions deal with latest developments in your profession, with successful techniques currently in vogue, with individuals or organizations written up in your trade publications.
Once you have developed eight, ten, twelve of these questions, you will find yourself using them in most of your interviews as they are a quick way to establish your credentials, develop professional rapport, and impress interviewers with your value.
A second group of questions you want to develop for a successful interview are those intended for use with your candidacy for a specific job. Today is Tuesday and you have an interview scheduled for Friday. Your job search must take top priority. It means that the most important thing in your life between now and Friday is to prepare for that meeting. Too many job hunters say to themselves, I am a nice guy, I'm articulate and I have a nice personality. I just show up at the interview and 'wing it'. Then they wonder why they go down the tubes. It is imperative to plan and prepare. If you are unwilling to put in the preparation time and energy, why are you bothering to go o to the interview? If you are going to be interviewed at the XYZ Company, you might start at the library to find out everything you can about that company. Look through available directories for information about XYZ's products and services. Get names of their officers, and directors. You might know someone who knows one of these people and might give you helpful information. If the company is publicly traded, try to get a copy of their latest annual report or quarterly statement.
If the XYZ Company has a product sold in retail stores, go to a store and buy one, if priced within reason. While there, notice how the product is packaged and positioned on the shelves. What about competitive products? How are they packaged? What if the XYZ Company manufactures an expensive item sold in a specialty outlet? Go into the store. Speak to the sales clerk. Ask questions about the product and the competition. Ask to see the XYZ Company's catalog.
You are not through yet. Ask among your friends what do they know about XYZ? Do they know anyone who works there? Can you get their friend's name and phone number? Don't be afraid to call and say you are going to an interview at XYZ and ask for suggestions to help you land the job. Can you get the name of someone who used to work for XYZ? A former employee will often fill you in on what to expect so you can be better prepared.
If the place of the interview is not too far from your home, drive over and look around the plant. This will also ensure you know exactly where they are located so you won't get lost and arrive late for the meeting.
Usually, around mid-morning and mid-afternoon, a coffee truck pulls up behind the plant. You might want to consider parking your car, walking over and buying a cup of coffee. Observe the workers who patronize the coffee vendor. Listen to them talk. Are they a happy group? Are they surly? You might get some clues as to what kind of employer is XYZ; the driver of the coffee truck is often a friendly gossip. Ask him a few questions about XYZ. You might get an earful.
What comes of all this planning, this preparing? The answer is: QUESTIONS. Your preparations for that specific interview should result in six, eight, ten, twelve, well-formulated questions. These should be strategic, open-ended questions that invite lengthy or detailed answers.
For example, "What factors have contributed most to your company's dominant position in your industry?" Every executive enjoys talking at length about his industry, his company, and his products. You might also ask questions about their manufacturing processes, their financial systems, their marketing strategies.
If you have a lot of confidence in your memory, then just store the questions in your memory bank. But, to play safe, try using a 3 x 5 card you can keep in your shirt pocket or in your purse. Why? Because sometimes in the middle of an interview there can be a certain amount of pressure and your mind goes blank. At that point you just reach into your pocket and say, "By the way, Mr. Davis, in preparing for this meeting I had a couple of questions I wanted to be sure to ask," and you whip out your card. The card in your purse or pocket will be a wonderful security blanket, even though you may never have to refer to it because the action of having written out the questions will keep them fresh in your mind.
Questions Which Are Asked of You
The other kinds of questions that make up interviews are those you will have to answer. These questions, in turn, fall into two categories:
1. Questions relating to job content and to your technical proficiency.
These are the questions you want to hear. Your objective is to spend as much time as possible discussing the needs of the organization and how you can meet those needs. You should not need help in formulating answers to questions of this nature. You are a professional manager and know your field. If you don't have the technical background required, someone else will get the job.
2. Questions not related to the job itself.
Unprepared job hunters fear, and rightly so, they are going to be asked one or more of those probing, disconcerting questions designed to bring out a side of the job hunter best left forgotten. These are referred to as sensitive or stress questions, which can present problems if you are unprepared to deal with them.
What are sensitive and stress questions? (The terms "sensitive" and "stress" are used interchangeably by authors, so, to simplify, sensitive questions will be the single term used here.) If you ask a group of job hunters to define "sensitive questions," you will hear answers such as:
- Questions designed to make you nervous
- Questions designed to make you uncomfortable
- Questions designed to make you sweat
- Questions designed to put you under stress
- Questions you don't want to hear.
Suppose an interviewer asks you, "Where were you born?" You reply, "On the East Coast... Philadelphia.'' The interviewer continues, "That's a nice city. Did you live there most of your life?" You answer, "No, before I started school my family moved to Ohio when my father was transferred by his company." The interviewer smiles, "That's interesting. I grew up in Cleveland. Whereabouts in Ohio did you live?"
Do you feel any stress? Probably not. Yet you are in a stress area. Do you feel uncomfortable? You should! You could spend five or ten minutes talking about Ohio and Pennsylvania, erroneously thinking you are building a great rapport with the interviewer.
The interviewer goes on, "When did you leave the Midwest?" You reply, "Oh, that wasn't until after I completed college." Interviewer: "Which university did you attend?" You, feeling great and comfortable: "I was a business major at Western Reserve University in Cleveland." Interviewer: "Isn't that interesting. I have a cousin who went to Western Reserve and is probably about your age. Do you happen to remember Fred Swanson?"
Lord forbid, you would remember good old Fred! This conversation could go on and on. Fortunately, the interviewer changes the subject. Tell me, what do you like to do in your spare time?" Ah, you think, another easy, non-stressful question. "I love to play tennis and try to get out on the courts whenever I can." Interviewer: "Hey, I am an avid tennis player, too. What kind of racket do you use?" More rapport!
Now you will spend the next ten or fifteen minutes discussing your tennis game. Next, you will spend five minutes discussing the recent weather and ten minutes talking about your children. Soon the interviewer will be looking at his watch and saying, "Well, it certainly has been nice talking with you. I have to attend a meeting so well have to bring this to a close. Thank you for coming in. We'll let you know our decision.''
There you are, back on the street, and you never had a chance to explain what a valuable contribution you would make to the growth and success of the company. You were inundated with sensitive questions, but you didn't recognize them.
Some sensitive questions will make you squirm. But, many sensitive questions appear innocuous. These are the ones that can really hurt you, and you don't even realize you have been gored! Here is the right definition for Sensitive Questions:
Sensitive questions are any questions that:
- Take up valuable time. You are at the interview to discuss problems of the job and how you can help solve those problems. Any other subjects are irrelevant and must be allowed minimum time. Time is precious. You must make every second count. You must keep the conversation productive, for you need time to score all your points. You cannot afford to do otherwise.
- Take the interview where you don't want it to go. A little rapport is desirable, but keep your eye focused on why you are there. You must help the interviewer stick to the main issue: Your candidacy for a position.
- Take control of the interview away from you. You always want to strive for control. The person in control is the one who is asking the questions. Sitting there answering irrelevant questions propounded by the interviewer does nothing for your cause.
Having defined "sensitive questions," you may now wonder, why are these questions asked? The fundamental reason these questions come up is because the interviewer doesn't know how to interview. The interviewer is faced with the complex problem of trying to evaluate another human being, and measuring that person, against two, three, or more others, all competing for the same job.
Infrequently you will come across a trained psychologist or human relations specialist who has really mastered the skills of interviewing effectively. Most executives rarely practice the art of interviewing. If you are fortunate enough to encounter an effective interviewer, congratulations. That person will not waste time asking inappropriate questions. That person will know how to zero in on the position's requirements to give you ample opportunity to sell yourself.
The interviewer would rather be doing almost anything else than talking to you. In the morning, when the interviewer is preparing to leave for work, he or she tends to think of the day ahead. What meetings are scheduled? Which reports are due? What problems will demand attention?
Suppose what faces the interviewer one day is meeting four job candidates? Does he or she think, "Yippee, I am so excited? I am going to spend the day interviewing." No, it doesn't promise to be an exciting day. Most managers do not enjoy interviewing, because they do not feel competent or comfortable in that activity.
This is a realistic profile of the person who will usually face you across the interview table. He does not know how to conduct an interview, so he will grope around, asking silly questions to get a conversation going that somehow, someway, might guide to an intelligent hiring decision.
How do you answer Sensitive Questions?
1. POSITIVELY. Every word out of your mouth must be positive. You must have a positive reply prepared for each sensitive question you might expect to hear. For example, if you are asked why you left your last job, the last thing you want to do is explain that it happened because you and your boss did not see eye-to-eye. That is getting into negative territory. You want a positive reason. You might say you wanted to find a position presenting greater challenge.
Here is another example of avoiding negatives. The interviewer asks what you liked least about your last job. That is an obvious trap. You should pause for a moment (making the interviewer feel he has asked a sage question), and then you might reply, "my last job presented many challenges and I did what had to be done, without spending too much time worrying about which tasks I enjoyed more than others."
2. POLITELY. You must answer all questions politely. The interviewer is a buyer and you are a seller. Antagonizing the buyer is no way to make a sale. You cannot afford to offend the buyer. So if asked a question you resent, you still have to smile politely and respond accordingly. That is, if you want the interview to continue favorably.
3. BRIEFLY. Time is precious. You cannot squander your interview time answering questions not directly related to the purpose of your meeting. You cannot afford to talk at length about your last job, about the best boss you ever had, about your likes and dislikes. The clock is ticking. Most sensitive questions should be disposed of in five to ten seconds. A few complex ones might take a little longer, but fifteen or twenty seconds is enough... except for one question, to be explained later, requiring a full thirty seconds.
4. ASK A QUESTION. The objective of your planning and preparations was to prepare a set of questions that you would be ready to ask at the proper time. The proper time has arrived. Answer each sensitive question briefly, politely, and positively, smiling as you go through your reply, and then... ask one of your own questions to put you back in control and bring the conversation back to the needs of the job and how you can fill those needs.
An example: The interviewer asks, "What are some of your pet gripes?" You smile, look out the window thoughtfully, and then reply, I've never categorized my gripes, things that bother me more than others. Of course, I feel badly when things aren't going right. My normal action is to find out what went wrong and see to it that it doesn't happen again. By the way, Mr. Olson, why is it your company sells through sales reps, rather than through an in-house sales force?" This statement took 17 seconds. Now you can sit back and listen to Mr. Olson take five or ten minutes explaining how their sales force operates.
What happens when you make the mistake of stopping before you ask your own question? It would be an invitation to Mr. Olson to pursue the sensitive subject. He might continue, "Yes, but you acknowledged some things do bother you more than others. What are they?"
Now you have another question to answer. If you do, and don't change the subject with a question of your own, Mr. Olson will hit you with another one of his... and another... and another. Before you realize it, you will have spent ten or fifteen minutes unprofitably resulting from a silly question that Mr. Olson asked simply because he didn't know how to conduct an interview.
Job hunters often ask, "Won't the interviewer resent you're asking questions? Won't he feel you're trying to take over his job? Won't he feel it is his job to ask the questions, and your role to provide answers?" This is not likely. The interviewer will be much more comfortable speaking on a subject he knows well, his company, its products, and their industry. He will love you for asking questions and making his job much easier than having to sit there, trying to figure out what to ask you.
"But," you may say, "Isn't it rude to change the subject so abruptly?" The interviewer asked about your family. How can you suddenly change the subject? In a social setting, time is not of the essence and an abrupt change of subject might indeed be resented by the other person. You can spend almost unlimited time (if you don't mind being considered a bore) talking about your golf game, your children, and gossiping about your friends and neighbors.
In a job interview you are selling a product. You have limited time to make your selling points. You must make every minute count. If you smile and give the questioner a brief and polite answer, there is little likelihood changing the subject will be resented. Remember, you are changing the subject to what the interviewer really wants to discuss.
Remember that important point we have made before: You say much more about yourself by the questions you ASK, rather than by the questions you ANSWER.
Following are examples of typically difficult and stressful interview questions. You may think of other general questions you have heard, and you may also add to the list some personal questions relating to skeletons in your closet, questions that you would prefer not to hear in an interview.
Go through these questions methodically and focus on any that might give you a problem. Write out a reply to each question and work on your replies until you are comfortable with them. Use a tape recorder and listen to your answers. Repeat each of your answers several times. Even by the fifth time you may be aware of the need for further work. But around the tenth time, as you listen to yourself, you should be pleased with what you hear.
Now, you are ready to ask your spouse or a relative or friend to ask you those sensitive questions and listen (and time) your replies. The big advantage here is that the person helping you will not only hear the words, but will also see your face and judge the sincerity of your delivery. Above all, ask your listener to monitor your smiling. If you are not smiling, have the listener stop you and remind you that your demeanor is getting too serious. If an interviewer asks you a question and your face clouds over, he will read that as a clue that you are troubled. Then he may press you more to find out why the question disturbed you. Work on these sensitive questions diligently. Develop smooth answers, and follow your answers with the questions you prepared in advance. This preparation will go a long way toward making you a powerful interviewee and a viable candidate for that all important job.
