Tom had these salesmen. The same executives committed to his success by having given him their advice. Not that they were ready to sell him sight unseen. They had not become executives through making deals like that.
Tom telephoned his first man within five minutes of reaching his hotel room. The voice was coolly cautious, but receptive. "I'll be glad to see you," said the voice. "How about ten a.m. when the secretary brings in the coffee?"
"Fine, I'll be there," said Tom. He had lined up his first interview, and thanks to our coaching, he had placed the correct interpretation on the invitation. "I'll be glad to see you," was polite businesses for, "I'd better see you, because I won't make a move until I've had a chance to give you the once-over." The invitation to coffee might have been sheer Western hospitality, but more likely it meant, "As long as we are just enjoying a cup of coffee, you know, everything is informal. No serious business, you understand. If you pass the coffee test all right, we might get around to that later, but for the moment you'll be my guest, and I hope you are not rude enough to try to take advantage of it."
But don't overlook this-within ten minutes of his arrival in town, Tom had his first interview lined up with one of the influential men of the city, and that it included an invitation to have a cup of coffee-well, many a long- term employee in the firm had never enjoyed the privilege of sitting down with the boss under those intimate circumstances.
From Tom's report, the interview while the coffee was being brought in covered his trip from Washington, the view from the Top of the Mark, the climate, the fog, the Golden Gate Bridge, and traffic. Two minutes for that, and then, after the first sip of coffee, the first tentative lead from the executive: "I've read your resume. Interesting. I didn't know you fellows in Washington-I guess we always think of you as bureaucrats-worked that hard. Tell me something about yourself."
Tom was ready for that. "Would you rather I started in with my background in office systems analysis, or budget development, or office management?"
His voice was casual, but his question wasn't. It was one of many carefully calculated in advance to meet almost any opening lead. The technique he used-and you can use-is designed to eliminate those first awkward moments of indecision. Awkward because the executive doesn't know where you might start, and so can't brace himself in advance, and awkward because you don't know what start might be most effective in winning the executive to your side.
Remember this: Only you know what you want during the first stages of the interview, and this advantage lets you play the first question on your own terms. Tom played it that way by mentioning the three job functions that he did best, and on which he was qualified to speak with authority. But he didn't brag that he was an expert in those fields. His answer implied that he was, but when he tossed it back to the executive, it was with a polite question mark that removed all traces of braggadocio.
Thus disarmed, the executive said, "Start wherever you like. It's your story."
"All right, Office systems analysis. After analyzing our systems, procedures and flow of work, I reorganized our office operations so that we were able to cut our staff of a hundred and sixty people twenty-five per cent, to a hundred and twenty. I found four weekly reports which no longer had meaning or usefulness. These were dropped, and I developed ways to combine others meaningfully so that six became two. A lot of paperwork was eliminated, then I reorganized to further simplify, operations and cut costs. ..." And for two minutes Tom described his duties with no waste. He ended with another question, "Would you like to ask me some questions on that, or would you rather I went into my experience with budgets, office management, or personnel training?"
This question, too, had its purpose. He had talked about himself for two minutes, long enough to make his point, but not so long as to create the impression that he was in love with the sound of his own accomplishments. Then through his question he asked the executive for further instructions while directing the line of inquiry upon his own career. The subtle effect of this was double barreled-it returned the command of the interview to the executive, who otherwise might have begun to get restless had the monologue by a stranger been prolonged, and yet it left Tom in command of the direction the interview would take. He could either answer questions, as he was prepared to do, or he could talk on budgets or managements. The important point here is that no matter which subject the executive pursued, it would be of his choice, and therefore he would be interested.
"Go ahead on budgets," he suggested. "I think you cleared up office systems analysis pretty thoroughly."
Tom took up that subject in the same brief and thorough way he had covered the first. Followed through in this way on three more subjects, Tom was able to put his best foot forward, solidly, during the fifteen minutes usually allotted to the "coffee break." The executive was impressed by both Tom's brevity, and his ability to cover a lot of ground without seeming to be in a rush.
"I'd like you to meet our Controller," he said, standing up to close the interview. "I know he doesn't have anything at the moment, but I know he'd like to meet you. In any case, he'd be the one who would know more about other companies who might have openings than I do. He has to get around more than this desk-bound slave."
Then he called the Controller on the inter-com, and the appointment was made, and for right now. When a top executive sets up the appointment, it usually is for "right now."
Then the interviews really began. The Controller really got down to cases, and it was noon before the interview was ended. Tom felt he had talked himself out, but when the Controller said, "Noon already! How about joining me at our luncheon club?" he was ready. He met eight men in the course of luncheon, and one job interview was arranged then and there. He had been in town 24 hours, had made ten solid contacts, and had one firm job appointment. He still hadn't asked for a job, and he wasn't going to. We had warned him about that. Sometimes the first offer may be the best, but it isn't likely. He had given himself two weeks to shop around, and he wasn't going to commit himself until he had seen what they had to offer.
They were an exhausting two weeks-over 80 formal interviews. All this time Tom had not asked for a job. He asked only to be the means by which the executives who interviewed him could help their friends obtain a capable employee. By not making a direct appeal, he was not subjecting his new friends to the embarrassment of a refusal. Each man was free to consider Tom as a possible addition to his staff, or free to recommend him to a friend-as "a favor to both the friend and to Tom.
