Part 40 (1/2)

I know this sounds too easy-too common sense-too logical, but it's not. In my experience, few job hunters spend time thinking about how their experience and skills relate to a job until they're actually asked. I've seen people blow it when they were asked the simplest questions: ”What do you know about our company?” That is the perfect opportunity to explain what you've learned and how your experience makes you their perfect candidate. Too often, even the most senior people ”wing it.”

Draw a line down the middle of a page. List the employer's needs on one side and your skills and accomplishments that prove you can do the job on the other. In the interview, you'll be able to point out these compatible a.s.sets for the employer. You'll stand out as organized and prepared. Grab a blank sheet of paper and do it now. (You can recycle this exercise in your thank-you note.)

a.n.a.lyzing Your Strengths and Weaknesses

All employers ask you about strengths and weaknesses. It's one of the few questions you can absolutely guarantee. Yet, it's numbing how little forethought most people give to this question. This might sound asinine, but I've actually had people who, when asked about weaknesses during an interview, either couldn't come up with any or replied, ”I don't believe I have any.” Candidates who say they have none-I guess they are, in their own mind, perfect-Mr. Employer will view them in a highly negative light. So much so, that once they state they have no weaknesses, the game is over. And I mean over. These are disastrous interview blunders! a.s.sess your weaknesses in advance of an interview.

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GUERRILLA MISSION.

Strengths Now that you've completed a needs a.n.a.lysis with the T-account exercise, you need to list your top 10 strengths as they pertain to the job you are seeking. Grab a piece of paper and list them in bullet form. Stop. Do it now. This is important.

Now look at your strengths. Which of those applies to the job for which you are being interviewed? If you were the interviewer, would that be enough? Would you spend your last dollar to acquire you? If your answer is yes, proceed to the next exercise on weaknesses. If you said no, congratulations for being so honest; you have just saved your interview from certain disaster. You're running these exercises because, like a pro sports coach, you understand that practice makes perfect and game day is no time to practice. Run through this exercise until you've listed 5 strengths to support the job's requirements.

Weaknesses Run the same exercise, only this time list your weaknesses as they apply to the job. Now pick a weakness you've been working on and detail what you've done to correct it. Are you short-tempered? Don't mention that one! This is not true confessions time. Interviewers expect you to pick something ”light.” That's what candidates do. Please don't disappoint them. What you're going to do that most candidates don't think to do is demonstrate your follow-through. Right after you reveal your weakness, you're going to explain what you've done to correct the matter.

You might prepare an answer like this: I was told a few years ago that my budgeting wasn't good enough. I had never received any formal training, so I immediately registered in a night cla.s.s. On my last review, my supervisor noted how much improvement I'd made. My budgeting skills are now well above average. He did me a big favor.

Congratulations. In this example, you told the interviewer:* What the problem was (budgeting)* Why it was a problem (no training)* What you did to correct it (night cla.s.s)* What the results were (improved skill level) Moreover, you've also shown that you are open to constructive criticism and most importantly, that you are prepared to act on feedback. Most employees are not. If the interviewer is keeping score, you just received double bonus points because employers will hire someone with average skills and great att.i.tude over a self-confessed superstar any day.

Build Your Story Book

Following the T-account exercise, you need to turn your strengths and accomplishments into memorable stories because everyone likes a good story. More importantly, people retain ideas more easily if they're presented in the form of a story. After hours and hours of interviewing, it's often difficult for interviewers to remember one candidate from another unless one of them-that'll be you-really grabs their interest with a great story.

Storytelling has other advantages: * When you link ideas for the interviewer, you're far more likely to engage the listener's interest and leave a favorable impression.* The conversational tone relaxes your interviewer and will turn an interrogation into a conversation.* Storytelling appeals to an interviewer's ”gut-feel” and innate ability to hire people with ”promise.”* Given 2 people who are equally qualified on paper, an employer will tend to hire the best storyteller because the person is perceived to have superior communication skills.

Unlike the fairy tales you heard as a child, your stories are based on facts. They portray you as a modern-day hero-confident but not arrogant, decisive but not overbearing, driven but not maniacal. You must provide accurate ill.u.s.trations of the significant goals you've achieved and the skills and training you mustered to achieve them. You get to play the part of the ”hero” who invented the new product, closed the big deal, or in some other way vanquished the dragon.

Which accomplishments prompted the employer to want to meet you in the first place? Those are the stories to use. The key elements of each story relate to the requirements-be they in sales, marketing, engineering, or something else-you outlined in the T-account exercise.

For example, you have discovered from your research that the employer needs to be able to bring new products to market in a timely manner and you have 10 years' experience in new product development. Your story might sound something like this:

Mr. Employer, in the summer of 2009 our major compet.i.tor, in an attempt to run us out of business, began giving away a product that they claimed had the same features as our mainstay product. Not surprisingly, revenue plummeted 90 percent in our next quarter. The bottom fell out of our stock. Several of our key development and salespeople quit. In response, I led 2 small teams of 6 engineers on a mission to develop our next-generation product and to expose the weaknesses in the compet.i.tor's offering. Within five weeks, we discovered serious design flaws in the security layer of their software that made the user's data vulnerable to hackers. We staged a demonstration of our findings for our sales and marketing team. They designed a counterattack that stopped our compet.i.tor in its tracks. Meanwhile, my second team added major functionality to our core product. When the flaws in our compet.i.tor's product became front-page news, my team was ready with a bulletproof upgrade. We did all this in less than nine weeks. Company revenues surged 15 percent higher than our previous best quarter.

What is the interviewer likely to infer from this story?

* You rise to the occasion when confronted with difficult situations.* You can lead under pressure.* You can execute a strategy.* You're a team player and a team captain (because you kept saying ”we” not ”I”).

You're a . . . . . . you're a you're a . . . . . . It'll be a long list of positive attributes leading them to conclude, ”We've gotta have you on our team!” and that's what you want. It'll be a long list of positive attributes leading them to conclude, ”We've gotta have you on our team!” and that's what you want.

The interviewer will infer all positives and will start to ask ”how” questions: * How do you manage?* How did you keep them focused?* How-how-how.

Guerrilla, they're hooked. This is exactly how you want them to react. Now you get to lead them into a natural discussion on the similarities between what you've done and what they need. Make sure you prepare a few more anecdotes to reinforce your positive attributes.

Rehearsing Your Message