The Employment Report

Much has been written about interview techniques and how to answer all kinds of tough questions in a variety of situations. Countless books and articles have addressed the questions you will be asked and the recommended responses. But wait…is the interview really about you?

Consider for a moment the interview setting: Two people face each other across a desk, and on that desk is the only document under consideration, your resume. Since both of you are staring at it, it only seems natural to talk about it. So the conversation usually revolves around you and your work history. “Tell me about your responsibilities at XYZ Company?”, and then you drone on for ten minutes about how you increased productivity 118% back in 1998 for some company in Muncie, Indiana.

Imagine how largely irrelevant all of this talk really is. You are telling stories about the past, drawn from an unverified document you wrote, about a job you no longer have, at a company no one knows, in a town the interviewer’s never been to, about a situation no one cares about. Moreover, the interviewer probably hears several such blah-blah stories from different candidates many times each week…and forgets all of them. Not only is the conversation mostly historical, but it’s also downright boring and repetitive, especially for the interviewer.

So, why are you talking so much about the past….are they hiring you to work in the past? No. They’re hiring you to work in the future. Is it 1999? No…it’s 2009. Are they hiring you to work in Muncie, Indiana…and solve XYZ Company’s problems? No. They’re hiring you to work here and now…for them. Are you getting the idea?

One of the key challenges for the candidate is to differentiate himself or herself from all of the other candidates and land the job. If searching for a key position is a matter of visibility at first, in the end it’s all about being chosen over several other finalists. To do this, you must be perceived as uniquely desirable in the mind of the interviewer. As the interview progresses, the interviewer should be thinking, “My God, where have you been?!?”, as the other candidates fade away, and you become the clear standout.

There are many techniques we teach to accomplish this perception of unique and superior value, but one of the surest is to spend less time talking about yourself and more time talking about the company you ostensibly want to work for. It’s like “time of possession” in a football game. At then end of a one hour interview, if you’ve spent 45 minutes talking about yourself and 15 minutes talking about the company, you probably will not establish any kind of an advantage over other strong candidates.

But - and here is where success again runs counter to the conventional “how to” books - if you spend most of the time discussing the company, it’s markets, products, accomplishments, etc., and energetically punctuate the conversation with your potential contribution, you will probably be on your way to a new paycheck with the company’s name at the top.

The first concept to implant in your brain, is that to get hired you must make it more about the company. It’s not about you…it’s about THEM!…about their needs; not yours.

Since they need someone to solve today’s and tomorrow’s business problems, and to make money for them in the future, why talk so much about you and your dead yesterdays? The answer most people give is that discussing their past accomplishments is the only way they know to try to establish their value to a future employer. It may sound a bit cruel, but the interviewer could be thinking, “Ok, so if your accomplishments were so impressive, what are you doing looking for a job? Maybe your resume is just a list of all the places you couldn’t make things work out.” They wouldn’t be having those thoughts if you were talking about them. They would be basking in the considerable glow of their own importance, in their world,…and loving you for it.

Remember this: You don’t establish value by talking about YOUR PAST. You establish value by talking about OUR FUTURE! Repeat that to yourself ten times before every interview, and watch the results change dramatically. Stop boring people, and start inspiring them with your knowledge of, and interest in, their company, and the contribution you can make to its future success.

Developing this ability to a fine art takes practice. First, you must be determined to interview with the highest level executive available, and second, you must learn as much as you possibly can about the company prior to the interview. Most candidates fail miserably on both counts. They are content to interview only with H.R. screeners, and they know little or nothing about the firm. That’s the surest way to stay unemployed along with the rest of the masses out there. But, if you can get in front of a line executive, demonstrate a clear understanding of the business and the challenges it faces, and share with him how you can help him SAVE TIME, SAVE MONEY, or MAKE MONEY, you will usually get the offer.