How do you go about relating your experience to the needs you've uncovered? Again, it's a matter of control. When your interviewer has finished telling you about the need he has, chime in. Summarize all the needs for him. Then, without a fraction of a second's pause, ask for the chance to talk about yourself. It shouldn't take a whole lot of effort to convince your prospective boss to let you take over. Say you've played back the key problems to him; you could easily add: "With the thorough grounding you've given me, maybe this would be a good time to start telling you a little more about me." If your interviewer feels he's covered the key facts about the job he wants done, why shouldn't he let you take over?
The moment you do, you're on the way to achieving your objective. If possible, categorize your jobs, your assignments, your experiences - and talk about them in the context of one of the problems your prospective boss has presented to you. Then talk about those jobs and assignments you've had that are relevant to the second problem your prospective boss has raised. And so on.
Unfortunately, it's not often possible to organize your experience by needs areas. That's particularly the case when your interviewer specifically asks you to talk about yourself in the more formal, traditional chronological format. (He says to you, for example: "Start at the beginning and bring me up to date.") How, then, can you talk about your background and still prove that you can meet your prospective boss's needs? By emphasizing the jobs and assignments you've had that are relevant. No one says you must spend the same amount of time discussing each job in your career. So spend the bulk of the time allotted to your objective and discussing in depth only those positions in which you have faced problems similar to the ones your possible future employer has identified as important to him. And in each case, offer specific examples that demonstrate you have both the experience and ability your prospective boss is seeking in the ideal candidate. As a corollary, when you are reviewing a portion of your career that is not particularly relevant to your interviewer's needs, summarize it in a sentence or two. As long as you don't leave out a part of your life, you're responding to his request.
What's the best way to get across to your prospective boss that a particular experience you've had is, indeed, relevant to the needs you have uncovered in the position you are applying for? Over the years, I've concluded that the most effective format for getting your worth-points across in an interview is to start off by saying: "One of the problem areas you've indicated is important to you is similar to a problem I once faced." Then: STATE THE PROBLEM - Relate the situation you faced that parallels one your prospective boss now faces-simply, briefly and concretely. Include the company, location, date, and how the problem occurred, if necessary. This description adds authenticity to your presentation right at the start. And it makes the worth point you are describing sound like a relevant third-person story, rather than a boastful statement of how good you are.
Introduce your specific solution to the problem matter - of - faculty.
Don't sound as if you are proud of yourself. Simply state the facts. Tell what you did and, if it's pertinent, how you did it. Describe your contribution as though you were a third party telling the story. And don't explain how you analyzed the problem. Only what conclusion you came to and the action you took. Don't say that some others in your company were dummies', because they wanted to do something else. No need to knock your management or your peers. Stating positively what you did is enough.
Reveal the result (or results) of your action concretely
Make the good news the climax of your true story. The more specific you are, the more believable and memorable your worth point will be. Avoid nebulous conclusions like: "I was a great success." State the precise dollars you saved, or the percentage of growth you achieved, etc.
While I suggest you be as specific as possible in telling your prospective boss about those experiences you've had that parallel his current needs, one word of caution: be sure you are direct and clear in your presentation; that you don't make your worth point more complex or detailed than it needs to be. Or you'll definitely tune out your interviewer.
How can you find out if the way you present your worth points are clear, concise and are to the point?. Practice describing the best of your worth points in advance. You can be certain that the ones you think are most important to you will probably be important to your prospective boss as well. And the best way to be sure you describe them right is to rehearse them out loud. As with your probing questions, tape them if possible. Listen to them a day or so later to see if you understand your own worth point. And time yourself. See if you could say the same thing in less time, and still make it cogent to your listener. Be critical. Ask yourself if you came to the point of your story soon enough.
If you get a chance, describe your worth points to a friend or a member of your family. Get their reaction. Are you coming across clearly and quickly enough to keep the conversation going? Make sure you don't sound as if you're bragging. Tell what happened without glowing adjectives about yourself. Let your interviewer draw conclusions as to your worth rather than you summarizing a worth point for him with something as self-serving as: "So you see I really have a lot of valuable experience in this area." If your experience is clearly outlined, your interviewer will feel you've solved problems like his before, and that you can solve them again for him!
One final thought on achieving this objective. Categorize all your worth points before your very first interview. One of your experiences may demonstrate a variety of personal qualities or capabilities if you emphasize a certain aspect of it. (The same worth point, for example, may show your profit orientation, ability to work under pressure, ability to come up with creative solutions, ability to recognize problems, etc.) Know in advance the full potential of each worth point in your arsenal, and know how to adapt it to your present situation.
