Chapter 16
Putting It All Together in a Crazy Good Way
Employers have a veritable toolkit of interview formats and techniques at their disposal to ensure they select the right candidates for available positions in their organizations, and more methods are being added all the time. Although the unique combination of your education, professional experience, and skills will get your foot in the door, it does not guarantee you a job offer.
Employers do not make hiring decisions based on merit alone; they are looking for the total package. Personality, confidence, enthusiasm, a positive attitude, and excellent interpersonal and communication skills count heavily in the selection process. In fact, a study by the Society of Human Resources Management (SHRM) proved this point when it showed that a candidate's background and qualifications were far less influential in hiring decisions than their professionalism and interview performance.
The job interview process itself continues to change with technological advances. In the not-too-distant past, job seekers enclosed their carefully worded letters of introduction and accompanying resumes, printed on high-quality Vellum stationery, in a stamped envelope and mailed them via U.S. mail in response to an ad in the local newspaper. Then, they waited nervously by the phone in the hopes of receiving a call from a secretary to schedule a face-to-face, one-on-one interview with a hiring manager at the employer's jobsite.
Today, job seekers take a different approach to snagging an interview. Potential candidates email their letters of introduction with a resume attachment in response to an ad posted on an employer's website, Craigslist, Monster, or a plethora of other job sites. In turn, they may receive an auto-response confirming receipt of the email, or a personal email from a human resources manager to schedule a screening interview via phone or Skype.
Not only has communication changed based on new technology, the interview structure has been revamped. You could be asked situational questions, in which your responses are predictors of your behaviors, or you may be asked to recall past examples of how you performed in your previous jobs in the areas of team leadership, problem resolution, or employee conflict. You could be assessed quantitatively against other candidates, or be asked to make a presentation in front of a group of interviewers, as in the case of Heidi Bressler, a past finalist in The Apprentice, whose experience is detailed in Chapter 10.
Some organizations use mini-interviews in which five to eight interviewers are each assigned an area to assess in eight minutes or less. When the job interviewee completes one interview, off he goes to the next one. It's short, fast, and focused, like playing musical chairs.
In behavior-based interviews, you will be asked to share real-life experiences to illustrate your leadership, communications skills, and other traits. The questions segue from “Tell me what makes a great leader” to “Describe two situations where you demonstrated great leadership skills.”
In another type of interview, you might be thrown into a fish bowl. You will take a seat at the conference table among four or five other interviewees, and a facilitator/interviewer will assign a group task. While the job candidates are busily working together on the task, evaluators are seated behind them to observe the group dynamics. Upon completion of the task, the facilitator will ask the group some difficult questions. Then, the candidates are evaluated on their behavior individually and as part of the group.
You may encounter all kinds of interviewers. Don't be fooled by those who appear too kind or too hardened. Often, the people who are smiling and nodding their heads in agreement are really barracudas, and those who look the most stoic are the friendliest and most willing to give you a chance. You need not figure them out; simply speak their generational language, use crazy good verbal and nonverbal communication skills to convey your relevant information effectively, and focus on your own performance. Not everyone is going to love you, but someone will.
So how can you stay ahead of new and different ways of being interviewed? By using the principles discussed in Crazy Good Interviewing.
Many of the behaviors and methods presented in this book are proven staples of good interviewing, such as a firm handshake, good eye contact, and a pleasant smile. When you combine these three elements, you set a positive tone for the interview and can build a strong rapport with the interviewer. This is easy stuff that many applicants forget when they are feeling overanxious. A little nervousness is good because it keeps you on your toes as you strive to make a good impression. A little overconfidence is good, too, as you will appear self-assured of your capabilities and what you bring to the employer's table.
Some people feel comfortable going into a job interview; others feel panicked to the point of nausea. Some applicants are ready to shine, and others fear the interviewer will judge them unfairly. Job candidates who attempt to memorize responses to typical questions will have the roughest time if their minds draw a blank, while those who can recall key bullet points will be primed and ready to answer questions more easily. This is just one of the many crazy good interview strategies that will help you sail through a job interview in a relaxed and effective manner, and make you feel good about your time in the interview office. If you invest time in practicing your interview strategies, behaviors, body language, and responses to oft-asked questions, you will be prepared for the expected—and the unexpected—and you could land a job offer.
Establish Your Power Base
When the interviewer invites you to have a seat, tell yourself that the chair will be your workplace for the next 10 minutes to one hour. Get yourself seated, situated, and comfortable. This is your home base from which you will make strong and lasting first impressions. Before you sit down, make sure your head is clear, and you do not sit in the chair behind the interviewer's desk by mistake. The best response to this faux pas is “I just wanted to get a feel for what it would be like to sit in this chair 10 years from now.” Then smile, move to another chair, and proceed with the interview like nothing happened. The interviewer will admire your ability to recover from your error quickly and with humor.
As you wait in anticipation for the interviewer to begin firing away, you should feel secure that you have learned these key takeaways from Crazy Good Interviewing.
Use a Crazy Good Interview Strategy
Having a plan and knowing what you want to share with the interviewer will put you way ahead of the game. Your plan must include three key traits that you will bring to the position and three concrete examples of how you have used those traits in the past. Tie your past experiences and success stories to the position to illustrate your relevancy.
When it comes to discussing your skills, do not make the mistake of telling instead of showing. Use concrete examples to demonstrate your skills; for example, if you are skilled at successfully handling multiple tasks simultaneously, provide an example to paint a picture for the interviewer. This visual gives the interviewer something to remember after the interview, and helps him or her remember you when it comes time to make a hiring decision.
Use Crazy Good Behaviors to Get the Job
The anecdotes throughout this book illustrate how job applicants who displayed crazy good behaviors aced their interviews, while those who used crazy bad behaviors bombed, sometimes miserably. How can you modify and adapt these crazy good behaviors, so you can be successful in your own interview experiences while avoiding crazy bad behaviors that will be detrimental to your performance? Avoiding crazy bad behaviors—such as texting, answering your cell phone, yawning, or belching—won't guarantee you a job offer, but it will keep you in the running.
Sell Yourself Like Crazy
Highlight your unique value proposition (UVP), your top three strengths, and past professional and personal accomplishments. Back up your experience with a few memorable anecdotes that relate to the position. Infuse energy into your dialogue with appropriate hand gestures, facial expressions, and voice inflections to emphasize key points and make your interview come alive. If you are not excited about your candidacy, the interviewer won't be either.
Be Yourself, in a Crazy Good Way
A common mistake that many candidates make is not being authentic. They feel they must don a mask and play a role that fits a certain mold. To their dismay, this strategy is destined to backfire. You will be surprised how easy it is to detect insincerity during an interview, and it will only hurt you and the employer in the end when you reveal your true personality.
In Chapter 10, a former Vice President of Talent and Culture said she can spot a phony a mile away, and a Regional Marketing Director hired a candidate partly because he was so impressed by his genuineness. Thus, it pays to be sincere and honest while staying focused on how you can provide value in the position and be an asset to the organization. Demonstrate your true uniqueness by relating stories about your job experiences and tying them to the position.
Research the Employer Like Crazy
One of the best job interview strategies that most candidates ignore is to study the company's current events, so you can ask pertinent questions. This clearly shows the interviewer that you have done your homework, and you have a genuine interest in the company. Knowing as much as you can about the organization will give you a leg up against your competition, as shown in the following crazy good interview story.
Rate the Behavior
Using the Psychotron, how would rate the job candidate's behavior described in the following real-life interview?
More than Skin Deep
The Vice President of Marketing of a major manufacturer in the health and beauty care industry was trying to fill a slot for a Director of Marketing. He was looking for someone who would blow his socks off in the interview. When he met a well-dressed executive type, he knew he had found his man.
The candidate had gone above and beyond in doing his homework on the company—he had thoroughly researched its line of skin care products, its industry competitors, and the industry overall. His probing and relevant questions absolutely knocked the VP out of his chair because they were so insightful. The job candidate turned the interview dynamic around to position himself as the buyer in the interview, and the VP was the seller. The candidate started off his questions with the following comments:
Real-life result: The Vice President of Marketing was completely sold on the candidate, primarily because of his in-depth questions. The candidate accepted the job offer and has received many accolades for his top performance.
Research the Interviewer(s) Like Crazy
If you know your interviewer's name, you can uncover professional and personal information by doing a Google search or checking out his or her Facebook and LinkedIn pages. By finding some common ground—such as graduating from the same university, belonging to the same professional organization, or volunteering for the same charitable organizations—you can make an immediate connection, establish a rapport, and increase your chances of advancing to the next stage in the interview process.
This strategy worked beautifully for a high-level university administrator who was pursuing a high-stakes position. She found out everything she could about her interviewers on the Internet. In the end, she received the job offer because, as one interviewer said, “She knows more about us than we do.”
(Note: Be subtle when you raise interesting points about the interviewer's background. If you are very direct and appear to know too much professional and personal information, you may look like a stalker—which is not only crazy bad behavior, it's crazy scary.)
Practice Like Crazy
Seneca, a first-century Roman philosopher, allegedly said, “Luck is where the crossroads of opportunity and preparation meet.” How true. If you practice your responses to interview questions in advance—like the ones in the Appendix of this book—you can gain an edge against other job candidates.
Ask a friend or a family member to do some mock interviews with you and record or videotape your practice runs. If you know someone who has real-life experience in interviewing and hiring employees, that is even better. With lots of practice and focus on the questions being asked, you will be able to uncover what is behind each question and be able to answer some of the unasked questions.
Making it past the first round of interviews will give you a sense of satisfaction and put you one step closer to getting a job offer. The final interview is your last opportunity to impress interviewers with your UVP and top-notch communication and interpersonal skills, and position yourself as the lead candidate for the position. The initial interviews indicated how the company interviews and the type of individual desired to fill the position. At this point, you cannot sit back and relax. You must continually prepare and practice for the final interview, which will entail more in-depth questioning with the hiring manager or a panel of interviewers.
Take the Stage
A job interview is like opening night at the theater or a concert hall. The lights dim, the spotlight shines, and the performer must make an immediate connection with the audience. It is time to deliver and show what you've got. You gesture. You project. You bring crazy good energy to the room. Interviewing is the same way.
If your interviewing techniques are mediocre, or if you are sorely out of practice, you know what it feels like to interview your heart out only to be met with stony stares and rude remarks such as “Next,” or “Don't call us; we'll call you.” You blew your big chance, and a proverbial hooked cane appears out of nowhere and pulls you off stage—or out of the interviewer's office, in this case.
Luckily, now that scenario is a thing of the past. You have read this book from cover to cover, so you know crazy good interviewing behaviors like the palm of your hand. You can brush up on areas that can use some improvement. You can refer to this book for inspiration before you go on an interview. Your mantra should be: prepare, rehearse, and practice.
This book arms you with crazy good strategies, behaviors, and techniques to make a connection, create a favorable impression, and handle the toughest interviewers. Circling back to the singing analogy in Chapter 1, with practice you will be able to interview for a high-stakes position in front of complete strangers with little or no lead time, like the seasoned Karaoke singers who can take the stage, with a microphone in hand, to imitate the vocal stylings of Tony Bennett, Michael Bublé, Christina Aguilera, Seal, and Lady Gaga. You might discover that you enjoy interviewing, and basking in the afterglow of the interviewer's applause and whistles from HR directors chanting, “You're hired!”