Table of Contents

What Exactly Is a ShowStopper in Job Interviewing?

About This Book

Conventions Used in This Book

Terms Used in This Book

Foolish Assumptions

How This Book Is Organized

Part I: And the Interview Winner Is . . . You!

Part II: Backstage Researching and Rehearsing

Part III: Actors’ Studio: Casting Your Character

Part IV: Lights, Camera, Talk! Answering Questions

Part V: The Part of Tens

Icons Used in This Book

Where to Go from Here

Chapter 1: Job Interviews Are Show Biz. Seriously!

Interviewing As Theater

Why “be yourself” can be poor advice

Why “be natural” can be poor advice

New Faces, New Factors in Interviewing

Curtain going up on tech trends

Expect new kinds of interviewers

Overcome job-hopping objection

Cut out the loyalty oath

Learn new lines for small-business jobs

Get ready for the global job interview

Polish your storytelling skills

Focus on fitting in

Seven Concepts to Make You a Star

Go all out in planning ahead

Distinguish screening from selection interviews

Verify early what they want and show how you deliver

Connect all your qualifications with a job’s requirements

Memorize short-form sales statements about yourself

Win two thumbs up from the hiring manager, and you’re in!

Try not to talk money until you know they want you

Take Home an Oscar from Any Interview

Play the likeability card

Style your body language

Be a treat: Act upbeat

Start your interview on the right foot

Remember that you have a speaking part

Revisit the dramatic pause

Agree to take pre-employment tests

Flesh out your story beyond a college degree

Bring a pen and notebook with you

Keep your ears up and your eyes open

Building Lifetime Confidence

Chapter 2: Tryouts: Getting Past Screening Interviews

Two Basic Steps in Job Interviewing

Hot News about Screening Interviews

Learning Your Lines for Screening Questions

Short Script of Screening Styles

Sounding Qualified on the Phone

Stock your back-stage office with essentials

Make phone appointments

Project your winning image

Acing Automated Phone Screens

Pushing the Right Buttons: Computer Screens

Screening Survival Skills Are Now a Must-Have

Chapter 3: 21st-Century Video Interview

Casting Calls for Video Shoots

Working with third-party vendors

Chatting through Skype

Videoconferencing services

Determining Video’s Upside and Downside

Rock the Video Job Interview

Getting ready to video interview

During the interview

Not the Same Thing — Video Interview vs. Video Resume

Weighing In on Video Resumes

Checking out the objections

Seeking exceptions

Viewing the bottom line

Keep Smiling: You’re on Camera

Chapter 4: Interviewing on the Global Stage

A Changing Face of Global Interviewing

Looking at Remaining Cultural Norms

Interviewing across Cultures

Tracking Down Country Research

International websites

International social networking

Preparing for the Global Job Interview

Chapter 5: A Chorus Line of Interviews by Type

Mastering Interviews by Objective

Screening interview

Selection interview

Combination interview

Promotion interview

Recruiter courtesy interview

Recruiter general screening interview

Recruiter search interview

Second interview

Mastering Interviews by Interviewer

One-to-one interview

Group interview

Serial interview

Mastering Interviews by Technique

Behavior-based interview

Directive interview

Nondirective interview

Stress interview

Mastering Interviews at Remote Locations

Mealtime interview

On-campus interview

Job fair interview

What’s Playing on the Interview Scene?

Chapter 6: Research Is Your Ticket Inside

Investigate Like a Quiz-Show Winner

Here’s What Online Search Tells Us

Asking Questions about Potential Employers

Size and growth patterns

Direction and planning

Products or services

Competitive profile

Culture and reputation

Company financials

Ready, Aim, Fact-Find

Preparation Rocks!

Chapter 7: Your Close-Up: Personality Tests

Personality Testing Means Business

What You May Not Know about Personality Tests

Asking questions before the test

Anyone can write a personality test, but is it validated?

Finding out what a test measures

Most popular general traits

Who’s most likely to use tests

Your civil rights in testing

Peeking into privacy issues

Making the Grade on Job Tests

Visualize yourself fitting in

Watch for combination tests

Beware of absolutes

Choose answers suggesting positive traits

Avoid answers suggesting negative traits

Be alert to replayed questions

Anticipate integrity test questions

Take practice personality tests

Sample Personality Questions

Concerned That You Didn’t Do Well?

Keep On Keeping On

Chapter 8: Showing You the Money

Decoding Recruiters and Their Talking Points

Tactics meant to sell low offers

Recruiter comebacks when you stick up for yourself

New thinking for new times

Discovering Market Pay Rates

Finding salary information online

Handling salary boxes in online applications

Negotiating in the Moment

Giving and taking at the right times

Understanding why salary questions come early

Stalling Money Talk with Smart Replies

Downplaying a Low Salary History

Considering More Factors That Affect Job Pay

Getting Your Worth’s Money

Find a home in the range

Plot your salary history carefully

Stonewalled? Try to upgrade the job

Use dramatic silence

Turn to words of last resort

No flexibility? Make creative suggestions

Using the Magic of Market Value

Chapter 9: Costuming Yourself for a Starring Role

You Are What You Wear

Starting Well to End Well

Minding the Three Commandments of Style

Dress to fit the job and the job’s culture

Think of interviewing attire as a costume

“Look the part, and the part plays itself”

Changing with the Times: Dress Codes

Surveys spotlight more casual wardrobe

Body art is drawing new fans

Oh pantyhose, oh pantyhose, wherefore art thou pantyhose?

Selecting from the Basic Types of Interview Wardrobes

Remaining conservative

Cruising business casual

Working in casual wear

Selecting creative fashion

Guessing at Tomorrow’s Styles

Chapter 10: Beat Stage Fright with the R-Word: Rehearse

Refocusing Attitude Can Calm Nerves

Three steps to fright-free interviewing

More techniques to stop stressing out

Practicing with a Video Recorder

Unlock the Power of Body Language

Stage Directions for All Players

Anticipating Interview Trapdoors

Disruptions

Silent treatment

Take One . . . Take Two . . . Take Three . . .

Chapter 11: Looking Good with Questions You Ask

Asking Selling Questions before the Offer

Asking Self-Interest Questions after the Offer

Drawing Out Hidden Objections

Asking Certain Questions Very Carefully

Ending Suspense by Asking the Right Question

Chapter 12: Closing the Show

Making a Strategic Exit

Your parting sales pitch

Leaving the door open

How Hard Should You Sell?

Follow Up or Fall Behind

Letters

E-mail

Other digital media

Telephone calls

Reminding your references

Pre-Employment Contracts Promise Protection for Everyone

Last Chance to Back Out

Your After-Interview Checklist

Onward and Upward

Chapter 13: Opening Acts for Younger Talent

So What’s the Problem?

Beating a Bad Rap on Work Ethic

Tips for Millennials

Scripts for Millennials

Good Times and Your Future

Chapter 14: Selling Scripts for Career Switchers

Remembering Career Change Basics

Eyeing the Best Career-Change Tips

Leveraging Crossover Skills for Change

Say What? Say This When You’re in Change Mode

Steer Clear of Snap Judgments

Chapter 15: Star Turns for Prime-Timers

Understanding How Employers See the Age Issue

Showing That You Improve with Age

Age and job performance

Age and money

Age and attitude

Outing Elephants: Address Age Issues

Overcoming the Overqualified Label

Mastering Top Tips for Prime-Timers

Keeping Your Career Fit

Chapter 16: What Can You Tell Me About Yourself?

But First, Who Are You — Really?

The problem with multiple identities

Examples of online multifaceted identities

Putting Out Identity Fires

Untangle a same-name mix-up

Project Renaissance-quality talent

Doing Your Best in an Online Job Market

Answering a Very Broad Question about Yourself

Shade your answers to pack a punch

Narrow the question

Writing Your Marketing Pitch

Crafting Personal Commercials

Raising the Curtain on Specific Questions about You

Mastering More to Tell about Yourself

Chapter 17: What Do You Know about This Job and Our Company?

Understanding Job, Company, Industry — and How They All Fit Together

The Questions

Chapter 18: What Are Your Skills and Competencies?

Recognizing Questions about Your Skills

Answering Questions about Your Skills

The Questions

Chapter 19: How Does Your Experience Help Us?

Making Your Experience Relevant

The Questions

Chapter 20: What Education Do You Have?

Right Degree, Wrong Degree, No Degree? Making the Best with What You Have

Talking around an education obstacle

Heading back to school

Boomers: High on Adaptability

The Questions

Millennials: High on Education, Low on Experience

The Questions

Chapter 21: What about Your Special Situation?

Pulling Back the Curtain

When You’ve Long Been in the Same Job

When You’ve Served Prison Time

When You’re Shoved out the Door

When Sexual Orientation Is up for Discussion

Attitudes are a mixed bag

Be clear about your prospects

Recognize when it’s time to disclose

When You’ve Worked Everywhere

When Gaps Drill Holes in Your History

When You’re Demoted a Notch

When People in Recovery Interview

When Women Are Put on the Spot

When Disabilities Are Revealed

Chapter 22: How Should You Answer a Questionable Question?

Noting Questionable Questions

Defining Illegal Questions

Defining Inappropriate Questions

Think First, Answer Second

Redirect Inappropriate Questions

Rehearsing Dicey Questions

Chapter 23: Ten Tips to Avoid Rotten Reviews

Bring Storytelling into Prime Time

Go in Knowing Your Lines

Leave the Begging to Others

Share the Stage with Dignity

Remember How a Star Is Born

Avoid Ad Libbing Ad Infinitum

Keep in Mind the Interviewer Is Not Your New Best Friend

Know That Faulty Assumptions Equal Faulty Interviewing

Keep Emotions out of the Interview

Ask Questions That Show You Care Where You Go

Chapter 24: Ten Tricky Questions to Watch Out For

Spot Purpose Behind Each Question

Why’ve you been out of work so long? How many others were laid off? Why you?

If employed, how do you manage time for interviews?

How did you prepare for this interview?

Do you know anyone who works for us?

Where would you really like to work? Doing what?

What bugs you about coworkers or bosses?

Can you describe how you solved a work/school problem?

Can you describe a work/school instance in which you messed up?

How does this position compare with others you’re applying for? Are you under consideration by other employers now?

If you won the lottery, would you still work?

When You’re Uncertain

Chapter 25: Tens of Lines on the Cutting Room Floor

From the Time Machine: News You Can’t Use

Accountants and bookkeepers

Receptionists

Administrative assistants and secretaries

Aircraft pilots

Teachers

Engineers and engineering technicians

Financial analysts and sales agents

Hotel and restaurant personnel

Cooks and food prep workers

Software engineers, programmers, and other IT specialists

Police officers

Attorneys

Paralegals

Managers (in general)

Marketing managers

Nurses

Retail salespersons, department managers, and store managers

Salespersons (in general)