I’d like to share with you a few truths I have discovered about interviewing that may help you be more confident and successful in landing the job of your dreams. I hope they help you!
INTERVIEWER TRUTH
Not all interviewers are skilled at interviewing, but they hold the key to you getting an offer. All interviewers are trying to solve a problem by finding the talented individual who can take care of it. You need to find out the problem they are trying to solve. Good questions will get you there.
JOB POSTINGS
A job posting is really a laundry list of desired skills and experience. But candidates are often left wondering what the most important skills are to be successful in the role. In a perfect world for employers, the hired candidate would have all of them, but spoiler alert. We don’t live in a perfect world.
KEY INTERVIEW QUESTION
So, how do you handle this mystery of what matters most? Good news! In the interview, you get to ask this key question: ”What are the top 3 things that you must do in this role to be successful? I call this creating the bullseye. It will give you insight into what the real focus of the job is. Once you know what matters, match your skills and experiences into those key areas. Never done one of those things? How have your past experiences prepared you to do it? Share that. Hmm, you are not prepared…. when have you learned something new and been successful? Share that. Off you go!
VALUE PROPOSITION
So, do you know why you are “special”? What makes you different than everyone else that does what you do? If you want to stand out of the crowd, you need to share what makes you unique. Do you have strong collaboration skills? Does leadership of your peers come naturally? Are you a strong individual contributor who identifies opportunities? A special skill that others may not have in their experience? This is a terrific opportunity to say that you are more than a collection of skills.
REMEMBER – YOUR KEYS TO STANDING OUT
#1 Companies hire people to solve problems. Understand the problem.
#2 Finding out the critical success factors helps to create a bullseye.
#3 Your value proposition will make you memorable.
Cindy Risetter Meding, President of Executive Strategies Group. Helping teams and leaders become HERO’s by increasing their effectiveness since 1998. Cindy can be reached at cindy@esgchicago.com. To learn more about her firm, visit www.esgchicago.com