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Get To Know the Concept of Controlling the Interview So That It Puts You in the Best Possible Light

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I make frequent appearances as a guest on nationwide television and radio talk shows. I'm confident of my ability to provide a good interview to the host or hostess, and approach those situations with the sort of confidence that only a great deal of experience brings about. However, I never approach an interview without rehearsing before ever arriving at the studio.

It works this way. The reason I've accepted the interview is that there are thoughts, ideas, or facts that I wish to get across in the brief period of time I'll be given. These things might be:
  1. That a recent study of mine on "time theft" - the amount of time employees "steal" from their employers - has just been completed and released.



  2. That we have recently received a prestigious award from our industry's leading trade association.

  3. That we are opening several new offices within the next six months.

  4. That I have been invited to testify before a Senate committee on an important piece of pending legislation having to do with my industry.
Obviously, if I go to the interview and do nothing but answer the questions the interviewer asks me, I'm not going to get those points across unless there has been a carefully agreed-upon script in advance, which is seldom the case. When it comes to a job interview, it is never the case.

The TV or radio interviewer might want to devote the entire interview to my thoughts on a recent Supreme Court decision on hiring practices, on an article I wrote long ago, or on my reaction to someone else's recently published book that only barely touches on my areas of expertise. Unless I write my own script prior to arriving for the interview... unless I've thought of ways to direct the interview to allow me to include the points that are important to me... unless I have rehearsed the script I've written, under my own direction... I'll simply be at the mercy of the interviewer. Now, when I say "script" I do not mean that I memorize words - that would create a terrible impression - but I do mean memorizing thoughts so I will get my important points across.

The first thing I do is to go over the points I wish to make during the interview until they are on the tip of my tongue. If I have to stop during the interview and try to remember what they were, I will lose my concentration and will be faced with a question I may not want to discuss.

As far in advance of the interview as possible, I'll work with a tape recorder and practice the answers I'm going to give, no matter what the question.

For example, the interviewer may say to me on the air, "I wonder what your reaction is to John Smith's book which has caused quite a stir in certain circles."

My answer, scripted by me before I ever reached the studio, might go like this: "You know, I really haven't had much time to read lately because we're in the process of expanding our network of offices around the country, and a new study we've just conducted on time theft was released yesterday. By the way, it was an interesting study. We discovered through it that..."

As experienced as I am in the interview setting, it would be folly for me to attempt to come up with those things off the top of my head in the midst of the pressure inherent in any interview situation. I might manage to slip in a few of the points I wish to make, but undoubtedly would leave the interview shaking my head and scolding myself for failing to work in the other two points that I considered important.

Extend this concept to the pressure of a job interview and the ramifications should be obvious.

Let's take my television-interview situation and apply it to what you face in going for that job interview the company has just called you about.

You want to set yourself aside from the rest of the field of candidates, which means you must have a firm grasp of those aspects of your experience, background, and personality that are destined to do this for you. What are they? Let's make a list, as I've done, and build it based upon those attributes we already know that employers in the data-processing field are looking for, especially things that don't appear on a nuts-and-bolts resume.
  1. While you thoroughly enjoy working in data processing, you get even more satisfaction out of end-user applications.

  2. You did some work with a college or community theater; not because you have any long-term aspirations for a theatrical career, but because you thought it would help you become more confident in communicating with people.

  3. You recognize the need to translate complex data-processing language into a more understand-able form for those involved with computers who are not necessarily on a day-to-day working basis with it.

  4. The job you are going after is in data communications, and you have recently been reading about the impressive growth of electronic mail and the movement toward a cashless society. This interests you, although it is not something you have dealt with directly, but you have kept abreast of it through reading trade journals.

If this article has helped you in some way, will you say thanks by sharing it through a share, like, a link, or an email to someone you think would appreciate the reference.



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