I rapped nonstop about interviewing techniques; "directive" or "nondirective," "specific" or "general," "closed ended" or "open ended," "structured" or "unstructured," "restricted" or "unrestricted," "window," "choice," "hypothetical," "theoretical," "interpretive," "leading," "loaded," "stress," "interrogation," "machine-gun," "multiple," "double," "curiosity" . . .
It's a welcome break for supervisors and keeps a lot of personnel off the unemployment line. But studying interviewing techniques [used by personnel types] is a total waste of time for a serious jobseeker. At best, studying it will get you tired long before you're hired. At worst, it will intimidate you. Interviewing hasn't changed since Laurel hired Hardy. It's just as comical as it has always been.
Use the "programmed interview system" to fast-forward your future.
It maximizes the positive impact of the "actor factor." You can memorize the script in advance, by using a technique I taught in The Qet A Book. It's called the programmed interview system-and it works. At first, most people are afraid they'll respond like a bionic with a broken brain, and just talk or move out of context. Not a chance. The subconscious just stores. Words and actions then happen naturally when the time is right. Follow the steps given here, and the interviewer will never know you're using the system. He or she won't care, either. He or she wants that job requisition off his or her desk and out of his or her life for as long as possible. Show a glimmer of star quality and some indication that you know your lines, and he or she will even coach you for the part. Oh, maybe you have some "moral" problems with using the "actor factor" to your advantage and not "being yourself." If so, I suggest you ask a past interviewer for the rating forms he or she used on you. It won't get you hired, but it will open your eyes wide to the games interviewers play, and how biased, unfair, and incorrect their snap judgments really are. Now, you can work this to your advantage. People who interview well are better employees, too. That's because they have learned how to interact on the job-to sell themselves and their ideas to others. They aren't enslaved because they know they can always find another job. They're working because they want to. Programmed interviewing teaches the kind of positive interacting skill that gets people hired, promoted, and recruited for better opportunities elsewhere. By using this system, you are taking the most random selection process imaginable and con trolling it. That's right-you are in control. No, you won't be switching seats with the interviewer-you'll never have that much control. It's his or her office and decision (almost). After all, he or she can always yell "Cut!" So don't fight it. Just do it. Let it work for you. Then you won't want to fight it anyway. You'll feel great about yourself when you know you can knock any interview cold. You should. You have lifetime employment insurance and a supercharged career. Highlights of the programmed interview system follow in this section. Follow the next six steps to fast-forward your future.
Read the questions and answers to yourself once.
Customize it to the target job.
Customize the questions where necessary to conform to the ones you'll be asked.
Pin Customize it to your "character."
Customize the answers where necessary to your vocabulary and way of speaking. (Just don't change it radically; each answer is carefully designed and tested to score the most points. The further you deviate from it, the more you risk.)
Record and replay
Prepare a cassette for yourself containing the most difficult questions for you to answer, leaving spaces on the tape to read your answers aloud. You can stop the tape occasionally to rehearse a particular response, but it is important to simulate an interview where the dialogue continues. Remember, no retake in that personnel playhouse.
Rehearse your delivery
Play the cassette at least three times a week for the next two weeks, sitting in front of a full-length mirror. Make an interviewing "set" by using a table for a desk and adding other props. Pay attention to your facial expressions, hand movements, and body language. Smile. Look the "interviewer" (you) in the eye. Try not to speak with your hands. Lean forward to make a point. If you want to learn more about how body language can be used most effectively, pick up the paperbacks Contact: The First Four Minutes by Leonard Zunin and Body Language by Julius Fast.
Repeat it 'till it rolls off your tongue.
Use your driving, riding, or walking time to listen to the cassette and answer the questions. You can just think the answers, but talking aloud to an imagined interviewer will rivet your attention. Engaging your mouth when your brain is in gear is good practice.
Personal questions: Know the knockout factors.
Of all the categories of questions you will be asked, those pertaining to your personal and family life seem to be the most "statistical." As a result, most jobseekers answer them in a "static" way, providing only the basic information; name, rank, and serial number. These questions are often emotionally charged, since they delve into personal perils, family feuds, and status symbols. Therefore, rehearsing your lines in this area is particularly important, because what you say is as crucial as what you convey. While most of the questions in this area have only marginal value in determining your qualifications to perform a specific job, you must get past them so that you can get down to business with the interviewer. That is why they are called "KO factors" (knockout factors). Wrong answers will knock you out in Round 1; right ones will keep you in the ring like Rocky. Personal and family items are commonly found on the front of application forms, and at the beginning of interview checklists. Because you can expect these questions early in the screen test, I have provided your cue cards early in this section.
The next few chapters are in continuation to this chapter and help you with few questions that are asked often.
