Conclusions of the Interview

Uncovering your interviewer's greatest wants, needs, goals, etc. is by far the most important function of your questions. But as your interview proceeds, or as you are invited back for second or third interviews, you will want to raise other questions that help you evaluate the opportunity the position represents and whether you will be happy there.

For example, you may wish to ask questions such as

• What are the unique opportunities in this job?
  
  
  
  
• To whom would I report?
  
  
• Who are the key people I would work with?
  
  
• How long has the position been open? What happened to the individual who previously held this position?
  
  
• How will I be evaluated what criteria?
  
  
• How would you define the firm's objectives?
  
  
• How is the company doing?
  
  
• What are the organization's greatest strengths and weaknesses?
  
  
• Also, since most interviewers will give you high marks for the intelligence and thoroughness of your questions, never be shy in asking about.
  
  
• The company -- its products, services, distribution channels, sales, growth, profitability, problems, strengths, weaknesses, ownership, competitors, market share, etc.
  
  
• Your place in the company -- your job title, responsibilities, and place in the organizational structure, reporting relationships, authority and the expectations management has of you.
  
  
• The department where you will work -- its place in the organizational totem pole, present reputation within the firm, goals, functions, budget, problems, personnel, strengths, weaknesses, history, etc.
  
  
• Potential office politics -- why is the firm hiring from the outside rather than from within? Might your being hired create any problems for any individuals in the company?
  
  
• Your position -- what are the technical requirements, what would a typical day be like, will you have the resources you'll need based on your past experience of what such a position requires, etc.

Questions to AVOID Until After You Are Offered the Position

Questions about the hiring arrangements salary range, compensation package, medical, hospitalization and dental plan, life insurance, retirement program, pension plan, vacation and other perks. Also, when you are offered the position and wish to inquire about these, be casual about it. You don't want to seem overly interested in them. Your employer may quickly get cold feet if he senses the tiger he was about to hire starts to look like a benefits chow-hound, someone who's suddenly more worried about vacation time than setting new sales quotas.

Remember that even once you've been offered the position, there are several runner-up candidates in the wings, candidates your interviewer may have liked just a hair less than you. Don't give these contenders the chance to come back off the canvas and beat you in the 15th round. Don't get greedy or cute in your final negotiations.

Questions about relocation. You don't want to bring these up before you're offered the position, but once the offer is extended, you will want to know the firm's relocation policy. Are all relocation expenses paid? Just some? Does the firm have a policy regarding travel expenses to scout out a new home or living arrangement before you make the move?

Again, don't make a federal case of these issues. Just raise them and find out what the employer believes is reasonable and fair.

The Right Way and the Wrong Way to "Close the Sale" at the End of Your Interview

Many executive recruiters tell their clients (i.e., the hiring companies) that if two candidates are more or less equally qualified, they should hire the person who wants the job more. This is because the two greatest predictors of success are inevitably: (1) a person's qualifications for the job, and (2) their motivation to do the job well. This means that you should always indicate that you would like to be hired. Salespeople call this closing the sale.
But there are right ways and wrong ways to close the sale. Here's the right way:

At the conclusion of the interview, you should try to close the sale with a three-part statement:

1. A summary of your qualifications, especially tailored to the potential employer's greatest needs.
2. An expression of your desire for the position. The best ways to express this interest without sounding too pushy or desperate would be with statements such as:

• My approach to all my work is to give more than expected. This is what you can expect should you decide to hire me.
• "Should you hire me, Ms. Kelly, I will not let you down."
• Mr. Forsythe, it's been my experience that the best candidates for any position are those who have the knowledge to do the job and who are highly motivated to do the job well. As I've tried to show in my resume and in my responses to your questions, I certainly have the knowledge to do the job well. And I assure you that no one is going to be more motivated than I in giving you the outstanding results you seek from the person in this position."

(To appreciate how powerful these statements are in influencing the person with the authority to hire, try to remember your own hiring decisions when you were evaluating candidates. If there were several people with relatively equal credentials, wouldn't you be most impressed with the candidate who sincerely uttered one of the above statements?)

1. An expression of your interest in how the process will proceed. You don't want to push too hard to force a commitment, but there's certainly no harm in asking, "What happens next?" or "Where do we go from here?"

One final point about not pushing too hard; Believe it or not, some resume books advise you to close the sale the same way a hard-sell encyclopedia salesman might, saying something like, "Well, Mr. Smith, I think we have a perfect match here. I could start either on Monday the 15th, or Monday the 29th. Which would you prefer?"
Even more incredibly, some executives have actually followed this idiotic advice, invariably with disastrous results. An executive job search is NOT the type of sale that can be closed with high pressure.
To show your sincere interest in the position, stick with the three-part formula and specific phrases mentioned above, and you will strike the perfect balance.

Finally, another extremely powerful tool for closing the sale is a well-crafted follow-up letter, one which again applies The Greatest Executive Job-Finding Secret. That is, you will use the follow-up letter to thank the interviewer for the opportunity to discuss the position and then immediately review your understanding of the employer's greatest want, desire or goal for the position. Then you will proceed to explain why you believe you are uniquely qualified to give him exactly what he wants most. Allow your follow-up letter to be as long as needed to paint a full picture of why you are so well-qualified to give him what he wants most. Even if you go to six pages, it's fine. The more you tell, the more you sell.

Remember that your potential employer is hungering for more information that will guide him in making a correct decision. This means he can't get enough information about you and the other candidates he is considering. Don't hold it back because some resume book says your follow-up letter shouldn't be longer than a page. This is utter nonsense.

In professional direct mail, long letters invariably pull more orders than short letters because they give more information to help close the sale. The same holds true in follow-up letters for job openings. Nothing will rocket you on to the short list of final candidates, if not winning you the position itself, than a thorough, thoughtful follow-up letter spelling out why you are uniquely qualified to meet the employer's greatest desires for the position.