INTERVIEWERS LOCKERROOM » interview tips

How To Short-Circuit A Job Interview

ibelieve — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 11:00:54 +0000

Have you ever gone on an interview, and realized somewhere into the interview that you didn’t want the job, but didn’t know how to short-circuit the process? I have, and there is a way to do it gracefully, and not tick off the interviewers. In fact, they would appreciate it as well. Just don’t waste their time or yours. Nevertheless, do you know most people will sit there and go through the interview anyway, because of fear? Maybe you view it as practice, for the next interview or a game to see if they are really interested in you for the position.

So what should you do? Let’s explore this a little.

Option 1. Get up and storm out. Nah, too much emotion. The interviewer will think you’re an idiot or a moron.

Option 2. Sneer at the HR person that called you in. You got dressed, and drove over here for nothing. The job isn’t at all what you were led to believe. Hold on don’t go on the attack.

They seem interested in you, but you have this feeling in the pit of your stomach. Possibly you don’t like what you’ve seen of the organization, or the job you were supposed to interview for, is not the one they are talking about.

DON’T JUST sit there and say nothing! Say something! Say Something already!

Option 3. For example:

“Mr. and Ms. Interviewer, as we are talking about the position, expectations, and opportunities, I’ve gotten a clear understanding of what this position has to offer. However, at the same time, it’s not what I am looking for in my career. I’m not interested and would like to end this interview.”

Now stand up, thank them for their time, and shake hands and leave.

Be courteous, polite, professional and prompt. Ah – you will be relieved once you get out. Short-circuiting a job interview when it makes sense is the right thing to do. If the job market is a little challenging for you, don’t be tempted to accept something you don’t want. I know many folks and you may too who just took a job because they needed it. On the other hand, took the job to buy a car, refrigerator, pay down some debt and that was 15, 20, 30 years ago. It’s okay to say “no” for something you just don’t want, rather than settle and be a crabby, complaining, unhappy, poor performer. You don’t win and neither the employer.

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Three Seconds To Sell Yourself Before The Interview

ibelieve — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 12:02:53 +0000

If you have ever read anything on interviewing, job search, or even flirting you’ve read, “You only got 30 seconds to make a great first impression”! That’s hogwash. Now days, “You only got three seconds from the time I see you, to make a great first impression”. As you walk in for an interview you must remember that you are one of many candidates looking for a job. We live in a fast-paced world, where everything is NOW, NOW, NOW!!! NEXT!! As you prepare for your next interview kept these things in mind.

Just like a product or service, the interviewer is sizing you up in about three seconds as well. They have instant coffins in which to throw your resume as soon as you turn your head if you fail at making that impression. Within the first three seconds of prior meeting you, they will make tons of rational and irrational judgments and observations that they will use in their preliminary conclusion. Now all this happens before the actual interview. However, you can make those three seconds count. Ask yourself the following:

Do I have my interview face on?
Am I walking with definition (take strong steps, head up, and chest out)?
Is my demeanor ok, or am I being my usual pompous, ______.
Could I be their lover? Okay, only kidding.
Do I think I fit the look of the part of the organization for which you are interviewing?

The list could be endless. Now I am not saying that this is fair, but it happens. We all pass judgments on a daily basis; after all, I remember reading that we have over 50,000 thoughts that go through our head in a day. So, if you present yourself in the proper way, you can either make it or blow it in those three seconds. Interviewing is an art. It takes preparation and not just for the obvious things. Now ask yourself the following questions:

When you walk into a room, do you have a presence?
Does your posture reflect a positive, confident, happy person? (fake it if you have to)
Darn, are your clothes at least ironed? It’s not about making a fashion statement; it’s about being properly dressed.
Are your shoes clean?

Take advantage of the pre-interview three seconds. Do your best, and stack the deck in your favor. You control the chips, the dice, or whatever you want to call it. You can sell yourself and close that interview before it starts.

Interview Storytelling Sells!!!

Your Interviewer Isn’t An Idiot

ibelieve — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 12:16:14 +0000

Some interviewers will act as if they are idiots, or they don’t care for you right from the beginning of the interview on purpose. They are not idiots. At least not in most cases. What they are doing is actually testing you. Yes, they want to see how you will act in an uncomfortable situation. They want to know if you have what it takes to be a leader in their organization or in the particular position for which you are applying. So depending on they position, let’s say “sales” anything, you must be touch. If the interviewer describes the opening as:

A position that most can’t do

A position that requires an extremely high level of proficiency

A position that demands a person with superior skills

You get my drift; they are trying to scare the pants off you. Now if you fall for this then you really didn’t want the job, but if you say you want the job, you now know what to look for. Don’t you sit there and let anyone run you off from your perfect job. If they can scare you away, you are the right person for the job anyway. You can read Interview Storytelling Sells to and use the same steps to prepare some dynamite objection killers.

So don’t let them keep shoving all the negatives about the job, flip the script. Ask them to tell you some positive aspects about the position. They will be caught off guard and realize that you know the hand they are playing with you. It will either piss them off, or excite them.

After all, you know that you are willing to pay the cost to be successful in your career. Hooray, so stop the interviewer in their tracks, and nail the interview, oh and you had darn well better get the job.

Interview Storytelling Sells!!!

ibelieve — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:01:25 +0000

Yes, you get to tell stories, during your interview! You will only be successful if you include the following steps. About 30 percent of interviews over the last several years have been formatted to what the industry calls “behavioral interviewing”. It means that is what you did in the past is an indication of what you will do in the future in a similar situation. Now folks in human resources understand all this stuff, but you just don’t get it.

Well it’s time to become a great storyteller. No, I don’t mean liar, jokester, or some made up mumbo jumbo. Now let me let you in on a secret. Read this slowly so you can respond when ready and all the time. YOU CAN PREPARE FOR THIS, AND LAND THE JOB based upon your storytelling ability.

If you have been on an interview lately, maybe you were asked:

Question: How do you decide work gets top priority, when you are managing several projects?

Answer: Whichever one I can be done the quickest!

WRONG!

Create a story for the response. For example:

“I had this situation about two weeks ago, where we had several department projects due at one time and were behind because several folks were out sick with the flu. Two were major projects where we had to deliver to “Customer A” as scheduled, no exceptions.

So I quickly evaluated our overall workload, created levels of projects by priority, reassigned my most skilled staff to complete customer A’s work 1 day ahead of time. Everyone else kept working on the other projects, and I negotiated new delivery times for the last group of customers. At the end of the week, we were in pretty good shape, with all customers satisfied.”

So the three steps to interview storytelling are:

State you situation
Tell me what you did, how and why
Tell me your results.

You can search all over the internet for behavioral type questions that you can practice and prepare so you can be a great interview storyteller. I know you will get a heads up in the interview!

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Job Interview Tips – Preparation Pays Off (2)

ibelieve — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 22:30:19 +0000

Let’s just continue:

q Who’s interviewing you (individual, panel, round robin). Learn about your interviewer. If you’ll be there having more than one person, try to find out in advance what each of them does for the company and see if there’ s public information on their recent successes and activities. There may be an occasion to refer to some of these details in your interview.

q The types of possible questions you may be asked. Some of them may be difficult if your job history is sketchy or you have had a lot of job changes. Practice a mock interview with a friend so you can reduce any nervous tension you may have, and you hear yourself answer questions aloud. Most importantly you can have a solid answer for the question, that doesn’t sound like gibberish.

Job Interview Tips — Preparation Pays Off (1)

Job Interviewer’s Psyche – Take 1 | Job Interviewer's Psyche

ibelieve — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:02:59 +0000

When you are gearing up for the job interview, there is a good chance that you feel like you’re ready to run the gauntlet. Your mind may have you feeling like you are one of the main actors in the old Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic suspense movie, “Psycho”. You’re scared if you admit it, or at least a little anxious. You are going into an unfamiliar place; you’ll be speaking to people who have power over you, who will be taking jabs at your resume, experience, and work character and so on. But, you are going for something that you want quite badly, a position in the company.

Oh yes, you will also be competition with people who’s ability you can’t assess, and you’ll find that you might have to wait several days to a week to hear back. With all of that going on, what’s not to like about getting a job? Sarcasm aside, you’ll find that getting a job can be an extremely difficult and stressful time for you, but you’ll find that by keeping a few things in mind can help out your psyche a great deal. We will cover over the next several days:

* The night before the interview

* At the interview

*After the interview

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Self Improvement Strategy Decreases Job Search Rejection | decrease job search rejection

ibelieve — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 04:46:22 +0000

As you straighten your jacket and try to keep your stomach from lurching, you leaf through the company’s brochure. You’ve been in this position many times and each time you get more nervous. After all, you keep getting rejected. This job search stuff sucks. You’ve had to tell yourself not to give up and keep going. “Yes, I will be hired.” You keep repeating over in your mind to solidify the affirmations you learned earlier. If you haven’t armed yourself with that ammunition, try a few chapters of “Think and Grow Rich” by Napoleon Hill. If you want to win with your job search, you must have a self-improvement strategy.

Be Positive

NEVER BE NEGATIVE ABOUT PREVIOUS EMPLOYERS. Many prospective employees lose the job when they answer the question, “Why did you leave your previous employer.” Regardless of the reason, dress it up. Use terms like “limited potential for advancement” and “desire to use all my creative talent”. When you spew negative comments, you come off sounding like a jerk or crybaby with excusitis. Sometimes the interviewer wants to investigate further after you open Pandora’s Box, and you don’t want it to go in that direction.

Believe In Yourself And Your Abilities

You know your work better than the person that’s interviewing you. Feel good about that. Instead of feeling as though you’re being grilled, remember, they’re interested in you. If your qualifications weren’t so good, they wouldn’t have called you for an interview. Feel good when you they ask a question. It means they want to know more. A job interview is similar to getting to know someone before you ask them out. Both parties want to find similar interests, experiences and commonalities.

It’s A Process

If at first you don’t succeed, at least you’ve gotten more experience. Some times the interview process needs more work. Consider each interview as experience for the next. Watch the face of the interviewer and reaction to answers. If the job’s not a fit, that’s not a problem. Use it as a training session for the perfect position. You just gotta be persistence with your job search.

Read the entire post in the Article section of this blog.

2 B’s For Your Job Search

ibelieve — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 12:16:56 +0000

Let’s have some fun with the alphabet and the letter “B”.

Better days, ahead with your job search. Before you put your foot in your mouth…. okay that’s enough. I just wanted to share some b’s with you today that can improve your job search efforts.

Be positive. NEVER BE NEGATIVE ABOUT PREVIOUS EMPLOYERS. Many prospective employees lose the job when they answer the question, “Why did you leave your previous employer.” Regardless of the reason, dress it up. Use terms like “limited potential for advancement” and “desire to use all my creative talent”. When you spew negative comments, you come off sounding like a jerk or crybaby with excusitis. Sometimes the interviewer wants to investigate further after you open Pandora’s Box, and you don’t it to go in that direction.

Believe in yourself and your abilities. You know your work better than the person that’s interviewing you. Feel good about that. Instead of feeling as though you’re being grilled, remember, they’re interested in you. If your qualifications weren’t so good, they wouldn’t have called you for an interview. Feel good when you they ask a question. It means they want to know more. A job interview is similar to getting to know someone before you ask them out. Both parties want to find similar interests, experiences and commonalities.

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Interview Tip #4

ibelieve — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:00:28 +0000

How To Answer Questions

Any other questions your interviewer asks – answer them honestly in the first person. You are discovering something at this point: it’s very hard to answer interview questions about you without feeling like a conceited jerk. Ignore the feeling. Everyone – and I mean everyone – gets it. Worry about being honest. An experienced interviewer has lie radar, and can tell if you’re fudging.

That doesn’t mean you have to bring up bad things and it doesn’t mean you have to dwell on them. This especially goes for silent pauses. Sit quietly during these and wait for the interviewer to speak again; don’t feel like you have to fill it up with anything. Word to the wise: one way military and police interviewers get their information is by sitting silently. The interviewee almost always feels compelled to fill the silence, and it’s almost always to their disadvantage to do so. Don’t fall into the trap!

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Interview Tip #2

ibelieve — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:00:02 +0000

Dessert Soup’s sketch of a man going to a job interview.

Your Presentation

When you meet your interviewer, shake hands firmly, but not tightly. Practice on your own hand: a strong grip will make it harder but not impossible to move your fingers. That’s the perfect strength to use. Hold the handshake for just a second or two.

Sit like a lady or gentleman, butt all the way back in the seat, your back straight, feet on the ground. Look your interviewer in the eyes and SMILE. (did you brush your teeth?) Answer each question in a straightforward way, and never lie. Enjoy this clip as the interview demonstrates his own style.

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