- Apply "The Greatest Executive Job-Finding Secret."
During the interview, your most important objective is to uncover your interviewer's most ardently felt want, problem, need, desire, goal or priority. It's foolhardy to start selling yourself and your qualities until you know what the employer's greatest needs are. As master salespeople know, don't sell anything until you know what the buyer is buying. Of course, the problem becomes, how can you accomplish this when the interviewer begins by asking you to tell him about yourself?
Here's a good way to do it, but one that will take a little rehearsing before your interview.
After the small talk, be ready to seize the initiative by saying, "Before we get started, could you fill me in a little bit more about this position? All I know is what I heard from the executive recruiter (read in your advertisement or whatever the case may be)." This first question can lead to other questions, each of which can help you know how to position your qualifications and thereby sell what the interviewer is buying.
You should rehearse this approach so that you are sure to bring it off tactfully, almost nonchalantly, to avoid the impression that you're trying to take over the interview. But you must do it if you truly want to be a master at giving the interviewer what he wants.
If, after the introductory small talk, your interviewer beats you to the punch by asking the first question, you must of course answer it, but then try to regain the initiative by asking him to reveal more about the position and therefore how you can better present your qualifications in light of his needs.
For example, let's say that your interviewer ends the small talk by saying, "Well, I've read through your resume, but why don't you tell me a little bit more about your qualifications." Your best answer would be to give a 30-second to one-minute summary of your strongest qualifications and then, without pausing, immediately continue by saying, "I have a number of accomplishments that I'd like to tell you about. So that I can make my answers relevant to your areas of greatest interest, may I ask a question or two about the position? All I know about it is what I got from (name the source of your information)"
Then you have your interviewer's permission to ask several questions which draw out his greatest need, want, desire, goal or problem.
No matter which question your interviewer asks you at the beginning of the interview, you should give but a brief answer, and get back to this strategy of uncovering his greatest want.
Applying this strategy is not necessarily easy. You have to practice it to feel comfortable and natural with it. But it is the only way to maximize your opportunity to sell what your potential employer is buying. If you try to sell yourself before you know what your interviewer needs, you may well stress qualifications and accomplishments of little interest to him. You must, absolutely must, get him talking about his needs before you talk about how you can fulfill those needs.
An excellent way to get the ball rolling is to ask questions such as, "What would your highest expectations be for the person who fills this job?" Or "Why is the position open?" Or "What would be the highest priorities for the person who fills this position?"
Once your interviewer begins to talk about his wants and needs, keep his dialogue going with further probing questions such as, "That's interesting, why is that the case?" Or "How would you like to see this situation remedied?" Or "What would the person in this position have to achieve to be considered a great success?"
Once you have this critically important intelligence of what the interviewer is looking for, you have everything you need to make a masterful presentation, one that matches his greatest wants with your most relevant credentials and accomplishments.
You should then proceed to describe anecdotes of how you achieved success in similar situations. Keep the descriptions of your achievements and the problems you've solved concise, no more than a minute to two minutes. Use the PAR formula to describe your accomplishments the Problem you faced, the Action you took and Results you achieved.
Allow your interviewer to interrupt with more questions if he so desires.
By all means, resist the temptation to offer an on-the-spot solution to the interviewer's greatest wants, needs, problems, desires, goals, etc. The purpose of your achievement anecdotes is to demonstrate how you think; how you approach problems and that you are an achiever who knows how to get results. You are not there to solve his problems on the spot. Rather, you are presenting anecdotes and credentials to show you have outstanding qualifications as someone who can help solve those problems once you come on board. Stick with what you've done for others, not what he or she should be doing to solve a particular problem.
Also, remember not to use the word "problem" in acknowledging what the employer is looking for. Nobody likes to admit to someone else that they have a "problem," even if they do. Use words such as "highest priority," "most important goal," or "greatest desire."
- Listen well to your interviewer. Pay him the ultimate compliment of being an attentive, even riveted listener. Show him that you understand his needs, and then make an excellent case as to why your qualifications fit his needs so well.
