The critical moment has arrived. You were advised by a member of your Network to contact Mr. Gonzalez, manager of a company. After many telephone calls, you were successful to have an interview with him.
You walk into Mr. Gonzalez's office, shake hands, and say hello.
When he read your letter, Mr. Gonzalez may have felt some skepticism about whether you really meant what you said. Remember the wariness that every business person learns from experience. When he heard you repeat your assurances over the telephone, he tended to trust you a little more.
Your letter and your Summary are just pieces of paper. The recipient has no idea whether you are tall or short; whether you are thin or weigh 350 pounds; whether you are well spoken and amiable; whether you are cultured or uncouth. Subsequently, your voice over the telephone tells him you are pleasant, and it confirms you can put two or three sentences together in an understandable manner.
Now, you walk through the door and, after the smile, the handshake, the opening niceties, for a third time you should go through the litany you went through in your letter and in your telephone call. Compliment the person, explain your problem. Emphasize, you don t expect a job. Repeat once again you will require only fifteen or twenty minutes. Your letter and resume will probably be visible on the interviewer's desk. If not, offer another copy of your resume and give him time to read it. Any lingering skepticism should evaporate and you will be on your way to a productive interview.
The Importance of Time
Remember, fifteen or twenty minutes is all the time you need. When you walk into an interviewer's office it will take just about three minutes to decide whether he likes you or not. If the interviewer doesn't like you, you're dead in the water. You might as well shake hands and leave.
In another five or ten minutes the interviewer will be able to determine whether you sound intelligent, whether you are knowledgeable, whether you are the kind of person he can use, or might be willing to recommend to someone else.
You are not on a job interview, so you will not be discussing job content. All you want to accomplish is to make a generally favorable impression. You want the person to like you, to help you. Managers know their needs, and if you look like a valuable person who might make a contribution to their organization, they may want to talk to you further.
The hardest thing to find in business is good people. Business managers are always on the lookout for good potential additions to their staff. It is easy to buy raw material and supplies. The manager looks in the Yellow Pages or in the Thomas Register and finds the names of suppliers. A few phone calls will have a mob of salesmen at his door. But good people are hard to find. People are unique. People are hard to measure, hard to evaluate.
You have asked for fifteen to twenty minutes, so you must respect the time limit you set up. If you succeed in getting into a person's office and then violate the contract by making it difficult for the person to get rid of you, you will ruin any favorable impression you may have made. The person will feel deceived and any help that may have been forthcoming will be negated.
Keep an eye on your watch. At the end of fifteen minutes or so, say, "I see time has raced by. I know you're busy and it would be unfair of me to take more of your time." Start to stand up and make it easy for the interviewer to close the meeting. If the interviewer says, "That's OK, I have time". You can relax and allow the conversation to go on a little longer. But continue to keep your eye on your watch. In another five or ten minutes make another gracious attempt to end the meeting.
Most job hunters, unfortunately, equate longer with better. If you go on ten interviews and time them (and you should time them) you will find the shorter ones are usually the best. Why? Keep on talking long enough and you might wind up putting your foot in your mouth.
What to Talk About
You are not going to get deep into job functions as you are not there as a candidate for a specific opening. What you need is a few general questions to get a conversation going and to impress the interviewer with your fine qualities and what a wonderful addition you would be to the interviewer's, or to any other, organization. So, don't force it. When interviewers read your Summary it is only natural they will relate your talents to their own needs.
There are some questions you can ask to get the conversation moving towards the areas you want to cover: For example, "What do you see in my Summary?" This question compels the interviewer to scrutinize the Accomplishments listed in your resume. Any accomplishments he selects might give you a clue to needs within his own organization. Also, it could suggest to him someplace else where he might send you.
If the interviewer's response is encouraging, then ask, "Would you tell me more about what you'd see me doing?"
Spend as much time on this as possible. He knows a lot about his industry and will feel comfortable discussing the subject. Ask him about associations you should join, about industry trends, and what the future holds for the industry.
If the interviewer suggests names of specific companies, ask the best ways to approach those companies and who should you contact. Of course, what you would like is to get specific recommendations of other persons to see. Don't force this, but if you lead gently, and the interviewer likes you, you may walk out with some very valuable leads.
The specific questions you ask are not as important as what you are trying to achieve. Your objective is simply to get another person to like you.
Green Lights
In the course of these interviews you will get encouraging signals referred to as "Green lights." You should expect only one out of four networking interviews will "lead" to Green tights. This also means three out of four won't produce anything in the way of a job opportunity. These other three, however, may yield valuable advice or contacts. Your efforts are rarely wasted.
Thus, if you are actively networking and see twenty-four potential employers, you might get three job offers. As your activity is compressed into a short period of time, the offers often come concurrently so you can weigh one against the others. Happy day!
The interviewer kept you there and not because you dragged it out. Of course, this could just mean the interviewer had nothing to do and wanted to kill some time. But, more than likely there is some interest. The interviewer liked you and wanted to know more about you. But, look into your mirror, look into your soul, and be absolutely positive that it was the interviewer who extended the interview, and not you!
Another Green light occurs when the interviewer takes you on tour of the plant or a tour of the offices. The manager probably wants to see how you react to their systems or their manufacturing processes. Of course, the tour also serves to extend the length of the interview. Yet another Green light occurs when the manager introduces you to other members of the firm. If you are introduced to the interviewer's boss, that is great, but you may be also introduced to peers or subordinates. Smile at each of them. Pour on the charm. After you leave they are going to be talking about you, comparing notes. Being introduced to others is a very positive Green Light. Green Lights also go on when an interviewer puts questions to you such as, "Would you consider relocating? How do you feel about travel? Do you mind occasional weekend work?" These are all exploratory questions suggesting some interest in you. Don't start celebrating just yet, but you might want to put a little extra effort into your Thank You Letter, discussed next.
The Thank You Letter
The final step in the Networking process is your Thank You Letter. This letter is a potent weapon and is not just important when you are networking. You should also write a Thank You Letter after every job interview, even the ones that did not go as well as you hoped. Always write a Thank You Letter. You can never hurt yourself by writing someone a Thank You Letter. No one will ever be offended by a sincere "thank you." Sometimes a "Thank you" may fail to accomplish anything positive, but the "thank you" will never harm you.
Your Thank You Letter should be timely, because you want the interviewer to receive your thanks while your meeting is still fresh in his mind. If you go on an interview on Wednesday, your Thank You Letter should be in the mail Wednesday or Thursday.
If you have been on an exciting and promising interview, it can sometimes pay off to drive home, type your letter, drive back to the company and hand the letter to the receptionist with the request that the letter be on the interviewer's desk first thing the next morning. Will it make an impression? Guaranteed!
The Thank You Letter is short, yet the few minutes it takes to compose and type can pay off for you in ways you cannot imagine. The Thank You Letter can sometimes bear fruit months or years later. Why? Because you will be favorably remembered.
Most people don't hear enough "thank yous." How many people have you thanked today? For anything? Try doing more of it - your life will be enriched!
The Thank You Letter needs to be only half a page long. Don't overdo it. The important thing is that you are taking the trouble to express your appreciation. The recipient does not need to hear a speech. Just a few words will suffice. Start with a few words of appreciation:
"Thank you for your kindness during our meeting yesterday."
"Thank you for your words of wisdom."
"Thank you for explaining your company's success in penetrating the teenage market."
The next part of your letter should be to try to mention something specific the interviewer said. This is flattering and shows you were paying attention. A couple of examples:
"Your suggestion that great opportunities are available in Orange and San Diego Counties was very interesting. Those will certainly be fully explored."
"Your explanation certainly provided a much greater understanding of the movement of produce into the Los Angeles area."
Often, after you leave an interview, you should something that you could, or should, have said. This letter provides an opportunity to bring an additional important point to the attention of the decision maker. For example:
"When you were describing your company's use of linear programming, I neglected to mention I had considerable experience in this area while with the XYZ Corporation."
At the end of a pleasant meeting, the interviewer will often say something such as: "Let me know what happens," or "Call me if there's any further help you need." So, close your letter saying something along the lines of:
"I will keep you posted on future developments."
"You will certainly be advised as to the results of my search."
Summary
Sure it is hard work, but you are foolish if you avoid it. If you don't Network, you will not place yourself in contention for the major portion of employment opportunities. More than 80% of managerial positions are never advertised.
