Comedians who are known as good ad-libbers work hard ahead of time to come up with many of their supposedly off-the-cuff brilliant asides.
I've been interviewed on hundreds of radio and television talk shows, and although I am very comfortable in that situation, I would never think of going to one of those programs without having done significant thinking, planning, and rehearsing.
Veterans of the talk-show circuit become skilled at making sure that no matter what questions are asked, they are going to get across the crucial points they want make and finesse the ones they can't answer-or prefer not to answer. Authors experienced at being interviewed determine in advance exactly what comments from them will help create interest in their books. Somehow they make sure these points are made. People seeking better jobs can take a lesson from this.
For me, those few minutes on the air represent an opportunity to offer helpful advice on employment and career tips, with which I am familiar, as well as to create interest in the company I founded, and those aspects that company that I wish to get across to potential clients and job candidates. In your case, it is an opportunity to sell yourself. If you fail to do that because the interviewer hasn't led you into areas in which you feel you can make your points, you've failed. It doesn't help after in interview to moan that the interviewer didn't pave the way for you to highlight your strong points. That's your responsibility, not the interviewer's.
The first image that comes to many people's minds when I suggest this approach is the typical politician being questioned on specific ideas and programs. It's infuriating the way they totally ignore what has been asked, and give canned speeches. That, however, has become so commonplace in the American fabric of political life that we tend to shrug our shoulders, smile, and ignore it.
You can't be as blatant as a politician in a job interview. You must weave selling points about yourself into the flow of the conversation in such a way that it appears that you have answered questions. In reality, you have used those questions as a launching pad for your own personal sell. This is where rehearsal comes in.
As we've all become aware, video has found a prominent place in almost every aspect of our lives. Job seekers are now sending out "video resumes" to prospective employers, occasionally with favorable results, but eliciting unfavorable reactions. There are courses offered all over America in which corporate executives videotaped while making speeches and answering them interviewer questions, and then have the opportunity review and sharpen their performance. Athletes make good use of videotapes of their games, and learn from what they see.
You can learn a great deal by conducting a mock interview in front of a video camera and analyzing the tape. Such video setups are available through employer counselors, and college placement services throughout United States make use of them. If you don't have a video recorder, work with an audio tape recorder. Decent classic tape recorders cost very little, and can be of tremendous help in enabling you to judge not only the content of your answers but the tone in which you deliver them.
Before any of this can be accomplished, there may be concerted effort on your part to anticipate every potential question, to formulate the right answer to each of them, and to practice working into your answers the points that, while they may not seem germane to question, are made to sound as though they are.
The first time I ever appeared on television was long time ago, in living black-and-white, on public TV Portland, Oregon. It was a half-hour interview and, course, because it was public television, there were commercials. I was told that the interviewer, who happened to be a Russian prince who held two doctoral, was a mild-mannered, low-key host. He seemed that v upon my initial meeting with him. We settled into studio on chairs facing each other. One camera behind focused upon him, the one behind him on my face.
I was fully prepared to talk about subjects like hiring, getting a job, and all other aspects of the working. In fact, a couple of days before the show the host called me and discussed the nature of the subjects he interested in exploring during the interview. I felt supremely confident and well prepared. Then, he show began, the first comment out of the interviewer's mouth was, "Mr. Half, we both agree that almost employment services are unethical." I immediately assumed that the camera covering me is focused tight on my face, and I tried to keep an overall dissent look and conceal my sudden nervousness. I responded, "Mark, unquestionably there are some unethical employment services, just as there are some unethical doctors, lawyers, accountants, and radio hosts. But overwhelming majority of people in our industry are unethical, and try their best to fill positions. They even get a great deal of professional advice that they don't refer."
Mark spent the next ten minutes grilling me on this appropriate subject. Then, to my good fortune, he blunted. He started to make it clear that he believed in government control of all employment. At that point I broke the conversation and said, 'Mark, just a moment. What I hear you saying is that you approve of manpower control by the federal government. Are you aware that first thing Hitler did was to control manpower, and one of the first things Castro did was to control manner? I'm sure that's not your intention." Frankly, I beared it was his intention, but I didn't want to create a more antagonistic atmosphere.
Suddenly, my host became a kinder and gentler interviewer, and he spent the rest of the show discussing exactly what I was prepared to discuss. I have to admit it was a lunatic way for me to get my feet wet doing talk shows. I made sure that I was always prepared with contingency plans. Fortunately, in the countless radio television interviews I've had over many years, I never an experience that was as bad as that one in Portland.
Years ago the reigning king of late-night talk radio New York was a gentleman named Long John Nebel. He was known as a ruthless interviewer, although I didn't him that way when he interviewed me. He had the ability unsettle a guest and then get at information the guest would have preferred not to have broadcast. Nebel's skill in had a great deal to do with his natural approach to ask questions. He also used a technique that few people think about.
When a guest-particularly a controversial one-arrived at the studio a half hour before the show, that guest would be seated comfortably in a waiting room. The program's producer would pleasantly ask the guest to sig standard release form. While the guest was reading form, the producer would casually ask, "Is there any subject you'd rather not have brought up tonight?"
In most cases, the guest was pleased and relieved this demonstration of sensitivity, and would discuss some aspect of his or her life that would be embarrass to have discussed over a radio show. What the guest didn't know was that the conversation with the producer was being picked up by a microphone. Nebel was sitting in his office listening to it.
You guessed it. Nebel would lead into the program in a pleasant and cooperative manner. Then, at an opp tune time, he would bring up precisely the thing that you had asked not be discussed.
I mention this because many people seeking bet jobs end up being thrown during an interview by a question that they hadn't expected, and that they perhaps would have preferred not to have been asked. It's for the reason that I suggest that each person about to go to a job interview make a list of the ten questions that he or she absolutely would not want to have to answer. Once that is drawn, every question on it should have an answer prepared with care and skill. With that out of the way, can walk into an interview and not fear the unknown, because die "unexpected question" is now expected. Also, in regard to questions, you should never assume that, once a question is asked and you answer it, the interviewer will move on to another subject. In fact, almost every answer to a question will prompt follow-ups, to clarify or illustrate what you've said.
"Do you feel that you've exhibited superior leadership skills in the job you're in right now?" "Yes, I think I have good leadership skills." In most cases the question isn't going to stop there. An obvious follow-up is "Give me some examples." Anticipate that this will happen with most questions, I have examples ready to back up every answer you remember, and the important word is credibility. When analyzing the question you're likely to be asked, including those you don't want asked, use your good sense in anticipating the follow-up questions that will also be put to you.
"What were the courses you enjoyed most in college?" "I really enjoyed the sociology and psychology. I took, because I think they apply to the market and career I've been pursuing." "Yes, that makes sense. What schools of psychology you think have the most direct impact upon the marketing of goods in this society?" Fumble time. If one of the points you wish to make is it you feel sociology and psychology play an important role in marketing, be prepared to discuss it further and in ne depth. Question: "What do you enjoy doing on your off-hours?"
"Well, I play tennis and I love to read." "Really? What authors do you especially enjoy?" I could list examples of follow-up questioning ever. The point is that when you anticipate a question; anticipate that there will be at least another on the same subject, and probably more. A favorite question is "Who has influenced you the most in your life?"
The most acceptable answer always was "My mother" or "My father." That invites the next question: "Why?"
Journalists learn to answer five questions in everything they write: who, what, why, where, and when? Be prepared to answer all five questions whenever you give an answer. And don't give an answer that doesn't represent the truth, if you don't read books, don't say "I love to read." If you h read some books recently, go over the titles, the authors, the basic thrust of the books enough times so that you readily discuss these things when asked about them.
