Interviews That

Win Jobs

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DEDICATION: This report is dedicated to knowledge, courage, and persistence, the three most important qualities needed to succeed in any human challenge, especially a job search. About the Author G. Bencivenga is one of the world’s most respected marketing consultants and a specialist in effective self-marketing. his proven self-marketing strategies have an extraordinary track record in enabling scores of people in all walks of life to find new jobs quickly, even in a slow economy, and even against competition from many other candidates who may seem better qualified “on paper.” He says, “The most important 12 words you’ll ever read on how to succeed in a job search are, ‘Find out what people want, then show them how to get it.’” This simple sentence, originally coined by Dale Carnegie in “How to Win Friends & Influence People,” is the essence of all effective marketing and especially self-marketing in a job search. Yet most candidates don’t have a clue about how to apply it in their job hunt, which gives those who do an enormous, almost unfair advantage. This is the advantage you are about to gain in the pages of this e-book. These simple, proven strategies will make it much easier for you to find a job you want in the industry of your choice, even in a down economy, and even when you are not the most qualified candidate.

Table Of contents INTRODUCTION: HERE’S THE EDGE YOU NEED IN TODAY’S MARKET ............................................................................................10

A best-of-the-best collection of strategies that work in every economic climate, in every industry ..............................11

CHAPTER 1: THE GREATEST JOB-FINDING SECRET.......................12

How to harness the world’s most powerful secret for winning the job you want, even when you’re not the most qualified candidate ...........................................................................................................12 A little-known persuasion technique can actually induce interviewers to Persuade Themselves that you are the best candidate for the job......................................................................................................12 Surprise! Why the best-qualified candidates usually do not get the job offer…..............................................................................15 Never use this word in a job interview...............................................20 What interviewers prize most in candidates .....................................22

CHAPTER 2: SECRETS OF A KILLER PRESENTATION....................23

How to make a masterful presentation of your qualifications, using the “par formula” .....................................................................23 A temptation to resist in your interviews...........................................24

CHAPTER 3: HOW TO MAKE INTERVIEWERS LIKE YOU .............26

The easiest way to get an interviewer to like you immediately.....................................................................................26 Do You have these annoying conversational habits? If so, correct them now!............................................................................27 Checklist of the 25 biggest interview turnoffs..................................28 The 5 most common interview mistakes.........................................29 The surprising personality trait preferred by 98% of hiring executives .............................................................................30 Show loyalty to your former employers ……………........................30 “honesty will please most people and astonish everyone” —Mark Twain..................................................................................30 Survey: The likes and dislikes of executive interviewers ...............31 How to demonstrate your integrity……..........................................32 Speak like a free agent, not a benchwarmer……………................33 The easiest way an employer can know when you’re not telling the truth (without even checking your references) ..............33

CHAPTER 4: HOW TO BE THE BEST-PREPARED

CANDIDATE ..................................................................................34

A simple way to outperform virtually anyone else competing with you for the same position......................................................34 This will give You greater confidence, help You relax, and make a great impression on Any interviewer ...............................34 If You really want to impress Your interviewer, do this.................36

CHAPTER 5: INSIDER TIPS FROM THE WORLD’S SAVVIEST

EXECUTIVE RECRUITE…........................................................37

Be sure to capture any leads that come your way..........................37 Don’t let your children answer your telephone................................38 Easiest way to make Yourself Three Times more likely to get hired..........................................................................................38 Worst day of the week ... Worst Time of day to be interviewed.......................................................................................38

Don’t knock yourself out of the running on the very first phone call....................................................................................................39 The real reason why Athletes “choke,” and how to use this knowledge to perform brilliantly when your “dream job” is on the line ........................................................................................40 How to lower your anxiety level...................................................... 40 Your interviewer’s greatest emotional need— and how to satisfy it ........................................................................41

Meet these three criteria and interviewers will love you...................43 Be prepared for the 64 Toughest interview questions......................44 Visualize your success.....................................................................44 A great interview stress reducer ......................................................45 Comport yourself as an equal, not a beggar....................................46 A simple way to establish rapport with an interviewer.....................46 How to make the law of averages work for you...............................47 If you wish, take notes, but ask first.................................................47 Don’t start salary negotiations too early...........................................48 How to trumpet your Achievements without sounding like a braggart...........................................................................................48 11 little Things You might not Think of…………………...................50

CHAPTER 6: INTERVIEW ETIQUETTE—THE UNSPOKEN RULES

.........................................................................................................52 Etiquette checklist—the right Things to do before, at the beginning of, and during your interview ..........................................52 How to dress for your interview ......................................................53 Treat receptionists with utmost respect...........................................54 Never do this!..................................................................................54

The most important Three minutes of Your interview ....................54 Best place to sit when being interviewed .......................................55 Best way to break the ice................................................................56 Ok to drink during a mealtime interview?........................................56 Is it ever ok to smoke during an interview?.....................................57 Behavior that makes interviewers think that you’re TOO nervous ……...................................................................................57 Don’t talk when they’re reading your resume .................................58 90% of candidates who’ve been sacked make this interview mistake ……………………………...................................................58 Annoying verbal habits you may not realize you have ...................58 The strict “Two-minute rule”……………..........................................58 Never respond This way, no matter how dumb your interviewer’s question.....................................................................59 How to modulate your voice so the interviewer will almost surely like you.................................................................................59 Best remedy for awkward pauses in the conversation ..................59 How to pay your interviewer the ultimate compliment ...................60 Easiest way to be a world-class listener and why every interviewer loves this trait .............................................................60 The #1 secret of the most successful salespeople and how

to use it in your interviews..............................................................60 If your interview is interrupted, be sure to do this! .........................61 Most people—including your interviewer—are starved for attention. How to use this to your advantage…........................61 Never interrupt your interviewer before he or she finishes a question......................................................................................62

How your body language can establish much greater rapport .......................................................................................................62 How to use eye contact to come across as forthright, not shifty...............................................................................................62 Fastest way to stifle a yawn…………….........................................63 Even if you’re nervous, never let your feet or hands betray you this way! .................................................................................63 Doing this conveys dislike and distrust. Make sure you do this instead ....................................................................................63 Imitate this most effective body language secret of master salespeople .......................................................................63

CHAPTER 7: HOW TO SIDESTEP THE LAND MINES THAT

BLOW MOST CANDIDATES OUT OF CONTENTIO.........................65

How to survive the initial winnowing-out process..........................65 How to handle the most sensitive interview subjects....................66 How to handle the two most difficult types of interviews

you’ll ever face..............................................................................67 The dreaded “stress interview”—how to come through with flying colors...........................................................................69 Occasional “bush league” Tactics You may encounter— and how to handle them ...............................................................70 Tactics that some interviewers use to purposely intimidate you ...............................................................................70 How to handle the garden variety “hostile interviewer”..................71 How to liven up an apparently disinterested interviewer ...............72

CHAPTER 8: HOW TO ASK QUESTIONS THAT SET YOU

APART............................................................................................73

Smartest questions to ask during your interview............................73 Simple questions that tell you what your employer is looking for most ..........................................................................................74 Questions to avoid until after you’re offered the position...............78 Don’t make a federal case over these issues................................78

CHAPTER 9: THE RIGHT WAY AND THE WRONG WAY TO

“CLOSE THE SALE” AT THE END OF YOUR INTERVIEW...............80 Please don’t follow this often-repeated Advice! .............................82

One of your most effective tools for “closing the sale” and receiving the job offer .............................................................82

CHAPTER 10: THE EASIEST WAY TO GET BETTER AND

SHARPER WITH EVERY INTERVIEW ..............................................84

Two most important secrets of effective follow-up ........................85

CHAPTER 11: HOW TO MAKE THE FINAL CUT ..........................87

How to get invited back for the second and third interviews and then be selected the #1 choice .............................................87 Success in your second interview begins here .............................88 How to make your first Interviewer your strongest advocate ........88 How to succeed in group interviews..............................................89 When offered the position, should you accept on the spot or think it over? .............................................................................90

Introduction: Why You Must Have an Edge

in Today’s Fiercely Competitive Executive Job Market

... and How this Ebook will Give it to You

As you undoubtedly know, given our current

economic climate, it is especially difficult to

land a good position today.

Competition for white-collar job openings has grown

so fierce that a single help-wanted ad in a major

newspaper can pull in upward of 1,000 resumes.

That’s more than four large mail sacks bulging

with resumes — from a single ad. And that doesn’t

count scores of additional resumes submitted

online.

How can you possibly win against odds like

that?

The only way you will win is by having an edge ...

an edge that virtually all your competitors do not

have ... an edge so powerful that it will enable

you to position yourself as the number one

candidate even when many others may seem more

qualified “on paper.”

In the first chapter of this e-book, you will be

given this priceless edge. Apply it as I teach, and

it will work like a charm for you.

In subsequent chapters, you will be given many

additional edges to help lock in the position you

seek. These are all proven, field-tested strategies

based on extensive research by leading

executive recruitment firms, corporate personnel

departments, management studies conducted by

leading business schools, and the experience of

leading executive placement experts.

This e-book is a concise, best-of-best collection

of the most effective of these strategies. They

have consistently been proven to work in every

economic environment, in every industry, and for

every type of position. Put them to use and they

will work for you as well.

With these strategies working for you, you are

now much, much closer to your next great job.

* * *

Your

Job-WINNING EDGE

#1:

How to Harness the World’s Most Powerful Secret for Getting Hired in Any Industry,

Even in a Down Economy and When You are Not the Most Qualified Candidate

During many years of research in the executive

job market, I have identified one strategy that

will give you a massive advantage in today’s

hypercompetitive job market.

As our first order of business, you are going to

discover this strategy and how to apply it ...

This deceptively simple yet remarkably effective

strategy is just one of the secrets you will learn

in this e-book. But it is the most important, which

is why I am putting it first.

The beauty of this technique is that it induces

your interviewer to persuade himself or herself that you

are the right person for the job, rather than you having to perform that daunting task.

In effect, it makes your interviewer tell you — and

usually only you — exactly what to say during your

interview in order to land the job.

It’s as if your interviewer will be handing you,

without even realizing it, the questions to the

final exam before you take it.

This strategy has been adapted from a highly

effective technique used by master salespeople in

all fields. It was perfected many years ago by a

man named Fred Herman, hailed in his prime as

“America’s greatest salesman.”

He was famous for his extraordinary ability to

induce people to persuade themselves to want whatever he was offering. And he did this not with high-

pressure selling, pushy tactics, or clever

manipulation, but with just the opposite — the

softest, gentlest touch imaginable, so that his

persuasion was not only devastatingly effective,

but also seamless, effortless, and completely

invisible.

Now before we go further, please don’t think,

simply because you may not be in marketing or

sales, that this most powerful technique ever

discovered in the world of salesmanship has nothing

to do with you or the position you are seeking.

I know from experience that when many job seekers

at high corporate levels, and especially in

academia, hear the word “salesmanship,” they think,

“That doesn’t apply in my profession.” For them,

the very word “salesmanship” instantly evokes

images of used car salespeople and mail order

hucksters.

Of course, if by “salesmanship” you mean pushy,

obvious, high-pressure sales tactics or using

manipulative tricks to deceive someone, then you

are absolutely correct and I would agree with you.

But by “salesmanship” I mean the high art of

knowing how to induce in anyone — at any level of

any organization — a strong desire to want what

you offer over and above what anyone else has to

offer, which of course is your primary mission in

a job interview.

To succeed in any job interview, you must know

how to persuade your interviewer to hire you in

preference to all other candidates. And you want

to do it with effortless grace and profession -

alism. This is what I am talking about.

And it’s precisely what this technique will do

for you — position you as the leading candidate

much if not most of the time, even against a large

and highly competitive field of candidates.

I say “much if not most of the time” because no

strategy will land every single job you apply for

even if you are highly qualified.

But what this will do is stack the probabilities

— your odds of being singled out as the number one

candidate — overwhelmingly in your favor much of

the time, and that is the best you can do. And it

will be more than sufficient to land a job you

want, because from now on, you will be consistently

superior in the interview process at positioning

yourself as the number one candidate almost

regardless of your competition.

Indeed, while there is enormous competition out

there for every job opening today, the good news

is this: Surprisingly, the best-qualified

candidates on paper usually don’t land the

position.

Indeed, research indicates that about 65% of the

time, the hired employee meets fewer than 50% of

the job qualifications.

How can this be? The reason is because job offers

are most frequently extended to those candidates

who, regardless of formal qualifications:

1. Sell themselves best;

2. Intimidate least;

3. Listen the most.

In other words, job offers usually go to those

who make the best impression in their interviews,

which is where you are now going to have an

enormous advantage.

OK, enough buildup. Let us now explain this core

strategy. Then I’ll give you a few pointers on it,

to make sure you attain mastery and can bring it

off with aplomb when you need it most — right

before the lights turn up and it’s suddenly

“Showtime!” — the start of your next interview.

The main secret behind this technique can be

summed up in twelve simple words.

From now on, in every phase of your job search,

but especially before and during your interview, remember that you can get virtually anything you

want in life (including the job you want) if you

first ...

Find out what people want, then show them how to get it. Those are the most powerful twelve words you can

ever know to persuade anyone to do anything,

including getting someone to hire you. These twelve

magic words are so powerful because they take your

mental focus off what you want and put it where it

should be — on what your potential employer wants.

And this gives you a whole different perspective

... and gives your potential employer a much more

favorable impression of you.

Applied to the job interview process, what this

means is ...

During the interview, your most important objective is to uncover your interviewer’s most ardently felt wants, problems, needs, desires, goals, or priorities. As critical as this is, virtually no one does

it!

Virtually everybody makes the critical mistake of

talking about themselves and their qualifications

in a vacuum, that is, before they know what the

interviewer is looking for most in a candidate.

In marketing terms, they start to sell before they

know what the buyer most wants to buy.

From now on, remember that it’s absolutely

foolhardy to start describing yourself and your

qualifications until you know what the employer’s

greatest needs are! As master sales people and

marketers know, don’t start to sell anything until you know what

the buyer is buying! Of course, the problem becomes how to accomplish

this when your interviewer is in control of the

interview and often begins by saying, “Tell me

about yourself.”

Here’s a good way to do it, but one that will take

a little rehearsing before your next interview ...

After the small talk, be ready to gently,

nonchalantly seize the initiative by asking,

“Before we get started, could you fill me in a

little bit more about this position? All I know

is what I heard from the executive recruiter (or

saw in the classified advertisement ... or whatever

the case may be).”

This first question can lead to others, each of

which can help you elicit the information you need

so that when it is your turn to speak ...

... you will already know how to position your qualifications to perfectly match what the interviewer just told you he or she is looking for. As I said, once you do this, once you induce the

interviewer to first tell you what it will take to

get hired, i.e., what he or she is looking for most

in a candidate, it’s as if you’ve been given the

questions before you take a final exam.

You gain an immense advantage.

You should rehearse this approach so that you are

sure to bring it off tactfully, effortlessly, and

nonchalantly, to avoid the impression that you’re

trying to take over the interview. But you must do

it if you truly want to be a master at giving the

interviewer what he or she wants, which is the most

critical factor in getting the job offer.

If, after the introductory small talk, your

interviewer beats you to the punch by asking the

first question, you must of course answer it, but

then try to regain the initiative by asking for

more information about the position and how you

can better present your qualifications in light of

his or her needs.

For example, let’s say that your interviewer ends

the small talk by saying, “Well, I’ve read your

resume, but why don’t you tell me a little more

about your qualifications.”

Your best answer would be to give a thirty second-

to-one-minute summary of your strongest qualifica-

tions and then, without pausing, immediately

continue by saying, “I have a number of

accomplishments I’d like to tell you about. To

focus on the ones most relevant to you, may I ask

you a question or two about the position?”

Then you have your interviewer’s permission to

ask several questions that will draw out his or

her greatest needs, wants, desires, goals, or

problems.

No matter which question your interviewer asks

at the start of the interview, you should give a

brief answer, then get back to this strategy of

uncovering his or her greatest wants.

Applying this strategy is not necessarily easy

at first. You have to practice it to feel

comfortable and natural with it. But it is the

only way to maximize your opportunity to offer

your potential employer exactly what he or she

wants most in the ideal candidate.

If you try to present your qualifications before

you know what your interviewer wants most, you may

well emphasize qualifications of little immediate

reference to his or her needs.

For example, you may emphasize your long experience

when he or she is much more interested in someone

who can initiate changes. Or vice versa.

Or, among all the skills and knowledge that you

possess, you may choose to talk about an area that

has little relevance or interest for your

interviewer, when you could have chosen to describe

skills and knowledge that he or she might be fairly

desperate to bring aboard. This difference is

critical in swaying your odds of getting hired.

So you must — absolutely must! — get your

interviewer talking about his or her needs and

wants before you talk about how you can fulfill

them.

An excellent way to get the ball rolling is to ask

questions such as “Sir (or Madam), What would your

highest expectations be for the person who fills

this position?” ... “Why is the position open?” ...

or “What would be the highest priorities for the

person who fills this position?”

Once your interviewer begins to talk about his or

her wants and needs, keep the dialogue going with

further probing questions such as “That’s

interesting ... Why is that the case?” ... “How

would you like to see this situation remedied?”

... “What would the person in this position have

to achieve to be considered successful?” or “What

is your biggest concern about XYZ?”

After the interviewer has finished answering your

questions, in effect revealing to you exactly what

the company is looking for most, it’s a good idea

to recap and feed back what he or she has just

said.

Doing this will show the interviewer that you are

someone who listens well and respects those you

will be working with. You will have paid your

interviewer the high compliment of listening

attentively. This will also ensure that you fully

understand his or her wants and needs.

To summarize what the interviewer has just told

you, you can say something like “In other words,

the person you hire for this job should be able to

... ” (and then fill in the blanks with a brief

summary of the most important criteria your

interviewer has just described).

As you feed back your understanding of the most

important wants and problems you have uncovered,

please do not use the word “problem” in describing

any of the challenging situations your interviewer

is dealing with. Many people resist having to

acknowledge to someone outside the firm that they

have a “problem,” even if they do. Be diplomatic.

Use words such as “highest priority,” “most

important goal,” “greatest desire,” etc.

Once he or she confirms that you understand the

situation perfectly, only then are you ready to

begin talking about your qualifications in earnest.

The genius of this strategy is that at this point,

you have everything you need to make a masterful

presentation, one that matches — like a key to a

lock — your most relevant qualifications to

whatever your interviewer is looking for.

To make such a masterful presentation with great

finesse, you will use our next strategy for gaining

a job-winning edge, the “PAR Formula.”

* * *

To sum up the strategy you have just learned:

1. Always, always, always find out during the

interview what the company wants from the person to

be hired — before you present your qualifications — so you’ll know which credentials and achievements

to emphasize, like fitting a key to a lock.

2. It helps, before you speak, to summarize and

feed back the main wants and needs that the

interviewer has just revealed to you, to be sure

you understand them correctly and to show your

interviewer that you’re a good listener.

3. Only then are you ready to present your

qualifications that most closely mirror your

interviewer’s greatest wants.

Your

What Interviewers prize Most in Candidates Researchers at the Indiana University placement office videotaped employment interviews and found surprising differences in the ways that successful job seekers performed during interviews versus those who were later unsuccessful. The study found that many of the candidates who were given the highest marks “on paper” before they were interviewed did not make the final list of candidates to be hired. The biggest differences the study found between those who are successful in interviews and those who are not were the interviewee’s communication skills and ability to exploit the face-to-face interview. The successful candidates identified with the potential employer’s greatest wants, needs, and desires. They were positive and assertive in answering questions and in asking questions that demonstrated that they were trying to uncover the employer’s greatest needs and then show why they were qualified to meet them. This same study showed clearly that the most successful interviewees refer to the organization by name four times as often as unsuccessful applicants. They also mention receiving information about the firm from employees and from written sources. in other words, they demonstrated a genuine interest in the company.

YOUR JOB-WINNING EDGE

#2:

How to Make a Masterful Presentation of Your Qualifications,

Using the “PAR Formula”

Once you have elicited and then fed back your

interviewer’s greatest wants as explained in the

first chapter, you are ready to make a killer

presentation of your most relevant qualifications

and accomplishments.

You will do this by using the PAR Formula.

Here’s how ...

You are going to provide anecdotes of how you

achieved success in similar situations. In doing

so, you will keep the descriptions of your

achievements and the problems you’ve solved

concise, specific, and factual, taking no more

than a minute or two.

For each of your success anecdotes, use the PAR

Formula as follows: Describe your accomplish ments

by stating the Problem you faced, the Action you

took, and the Results you achieved.

As you do this, allow your interviewer to

interrupt with questions if he or she desires.

As you make your presentation using the PAR

Formula, resist the temptation to offer, on the

spot, any comparable solutions to your inter -

viewer’s greatest wants, needs, and problems that

you have uncovered.

The purpose of your PAR Formula achievement

anecdotes is to demonstrate how you think, how you

approach problems, and that you are an achiever

who has accomplished success in similar situations.

You are not there to solve the company’s specific

problems instantly. Trying to do so would be

counterproductive, because you don’t have all the

facts yet, and you don’t want to seem like someone

who acts without thinking.

Also, trying to solve the company’s main problem or

problems on the spot could easily be perceived as

condescending, as if you are trying to downgrade

the interviewer by implying that he or she must be

rather dimwitted to have overlooked such obvious

solutions as those you suggest.

To sum up this strategy ...

1. Use the PAR Formula to describe in concise,

specific vignettes (no longer than one or two

minutes each) your major accomplishments that match

up to your interviewer’s greatest wants:

A. A similar Problem you faced.

B. The Action you took.

C. The Results you achieved.

Have these memorized and well rehearsed before your

interview.

2. Answer any further questions your interviewer

may have.

These first two chapters constitute your core

success strategy for landing your new job. Now

let’s examine a portfolio of additional research

findings, techniques, and strategies that will

further enhance your odds of success.

* * *

YOUR

Job-WINNING

EDGE #3:

How to Make Interviewers Like You

No matter what your qualifications, no one is

going to hire you if he or she doesn’t like you.

So after the basic assumption that you are

qualified for the position, the most important

reason an employer will hire you is because he or

she likes you.

This is understandable because your boss and others

at the company may spend more waking time with you

than with their own spouses! Compatibility is

essential.

Yet the overwhelming majority of job seekers, even

those at the highest executive levels, have no clue

of how important this “likability” factor is. This

represents an enormous opportunity for you to

leapfrog over others who may be better qualified on

paper, but who don’t know how to present a more

likable image to the interviewer.

Based on a small mountain of research, here are

the easiest ways to make yourself more likable to

any interviewer ...

1. Above all, listen attentively and respectfully when your

interviewer speaks. This is the easiest way to get your interviewer to take an immediate liking to you.

Through such focused listening, you show respect

and consideration, two qualities that all people

crave and appreciate.

If you have the annoying habits of interrupting

people before they finish their sentences or

listening only partially because your mind is

racing ahead to think up your next clever response,

you’d better practice correcting these bad

listening habits now. Just as you notice these

irritating traits in others, your interviewer will

instantly spot them in you, and this can easily

kill your chances of getting hired, regardless of

your qualifications.

2. Leave the obituary face at home. Most people are understandably tense before an interview. But don’t

let this tension reflect itself in a frown or stern

look. It makes you unlikable and threatening. Look

upon the interview as an opportunity to meet a new

and likable friend.

3. Be yourself. It sounds trite, but in interviewing, one of the most important pieces of advice is

simply to be yourself and not try to be someone

else. Giving yourself permission to be you takes

some of the pressure off the interview, helps you

relax, and enables your natural strengths to shine

through.

Of course, you want your best self to shine

through. So within the framework of your own

natural personality, here are some of the qualities

that virtually

everyone, interviewers

included, find likable

in others ...

4. People like others who are

positive, and they dislike those who are negative.

For this reason, don’t

say anything negative

about anybody or

anything in your

interview. Try to be as

positive as you can

about all things

that you talk about.

5. People like others who are

confident, and they dislike those who are

weak, self doubting,

and suspicious.

6. People like others with a

pleasant manner, a ready smile, and a

good sense of humor.

Of course, this doesn’t

mean that you should

tell ethnic jokes

or do your Richard

Nixon imitation.

7. People like goaloriented

candidates and dislike

The 25 biggest Interview “Turnoffs” In a major study conducted by the placement center of northwestern university, employers were asked to name the traits or responses they found most objectionable in job candidates. Their responses, in order of intensity of dislike, were as follows: 1. Arrogance, cockiness. 2. poor communication, presentation skills. 3. lack of interest. 4. lack of knowledge about the company and industry. 5. early discussion or questions about salary and benefits. 6. being unprepared for the interview and making excuses. 7. egotism, overconfidence. 8. Tardiness, not showing up for interview. 9. poor eye contact. 10. Abrasive, rude, demanding. 11. dishonesty, fabricated answers in interview or resume. 12. poor language usage, slang, poor grammar. 13. no career direction, not knowing self. 14. shallow, inappropriate questions or answers. 15. lack of experience, education, skills. 16. lack of professional appearance. 17. “know-it-all” attitude. 18. inappropriate attire. 19. unrealistic goals, career and job expectations. 20. overly aggressive, hostile, manipulative behavior. 21. lack of enthusiasm. 22. poor grooming, hygiene. 23. failure to communicate qualifications effectively, no elaboration or examples. 24. deficient social, conversational skills. 25. lack of professionalism and poise.

those without focus or

direction.

8. People like others who are straight forward, and they dislike those

who are otherwise.

9. People like others who show a genuine

interest in them and enhance their sense of

importance, respect, and

self-esteem. They

dislike — sometimes

intensely — those who in

any way slight their

sense of self-respect.

10. People like others who are good-natured and

open, and they dislike those who come across as

suspicious and wary.

11. People like others who are down-to-earth, and they dislike those

who are haughty. Of

course, you may not be

haughty, but your

behavior may make it

seem so. For example,

if you let the inter -

viewer carry the burden

of doing all the

talking, treating him

The 5 biggest Interview Mistakes According to BusinessWeek magazine, these are the five biggest turnoffs that get interview candidates disqualified: 1. Playing hard to get. Acting nonchalant will usually be interpreted as meaning that you aren’t interested enough in the position. 2. Talking too much. never ramble nor entertain the interviewer with chitchat about the super bowl. 3. Boasting. You must sell yourself, but beware of embellishing your responsib - ilities, exaggerating your accomplish - ments, covering up shortcomings, or bragging too much. 4. Not listening. Candidates are often so anxious to prove themselves that they don’t listen carefully to the interviewer’s questions. As a result, their answers are off target. 5. being unprepared. if you haven’t done your homework to learn about the company and its culture, you can’t ask the right questions. Other factors That have Caused Well-Qualified Candidates to lose Out Poor posture ... a limp handshake ... bow ties ... smoking a pipe ... too much jewelry ... nervous tics ... nervous demeanor. Finally, if you’re a man, and you cross your legs, make sure your socks rise high enough to cover any bare skin. if they don’t, do not cross your legs. believe it or not, an exposed hairy calf ranked highest in one survey of what turns women off most.

or her as if he or she

is the host and you are

the honored guest, you

may well seem aloof and

unfriendly.

12. People like others who are

interesting, and they dislike those who are

boring. To be more

interesting, talk

about what you find

interesting, as long as

it’s relevant to the

conversation.

13. People like others who take

responsibility and don’t blame others. They dislike those who point fingers.

14. People like others who are loyal. Always show loyalty to your former employers. Interviewers

will assume that you are a loyal team player and

will give them that same admirable loyalty in your

future relationship.

15. People like others who are truthful. If you don’t know how to answer a question, say so. If you’re not

sure of what the interviewer is driving at, don’t

be shy about asking him or her to clarify the

question. Also be honest in your answers to

questions.

As Mark Twain once said, “Honesty will please most

people and astonish everyone.”

The surprising personality Trait preferred by 98% of hiring Executives A survey by Hodge-Cronin & Associates found that 98% of 737 chief executives interviewed would hire a candidate with a good sense of humor over a humorless type. Says Forbes magazine, “A mounting body of research says the preference is well-grounded. Researchers have found a connection between a well-developed sense of humor and problem solving. So, don’t be afraid to smile or even laugh when appropriate during your interviews. but don’t crack jokes yourself.

16. Most important, people like

others who like them, and they dislike others who project

critical or suspicious

feelings.

Tip: Keep your eyes open

to notice some - thing you

genuinely like about your

interviewer or the

company, and don’t be

afraid to offer a

compliment, perhaps about

the office decor, the

building, or anything else

appropriate that you may

have genuinely admired. Be

sure that your compliment

is sincere, or it may

appear to be manipulative

flattery.

Your interviewer will be

much more likely to

perceive your compliment

as sincere if you give a

brief one-sentence reason

for admiring whatever

you’ve complimented. This “reason why” makes your

compliment credible.

Surprising Likes and Dislikes of Executive Interviewers According to a poll conducted by executive search consultant and author Allan cox, two-thirds of employers frown on dirty footwear. The only thing that will turn them off more is a woman who comes to an interview dressed in a seethrough blouse. other interesting findings: # 40% of hiring executives reacted negatively to a bracelet or neck chain worn by a man. # While 17% of middle managers frowned upon anyone wearing a beard, 22% of top executives took a dislike to those with beards. Mustaches turned off 7% of the top executives and 6% of middle managers. # Being five minutes late for the interview upset about 60% of executives. being fifteen minutes early annoyed 12% but favorably im pressed 45%. # Drinking alcohol during lunch was frowned on by 25% of executives but was viewed positively by 21%. # Asking reflective questions about the company impressed more than 80% of all executives surveyed.

A Few More Tips on How to Be More Likable in a Job Interview

17. Never get into an argument with your interviewer, even if you strongly disagree with what he or she is

saying. This sounds so obvious that you may wonder

why I even include it. Well, you’d be surprised at

what even intelligent, high level candidates

sometimes do in an interview, when they feel

stressful, want to come across as strong, or have

done things quite differently in their previous

firms and believe fervently that their own ways are

superior.

So let’s leave nothing to chance here and advise

that you don’t press a differing viewpoint on

anything too aggressively. This is not to imply

that the interviewer is always right. And you are

free to state your own viewpoint enthusiastically

and positively, without bickering. Just remember

that if you get into an argument, you won’t win

either the argument or the job.

18. Demonstrate integrity. Never divulge confidential information about your previous employers, even if

pressed to do so, whether in a friendly or high-

pressure manner, if only for your own self-nterest.

Some interviewers will test you by trying as hard

as they can to pry such information out of you,

showing out right annoyance if you don’t yield.

Hold your ground. This is usually a ruse designed

to bring maximum pressure to bear on you to test

the limits of your trustworthiness. You will pass

this “test” only if you steadfastly refuse to

divulge such information.

If you eagerly serve up confidential information in

your desire to please the interviewer, you will

almost certainly be eliminated from consideration,

and rightfully so.

19. Speak like a free agent, not a benchwarmer. In describing your achievements, generally speaking, don’t fall

into the “we” syndrome ... “we did this, then we

did that,” etc. The interviewer wants to know what

you contributed. He’s not hiring your former team.

* * *

references

YOUR

The Easiest Way an Employer Can Know When a Job Candidate

Is Not Telling the Truth ...

... is when there is little or no consistency between the resume, interview, and references

JOB-WINNING

EDGE #4:

How to Be the Best-Prepared Candidate

Another simple strategy for outperforming your

rivals for any position is to flat out be the best-

prepared candidate, with nobody else even a close

second.

Researching the company thoroughly before your

interview will confer three wonderful benefits

upon you.

First, it will make you more confident during your

interview because you will be able to converse more

intelligently about the company.

Second, this greater confidence will help you feel

more relaxed, allowing your best qualities to shine

through.

And third, you will make a much better impression

upon your interviewer.

Indeed, interviewers are shrewd and demanding

judges of how much homework you’ve put in before

your interview, as this is a strong indicator of

your work habits, your preparation skills, and your

desire for the job.

Someone who walks into an interview knowing almost

nothing about the company or organization and its

products or services is demonstrating little

interest and zero initiative, both very negative

marks in the mind of any hiring executive.

To avoid making such a mistake, gather as much

information as you can about the company or

organization and the department where you may be

working. Study this information thoroughly,

formulating intelligent questions. Your mission

is to be the number one best-prepared candidate.

Your homework will also help you identify the

possible problems, needs, goals, or desires that

you may uncover during your interview.

If it’s a publicly held company, be sure to read

its annual report for its most recent fiscal year

and even further back if you can get copies.

(Tip: Call the investor relations department at

the firm and ask for whatever material it can send

you.) Read all such material over several times,

identifying the corporate culture and dominant

ideas you see expressed.

Also try to get a few copies of the company’s

newsletters or ezines. These will give you a good

overview of how the company sees itself, as well

as the corporate culture.

If you know anyone who works at the company,

supplies the company, or knows anything about it

from any angle, try to get as much information as

you can from these sources as well.

Respond to the company’s advertisements and

carefully review the material you receive. If

practical, buy some of its products. Send for any

information that the public relations department

may be able to give you.

In addition, research the company’s competition, a

topic very much on the mind of every company.

Check out the company’s website and spend a fair

amount of time there. Google the company and read

whatever articles pop up.

These steps will help you create an informed list

of questions that you can bring up at appropriate

times in the interview. They will enable you to get

a mile-long head start on the majority of

candidates who haven’t shown such initiative.

And you’ll instantly leapfrog past the surprisingly

high number of interviewees who think nothing of

blurting out during the interview, “I’m really not

that familiar with what your company does ...” Such

a statement conveys a feeling of indifference and

perhaps even arrogance to your potential employer,

whose life is wrapped up in his company’s

operations.

During your interview, don’t force your company

knowledge into the conversation or try to flaunt

it. To make a really strong impression, let it

come out naturally in the course of conversation.

* * *

Your

Job-WINNING

EDGE #5:

Insider Tips from the world’s savviest executive recruiters

To put this book together, I have sought the

advice of a wide range of the most successful and

respected executive recruiters in the business.

Most were very gracious in sharing their favorite

“insider” tips for succeeding brilliantly in your

job search.

Here are their best-of-the-best recommendations:

1. Clear the decks for your incoming calls. Before you can perform well in an interview, you

must secure that interview.

If you invest considerable time, expense, and

effort to generate qualified job leads, it only

makes sense to be ready to capture them when

opportunity knocks.

First and foremost, remember that when someone

in the business world places a phone call, he or

she is accustomed to getting through to someone or

something — whether a receptionist, assistant, or

voice mail machine — capable of taking a message.

This expectation carries over to you, even though

you may be out of work and using your home as your

new “office.” Make sure that you have some way to

receive incoming calls at all times.

2. Never give out too much information during the initial phone contact. Initial telephone

interviews have one

purpose only — to uncover

a reason why you are not

qualified. It’s a

screening-out process to

whittle down the field.

Therefore, if you’d

really like to maximize

your chances for

exploring this job, your

goal is to give as little

information as possible

and, instead, ask a few

questions about the

position and why it’s

open, then assume the

caller is

desirous of setting up a

personal interview.

3. Throughout your job campaign, to minimize anxiety and fear of rejection, realize that you’re playing a

numbers game. The real reason that some athletes

choke in a big game is

not because they lack

skill or don’t care

Easiest Way to Make Yourself Three Times More likely to get hired According to executive recruiter Robert Half, research has shown that the first person interviewed gets the job only 17.6% of the time. but the last person interviewed is hired 55.8% of the time, or more than three times more frequently. The reason: As in most human endeavors, people are wary of accepting the first choice offered. Therefore, do whatever you can to position yourself among the last candidates interviewed, definitely not among the first. This means you may wait a couple of weeks before responding to help-wanted ads that interest you. You may ask your executive recruiter to send you in last. And if your interviewer asks you when you can set up an appointment, try to push the day back as far as possible.

Worst Day of the Week ... Worst Time of Day to be Interviewed Also according to half, another research study has shown that Monday is, by far, the worst day of the week to be interviewed for a job. The worst time for a job interview is late afternoon. You needn’t become a slave to these guidelines, merely use them to your advantage whenever possible.

enough. It’s because they care too much. They want

success so badly that they try to force their

skills, making themselves so nervous and so tight

that they simply cannot relax enough to let their

skills perform to their highest level. The same can

happen to you in your job campaign.

A certain amount of nervousness is always going to

be present during a job interview. But if you find

yourself so nervous that your tightness is not

allowing the real you to shine through, then take a

tip from master salespeople who face this problem

all the time.

To succeed, on the one hand, you must prepare

thoroughly. But on the other hand, you cannot allow

yourself to want this position too much.

This can be hard to do, especially when you’re out

of work, desperate for money, and your “dream job”

is riding on the outcome of your interview.

But precisely because the stakes are so high, you

must learn the skill of lowering your desire in

order to lower your level of nervousness. You will

give yourself your best shot of capturing the

position only if the “best you” shines through, and

that can take place only when you are not in the

death grip of desperation and fear of blowing the

opportunity.

You must tell yourself before the interview that if

landing this position is meant to be, it’s meant to

be.

You must also look at your job search as a numbers

game, just as master salespeople do. They get rid

of nervousness by not trying to force each

situation their way. Rather, they rehearse and

polish their presentations until they are truly

masterful in knowing their information cold. But

they never know which specific prospect is going

to be the one out of three or one out of fifty who

buys. So they don’t worry about it.

They know if they give fifty masterful

presentations, somewhere along the line they will

get their ample share of sales. This strategy —

of thinking of the interview process as a numbers

game — is the key to being able to relax enough in

all your interviews to let your knowledge and

genuine personality come through. Paradoxically,

by having a more relaxed attitude, you will raise

your “closing ratio” (number of job offers) much

higher.

4. Know that virtually every interviewer’s greatest emotional need

is the SAFETY of the hiring decision. All great salespeople know that you will be far more successful in

selling or persuading anyone if you address their

emotional needs during the sale.

In your job search, this means that you will do

much better in interviews if you go into them

realizing that your interviewer is quite anxious

and that his or her greatest emotional need is most

likely the safety of his or her hiring decision.

To understand this, you must realize that for most

executives, interviewing is a function performed

only occasionally. So it brings with it the

inherent discomfort of unfamiliarity. As a rule,

most executives would much rather be doing what

they do best instead of interviewing you.

Greatly magnifying the inherent discomfort of

performing an activity outside their daily comfort

zone are the onerous consequences of making a

mistake. If they hire someone who turns out to be

a disaster, that disaster may be hung around their

necks like an albatross. A bad hiring decision can

impede their own careers. They can also cause them

a loss of prestige at the firm, disrupt previously

harmonious work teams, hurt employee morale, and

lower productivity. Hiring someone who doesn’t work

out can also mean that pet projects get botched or

essential work is postponed until someone qualified

is found.

Finally, hiring mistakes mean that the hiring

executives, after all these bad consequences have

befallen them, their careers, and their firm, will

most likely have to undo the damage, fire the

person recently hired, and go through the awful

process all over again.

In sum, it’s a very high-risk situation. Therefore,

you will have much greater success in interviews if

you give the interviewer what he or she is

emotionally seeking most. And that is a feeling of

SAFETY, a reduction of the risks that hiring you

represents.

How do you do that? By doing everything you can to

make the interviewer feel safe and secure about

you. Specifically, to feel safest with you, the

interviewer will be looking for you to meet three

criteria:

a) You are qualified to do the job.

b) You are motivated to do the job.

c) You are “their kind of person.” There’s an old

saying in executive recruitment that “like likes like.” The more you are like the people already working at a

firm, the safer your interviewer will feel about

you and, in short, the more he or she will tend to

like you. So, as much as humanly possible, you

should try to reflect the interviewer’s corporate

culture ... to look, talk, think, and act like they

do and share their interests and values.

The closer your presentation comes to assuring the

interviewer about these three requirements, the

safer the interviewer will feel about you and the

greater your odds of being hired. This holds true

for every position at every company that interviews

you. So the bulk of your preparation for any

interview should be targeted at meeting these three

essential criteria.

5. Review your resume before your interview ... and be prepared to use it as your “script” in answering interview questions. Remember that your cover letter and resume were

impressive enough to have gained your interview. In

other words, so far, it’s a winning combination. So

before your interview, study your resume, no matter

how many times you reviewed it before. Keep your

greatest achievements fresh in your mind, ready to

feed them to the interviewer, matching them up with

his or her company’s needs.

6. Be prepared for tough interview questions. Throughout your job campaign, you should regularly

review the questions in one of your accompanying e-

books, How to Answer the 64 Toughest Interview Questions, and rehearse your answers.

Pay special attention to the answers you plan to

give to questions about why you’ve left each

previous position ... your greatest weaknesses ...

what salary you want ... and other sensitive

matters most likely to come up. You do not want

to find yourself ad-libbing your answers to these

questions.

As you rehearse your answers to anticipated

questions, make them concise enough to fit into

one- or two-minute segments. No answer to any

interview question should go beyond two minutes.

If your interviewer wants more information, he or

she can ask after you finish your one-to-two minute

summary.

7. Visualize your success. Another highly effective technique for preparing for topflight interview

perfor mance is to use the same method employed by

champion ship athletes. That is, videotape a

rehearsed interview. You can ask a friend or your

spouse to interview you for the position you are

seeking and videotape the entire session. To make

it easy for the person, you can have him or her ask

you questions from the accompanying e-book, How to

Answer the 64 Toughest Interview Questions. Then review your performance as if you were

watching someone you are thinking of hiring. Make

any improvements you deem necessary. Then go

through the process again, until you feel that

your interview technique is in tip-top shape.

For many people, this is an uncomfortable

exercise, because few of us like to see or hear

ourselves on tape. But it’s an invaluable way to

see what you may be doing wrong and correct any

problems before they hurt your chances in an

actual interview, when it will be too late.

A related technique, and a great interview stress

reducer, is simply to use your own mind to

visualize the interview unfolding as you would

like.

See yourself succeeding brilliantly in listening to

your interviewer, uncovering his or her main wants,

letting your interviewer finish every question

completely before responding, and then providing an

answer that perfectly matches his or her needs with

your qualifications.

Imagine seeing your interviewer quite impressed

with your credentials. Imagine that you sense very

strongly that he or she likes you and would get

along well with you and that the chemistry between

you is fabulous.

Such visualizations, especially performed at night

before you go to sleep, are extremely powerful in

harnessing your subconscious mind to bring your

best resources and personality to bear during your

interview the next day. Following this practice on

a regular basis will work like a tonic to put you

in the right frame of mind and build your

confidence.

Another similar exercise is to stand in front of a

mirror and imagine how your body would look and

feel if you were naturally and genuinely brimming

with confidence, enthusiasm, and drive.

Get to know and feel comfortable with your own

“success posture,” and then, whenever you want to

project an image of success and self-confidence,

just assume that posture, whether you’re initially

feeling that way or not. You’ll be surprised how

the posture itself will help trigger these positive

emotions within you ... and thereby project a

strong, confident image to anyone in your presence.

8. Comport yourself as an equal, not a beggar. Look upon your interview as a meeting between

equals. The company needs good people like you as

much as you need the company. Being subservient is

just as damaging to your chances as being arrogant.

Remember that the person who’s interviewing you was

impressed enough with your resume to invite you for

the interview. This is a positive start and should

be the basis for optimism.

9. Try this technique for establishing rapport. A classic management principle that encourages a bonding

between two individuals is to switch a situation

from “you against me” to “you and me against the

problem.” If there is some need or problem that the

interviewer has and that you can identify with,

perhaps you can use the “you and me against the

challenge” technique.

10. Be on your toes at all times and with every person you meet. You must assume that every question asked, and

every remark made, is for a reason. Never be so

casual at any point in the interview process that

you’re not thinking your answer through or giving

it your best shot. Also assume that anyone you meet

may have the power to derail your candidacy,

including an assistant.

Never let your guard down or assume that a given

person is unimportant in the hiring decision.

11. If you wish, take notes, but ask first. If you’d like to take notes, ask permission first.

Accurate notes will help you write a dynamite

follow-up letter. If you choose to go through the

interview without taking notes, be sure to jot

down the main problems, desires, goals, etc., of

your interviewer immediately after the interview.

These will form the basis of a powerful follow-up

letter.

12. Don’t let untalented, insecure, or insensitive interviewers get

you down. Try not to feel offended, intimidated, or otherwise put off by anyone you might encounter

during your job search.

Take it all in stride and try to be yourself as

best you can in each situation. Just bear in

mind, it’s a numbers game, and look forward to

your next interview. The more leads you generate,

and the more people you see, the more offers you

will receive. That’s making the law of averages

work for you.

13. Don’t ask the employer about salary until you’re offered the

position. To get into a salary discussion too early will handicap your negotiating ability. Make sure

the employer wants you first — then you will

negotiate from strength.

14. How to trumpet your achievements without sounding like a

braggart. The best way to talk about your achievements without seeming full of yourself is to talk about

specific results and let the specific numbers and

achievements carry the weight of the description.

This is another instance where a thorough resume

will help you immeasurably. You can use it as a

basic script for reviewing the achievements that

your interviewer would like you to talk about.

So instead of saying, “I am the best salesperson at

the firm,” you might say instead, “For each of the

last eight years I have never placed below the top

10% in gross commission production. And for most of

that period, I have placed in the top 3%. Then

follow this up perhaps with additional sales volume

figures.

Another technique: Describe what other people say.

For example, “My immediate supervisor has described

me as ...” “My staff tells me I get such superb

results out of them because ...” or “Last year I

was named manager of the year thanks to the results

I achieved by ...”

A similar technique: Describe evidence of top

performance, including promotions, special awards,

citations, performance appraisals, etc., always

citing the specific results that caused you to win

them. Such “third-party evidence” puts the praise

in the mouths of others, not in your own mouth.

Another technique: Express how proud you are of a

certain achievement and express that pride in your

delivery. For example, after the Gulf War, the

American General, Norman Schwarzkopf proved himself

a master at effectively and graciously

acknowledging his own accomplishments by stating

how proud he was of the brilliant performance of

his troops. Of course, we automatically attributed

much of the credit to him, but the fact that he did

not try to claim all the credit positioned him as

an even more admirable manager. Instant stardom and

a multimillion-dollar book contract were just two

of the rewards showered upon him not only for his

brilliant performance in the war, but for his

understated skill in telling the world what a

great job he had done.

Another technique: State your abilities in terms of

what you enjoy doing most. For example instead of

saying, “I am an outstanding creative thinker,” it

sounds a little less boastful if you say, “I really

love the creative aspects of this work, and I think

I’ve shown my ability in this regard with ideas

such as these ...” (Then describe why the ideas

were so strong and what results they achieved.)

Additional phrases that can come in handy: “I

really have shown outstanding ability in situations

that call upon me to ... (fill in the blank, then

prove your claim with specific achievements and

results).” Or, “There is nothing that gives me a

greater sense of satisfaction than to ... (fill in

the blank, then prove your claim with specific

achievements and results).”

Little Things That Can Make a Big Difference 15. Before the day of the interview, get a good night’s sleep, so you can be well rested.

16. Review the directions to the interview to make sure you’re not going to get lost.

17. Listen to the weather forecast in advance to see if you’ll need an umbrella or boots. It won’t help your image

at the moment of your big interview if you look

like a drowned rat the cat dragged in.

18. Be sure you bring extra copies of your resume, as well as a pen and notepad, should you need them.

19. Never wear wrinkled clothes to an interview.

20. Polish your shoes. Some people will judge your character by your shoeshine. Never wear shoes with

worn-down heels. They may be the last impression

you leave on your way out of the interviewer’s

office.

21. Dress conservatively and tastefully. When in doubt, dress more formally rather than less.

22. Go lightly on cologne, perfume, or makeup. 23. Of course, observe all the basics of good grooming. 24. Try to arrange your most important interviews for Tuesday,

Wednesday, or Thursday. Mondays and Fridays are the busiest days in an interviewer’s week ... and the

days least likely to result in a job offer.

25. Throughout your job campaign, and for the rest of your life, bear in mind that two of the best ways to project a strong, relaxed, confident image in all situations is to exercise every day and get a good night’s sleep, going to bed before 10:00 p.m.

* * *

Your

Job-WINNING

EDGE #6:

The unspoken rules of interview etiquette (breaking Them could cost You the job offer)

Many of the following points will seem obvious.

Nevertheless, they are presented here for two

reasons.

First, to be thorough. And second, because

etiquette can be a funny thing. Sometimes you’ll

know nineteen out of the twenty rules that govern

a situation but break the one rule you don’t know

about. As a result, you may lose the job offer.

So while most of these rules are painfully obvious,

be assured that supposedly sophisticated executives

have broken every single one of them.

Don’t you be caught breaking even one!

1. Don’t insist on making your appointment at a time that your

interviewer indicates may be inconvenient. Try to be as accommodating as possible.

2. If you are offered reimbursement for travel, hotel, and food, it’s best to be frugal with your potential employer’s money.

3. If you’re sick or otherwise under the weather, reschedule the

interview for another time. Don’t try to tough it out when you’re not at your best.

4. Dress conservatively. And remember that appropriate attire in one part of the country may seem quite

out of step elsewhere. For example, a Fulani Hat

worn with a suit may be fine in Kaduna but will

raise eyebrows in Enugu. A T-Shirt with Jeans may

be OK in an Entertainment Company but never in a

Bank.

5. Go light on jewelry, cologne, perfume, and cosmetics. 6. Never wear sunglasses. 7. Never chew gum. 8. If your glasses are broken, fix them before your interview. 9. Don’t take up the time of an important executive, asking him or

her for instructions on how to find the building. Call the receptionist and get the information from that

person.

10. Always confirm your appointment by calling the interviewer’s assistant one day before your

interview.

11. Always be at least five to ten minutes early so you can dash

into the restroom for a final check. You may be brilliant at what you do, but if all your inter viewer sees when

he looks at your smile is a piece of spinach salad

wallpapered to your front tooth, your prospects are

dim.

12. Always treat receptionists and assistants with utmost

respect. They are often asked their opinion of candidates, and even if not, they can sabotage you

with a single cutting remark. They are also the

gatekeepers who can make your life much easier in

follow-up appointments. If you go out of your way

to be nice, it can pay big dividends. It’s your

best way to get strangers inside the company to put

in a good word for you.

13. If you come into the office wearing a coat, hat, or other

outdoor clothing, take it off in the reception area. If you carry it into the interview office, you’ll be emphasizing

your image as an outsider, a commercial visitor,

and not one who already belongs in the company.

14. Never invite your spouse or friend along. Your spouse may be very important in helping you

make decisions. He or she may even have made a

long-distance trip to scout your potential new

location. But to have your spouse waiting in the

reception area sends a signal that you may be too

dependent on your spouse. Wrong signal.

The Most Important Three Minutes of Your Interview

The most important three minutes in any interview

are the first three minutes because that’s when

your inter viewer will form his or her first and

lasting impression of you. Here’s how to make the

best impression possible:

15. Begin and end every interview with a firm handshake and

direct eye contact. Yes, you should actually test your handshake on friends, who will tell you if it’s too

firm or too squishy. As with your shoeshine, a good

number of people judge your character by your

handshake and eye contact.

Remember that how you look, smell, sit, and comport

your self will play a major role in whether the

interviewer likes you as a person, so try to relax

and let your best self shine through.

16. Be gracious and enthusiastic in your greeting, but not artificially so.

17. Never address the interviewer by his or her first name, unless you are invited to do so. If he or she calls

you by your first name, you may ask whether he

minds if you do the same.

18. If your interviewer is female, wait until she offers her hand before you offer to shake hands. 19. If your interviewer is female and you do not know her marital status, address her as “Ms.” 20. Don’t be seated until the interviewer is seated or invites you to be seated. 21. Try to choose a chair that’s adjacent to the interviewer’s desk

and move it slightly so that you can face the interviewer. Try to avoid sitting in a chair that will put you at an

uncomfortable disadvantage, such as sitting side

by side with the interviewer, forcing you to look

over your shoulder to make eye contact. Also, try

to keep yourself out of the line of the sun coming

through the interviewer’s window, so that your

eyes won’t seem squinty and shifty. If the sun is

in your eyes, there’s no harm in asking if the

blinds can be adjusted.

22. Sit with good posture, back straight, feet planted flatly on the floor.

23. Best way to break the ice in the initial few minutes of the

interview: Talk about something that the interviewer seems interested in. You may look around the inter

viewer’s office and find some clue of common

interest.

As Paul Ivey says in his book, Successful Salesman ship, “There is one surefire way of arousing interest:

Find out what they are already interested in and

then talk about it. If you talk about what they are

interested in, they will later on be willing to

consider what you are interested in.”

24. If your interview is at a restaurant ... a. Offer to pay for your own meal. If your host

insists on paying (as he or she should), accept

with a gracious thank you.

b Avoid liquor at meals. If your host insists

and you feel like it, have a drink, but never more

than one. If your host insists and you don’t feel

like it, politely decline and choose a nonalcoholic

beverage. Don’t be pressured into anything you

really don’t want to do. You needn’t compromise

your dignity merely because you’re looking for a

job.

c. Avoid sloppy or hard-to-manage foods. Stay

away from splashy sauces and multicolored salads

that can leave multicolored salad bits on your

teeth. Avoid anything that requires a bib and any

food that can easily result in stains on your

clothing.

No Matter Where Your Interview Takes Place ...

25. Smile easily and warmly. 26. Use correct grammar. 27. Feel free to use the interviewer’s name in your conversation. This shows respect, and we all like to hear our own

names. But don’t use a person’s first name unless

he or she invites you to do so. Some people resent

the presumed familiarity that goes with use of

their first names.

28. If you smoke, never light up during an interview unless your

inter viewer is already smoking. Don’t smoke a cigar unless your interviewer is smoking one and invites you to

join him. (Even a cigarette smoking interviewer may

take offense at your filling his office with cigar

odor.) And leave your pipe at home. Pipe-smoking

executives are sometimes perceived to be like

college professors — too contemplative and not

action oriented.

29. Avoid nervous habits such as pulling your earlobe, rubbing your nose, straightening your tie, tugging your wristwatch, or rubbing your chin. 30. Never try to read documents on the interviewer’s desk. 31. Never pick up objects from the interviewer’s desk. 32. Never talk while your interviewer is reading, especially when he or she is reading your resume.

33. Always hold your temper in check, despite any provocation, which may be intentional as part of a

“stress interview” (more on this later).

34. Keep your ego under control. Never practice one-upmanship with your interviewer. You can only

lose.

When You Speak ...

35. The “Two-Minute Rule.” Don’t mask your nervousness by talking too much. At least 90% of discharged

managers seeking new jobs make the mistake of

talking too much. Be concise. Say what you want and

no more. Maximum time for each answer is two

minutes.

Rehearse your answers to anticipated questions, and

make them concise enough to fit into one- or two-

minute segments. If your interviewer wants more

information, he or she can ask after you finish

your one-to-two-minute summary.

36. If you frequently use “verbal filler” in your sentences, try to break this annoying habit. Eliminate such phrases as “you know,” “uh,” and “I

mean.” They are distracting to most people and

unbearably grating to some.

37. In describing your achievements, you don’t want to seem like an egomaniac in taking credit for everything done in previous positions. However, you should generally give yourself ample

credit. Forget the “we” in every description.

Remember that you’re no longer on the old team.

Use “I” instead. Focus on the new firm and what

you can do for it, not on where you used to work.

38. Never say, “Well, I would rephrase that question and answer

it this way.” That is a not-too-hidden criticism of your interviewer’s question.

39. Try to modulate your voice and pacing according to your

interviewer. If your interviewer speaks slowly and methodically, it’s likely that he or she will not

have rapport with someone who gives rapid-fire

answers.

Notice how your interviewer speaks, and try to

present your thoughts in a similar manner. When

you do speak, don’t mumble. Try to avoid nervous

gestures such as touching your face, lips, or

glasses. Keep your hands still. Don’t twist your

pen or a rubber band and never glance at your

watch or clock on the interviewer’s desk, even if

you think that he or she wouldn’t see you.

When in Doubt, Ask a Question ...

40. If there is a long, awkward pause in the conversation, you can always ask a question. 41. Indeed, the best way to establish rapport with an interviewer is to ask intelligent questions. Almost all interviewers enjoy being asked about

their companies, its various departments, the

position that’s open, and what is expected of the

person who will be hired. Questions will not only

tell you how to position your own qualifications,

but will also demonstrate your genuine interest

and allow the interviewer to feel very comfortable

with you. (More on intelligent questions later.)

When Your Interviewer Speaks ... 42. Pay your interviewer the ultimate compliment by listening intently to his or her questions. Listen closely and think through your answers

before replying.

43. The greatest and simplest secret of the most

effective listeners: having a sincere interest in what the other person is saying. And you should have

such an interest, because the more the interviewer

talks, the more he or she is telling you what you should say in order to get yourself hired!

Laymen think that the best salespeople are the best

talkers. Not so. The number one secret of the

greatest salespeople is that they are the best

listeners because they let their prospects tell

them everything they need to know to close the

sale. Let your prospect talk — indeed, use

questions to encourage your interviewer to talk —

and he or she will pour forth the information you

need to present your qualifications in a way that

matches up with his or her greatest wants and

needs.

44. Another excellent listening skill: After the interviewer makes an important statement, feed back your

understanding of it in your own words, to be sure

you understand and to show the interviewer how well

you were listening. Example: “If I understand you

correctly, your greatest concern in this area is

... ”

45. As part of demonstrating your attentiveness, be on your toes if your interview is interrupted. When telephone calls, urgent messages, or other

people in the office interrupt your interview, take

note of where you were in the interview.

Often the interviewer will turn to you after the

interruption and ask, “Where was I?” If you haven’t

a clue, it will seem as if you weren’t even

listening.

46. Another way to demonstrate your sincerity in listening is to

ask permission to take notes, and then on a small pad or an index card, to jot down key words that will help

you write a powerful follow-up letter about the

interviewer’s greatest concerns and key ideas. But

perhaps the most important effect is to show the

inter viewer how interested you are in his or her

thoughts. This subtly compliments the interviewer

and shows what a good listener you are.

47. Finally, on the importance of listening: Remember that most people are starved for

attention. Interviewers may feel that their spouses

don’t listen, their children don’t listen, their

co-workers, their customers, and even their dogs

don’t listen.

When you hang on every word, it’s extremely

flattering. It establishes instant rapport and

shows respect. And everyone in this world is

desperately searching to have relationships with

those who will give them respect and enhance their

self-esteem. Rapt attention while listening is your

most powerful tool for fulfilling these universal

needs.

48. Never interrupt your interviewer before he or she finishes

asking a question. The last few words of a question may change the meaning altogether or carry a subtle

hint as to how you should answer. Resist the

temptation to jump the gun. Allow your interviewer

to finish completely, and even then allow a second

or two to compose your thoughts.

Few habits are more irritating than when someone

perpetually grabs the conversational basketball

before the speaker is ready to hand it off, only to

race downfield toward the wrong goalpost because he

or she doesn’t wait to hear the final words of a

sentence.

Use Body Language to Your Advantage ... 49. Related to good listening skills, use your body language to

show you are listening. Occasion ally nod your head in agreement or lean slightly forward in your chair to

show your interest.

50. Maintain good but not unnatural eye contact. Keep your eye movements relaxed and steady. If your

eyes are darting everywhere, your interviewer may

mistake your nervousness for shiftiness.

Be especially sure to maintain good eye contact

when answering questions. Don’t look away or down,

as this might indicate you’re trying to hide

something or not telling the truth. If you’re

naturally shy, practice speaking forthrightly and

confidently, either with strangers or in front of a

mirror.

51. In general, sit up straight in your chair, but don’t be too rigid. Try to convey a feeling of enthusiasm and

confidence. Never slouch in your chair. This is

taken as a sign of laziness, sloppiness, and

disinterest.

52. Never yawn. If you need more air, take deep belly breaths. Taking deep breaths, using your abdomen as

a bellows, and inhaling and exhaling through your

nose will also relax your entire nervous system.

(Try it two or three times in a row and you’ll see

it works like a tonic.)

53. Never tap your foot; drum your fingers; crack your knuckles; twirl a pencil; or show anxiety through your legs, feet and hands. These are the most common ways the body expresses

tension.

54. Remember that closed postures such as crossed arms and/or

crossed legs convey dislike and distrust. Open positions and a forward lean express openness and enthusiasm.

55. Use this fascinating (and very powerful) body language

technique of master salespeople: Subtly mimic the body language of your interviewer. If he leans toward

you, you lean toward him slightly.

If she holds her hands in a certain way, hold them

in a similar pose.

If you take notice next time you are in a nervous

situation such as an interview, you will probably

find that this is what you’ve already been doing

without having realized it.

But here’s the interesting twist that master

salespeople have discovered to enhance rapport.

After your body language has subtly mimicked your

interviewer’s for several minutes, then you can

start gently changing your body language to be

more open and receptive, and you will be surprised

to see that the interviewer’s body language starts

to mimic yours. This is a highly effective way to

establish subconscious rapport.

Before you dismiss this as New Age gobbledy - gook,

try it on one of your less important interviews, or

in any conversation for that matter, and be ready

for a shock when you see how easily you can get

people to start mimicking your body language and

become more open and receptive to you.

* * *

YOUR

Job-WINNING

EDGE #7:

How to Sidestep the Land Mines that Blow Most Candidates Out of Contention

If you are to win the job search process against a large field of other well-qualified candidates, it

will help you immeasurably to look at the process

from your interviewer’s side of the desk.

Realize that he or she is not looking to lavish

attention on you and your qualifications, as much

as you’d like that. Rather, since your interviewer

is confron ted by dozens if not hundreds of

candidates, his or her main job at first is to

severely winnow down the field. Different interviewers do this in different ways,

so you must be prepared for their various methods.

For example, a common technique is to ask each

candidate tough questions and then eliminate those

whose answers don’t measure up.

Another is to encourage candidates to relax and

talk about a wide range of subjects, which induces

unwary candidates to let their guard down, talk

too much, and unwittingly reveal information that

undermines their chances.

Here’s how to avoid the major land mines that

knock most candidates out of the running:

1. First and foremost, regularly review your accompanying e-book entitled How to Answer the 64 Toughest Interview

Questions. It covers the most commonly asked tough questions and suggests the best strategies for

answering them.

2. Steer clear of controversial subjects such as religion, politics, etc.

3. Never discuss personal problems you may have. 4. Don’t reveal to your perspective employer the other positions you may have been turned down for.

5. If you are physically challenged, talk only about your abilities, not your disabilities.

6. Never disparage former bosses, former companies, or former employees. 7. Never be negative about anything.

8. Never be the first to bring up the subject of money. If your interviewer raises the issue, try your hardest not

to give salary information, either past, present,

or future. You can answer such a question by

saying, “Well, I am somewhat flexible on salary.

What is the range for this position?”

If you are asked what was your salary for your

previous position, be prepared to answer with a

range that includes a generous allocation for all

your fringe benefits and other perks.

9. Know how to handle the two most difficult types

of interviews. One is the “Disarmingly Relaxed Interview” ... and the other is its evil twin,

“The Stress Interview.”

Let’s take a look at each.

The Disarmingly Relaxed Interview

A relaxed, casual manner that immediately puts

you at ease is usually the mark of the most highly

skilled interviewers. Such a person realizes that

most candidates are well rehearsed and know all

the “right” answers to expected questions.

So this clever interviewer does the unexpected.

He or she creates such a casual, friendly, and

disarming atmosphere that you irresistibly lower

your guard and, without realizing it, spontaneously

reveal more about yourself than may be prudent.

Such an interviewer may even go so far as to

seem to be on your side in little ways. He or she

may take pains to establish common ground with you

and sometimes allude to a shared camaraderie as

members of the same craft, industry, or profession.

All this is designed to lull you into thinking,

“Hey, this person really likes me ... We’re on the

same wavelength. Getting through this interview is

going to be a piece of cake.”

Indeed, such interviewers genuinely enjoy meeting

new people and making them feel right at home. They

can be naturally warm and friendly.

All this, in turn, works an irresistible,

inevitable magic, inducing you to feel relaxed and

comfortable as you unconsciously start to lower

your guard and speak more spontaneously. This is

exactly what your interviewer wants.

As part of this technique, your interviewer won’t

exhibit the slightest trace of surprise or

disapproval should you slip and say something

negative about your former boss ... or perhaps

reveal something negative or confidential that you

shouldn’t have ... or inadvertently bring up

something incriminating about your credentials or

current situation.

Yet despite his or her lack of reaction, you may

rest assured that your unguarded comments are all

being taken in, recorded in memory for scrupulous

review and evaluation later on.

The best way to deal with interviewers is to accept

and appreciate their warm hospitality and be

gracious in return. But do not allow yourself

to relax too much! Remember the purpose of the

interview that is being masked by the disarming

manner. That is, you are being scrutinized and

evaluated according to how well you might fulfill

the firm’s needs. Any slipup can easily get you

knocked out of the running, so stay on your toes!

By all means be pleasant and cordial yourself,

but don’t let all this cordiality derail you from

your main mission, which is what I emphasized on

previous page of this e-book, i.e., “The World’s

Most Powerful Secret for Getting Hired in Any

Industry, Even in a Down Economy and When You Are

Not the Most Qualified Candidate.”

And that is, your mission is to uncover the

greatest wants and needs for the position and then

explain why your past achievements make you

especially well qualified to meet those needs,

giving lots of specifics to back up this premise.

This also holds true for the second type of

difficult interview ...

The Stress Interview

This type of interview is far less common than

the disarmingly relaxed variety, and you will

probably never even run across it. But if you do,

you’ll never forget the experience.

In this type of interview, your host does whatever

he or she can to place you under maximum stress,

the better to observe your reaction to frustration

and pressure.

Some people believe this is the only way to get

a quick read on your ability to handle stress. In

certain professions, such as union negotiator,

press spokesperson, or customer service manager,

the ability to handle hostility and stress are at

the very top of the qualifications list.

Your best strategy: Don’t let yourself get

defensive and caught up in emotion. Remember that

you personally are not the target for the

interviewer’s hostility and that this interviewer

is, in reality, merely playing a role. Your role in

this drama is to be the cool, calm, and collected

one, an unflappable authority figure who addresses

the issues, not the emotion or stress the

interviewer is throwing off.

A few other stress interview techniques you may

run into:

* The broken chair technique. This sounds so childish and “bush league,” but some interviewers may actually

invite you to sit in a chair where one of the legs

is intentionally shorter than the other, placing

you in a very awkward position. Every time you

shift your weight, the chair threatens to deposit

you on the floor. Best response: Simply change

chairs, asking permission first.

* You may also be seated in the direct line of

the sun. Here you can ask the interviewer to adjust the blinds or to change your seat.

* The peasant-at-the-feet-of-royalty maneuver. The interviewer puts you at a disadvantage by

placing you a great distance from his or her desk

or at a height lower than his or her “platform”

position. Not much you can do unless you see an

alternate place to sit.

* The kangaroo court proceeding. You may be interviewed by two or more people at once, caught in a

withering crossfire of questions.

Again, make the best of the situation, but if

the stress level becomes ridiculous, simply get

up and leave. You don’t want to work for

people like this.

The Garden Variety Hostile Interviewer

Not all hostile interviewers are conducting a

purposeful stress test. Though this may come as a

shock to you, there are actually a few SOBs in the

business world. Even more shocking, every now and

then, you may run into one. It’s all part of the

numbers game you’re playing.

On those rare occasions when you may be confronted

by a genuinely hostile interviewer, your smartest

approach is to empathize with the upset feeling

behind the hostility and tactfully ask a question

or two to get to the bottom of what seems to be

bothering him or her.

Example: Your interviewer is obviously under great

pressure at the time of your interview.

He’s trying to put out three fires while the phone

rings off the hook. His assistant reminds him of

a meeting in ten minutes, and there are other

people shouting outside.

In the middle of this tense atmosphere, your

interviewer says with noticeable impatience,

“Look, you’ll have to pardon me, but we’ve got a

ton of work to get out today. You’re the fourth

person this week Bill has sent to me for an

interview, and frankly, I’ve got more pressing

concerns to think about right now. So we’ll have

to make this fairly brief.”

You could offer to come back at another time.

But he’ll likely be just as gruff and harried

then, or even worse. So you can try to salvage

the interview by empathizing and then uncovering

his greatest needs.

For example, you might say, “It sure seems like

things are hopping today, and it’s not the best

time for an interview. But let me ask you a fast

question. Assuming someone will be hired for this

spot, what is the one way that person could best

help you be more productive, especially at busy

times like this?”

The Disinterested Interviewer

Another difficult situation you may run into is

when your interviewer seems distracted or uninter

ested. The best approach here is to ask a few

questions to draw out his or her chief area of

interest, and then talk about why you can help in

that area.

Since we’ve once again touched upon the subject

of asking questions, let’s really get into it in

the next chapter.

* * *

YOUR

JOB-WINNING

EDGE #8:

How to Ask Questions that set You Apart

Asking questions in your interview is essential,

for four reasons:

1. To achieve your master strategy, that is, uncover your inter viewer’s greatest wants and needs before you

start to sell your own qualifications. You must

sell what the buyer is buying. And before you can

do that, you must find out what the buyer is

buying.

2. To show your interest in, and enthusiasm for, the position and company. 3. To get enough information so that you can judge whether you want this opportunity or not. 4. To demonstrate to the employer that you place a high value on

yourself — that you’re carefully evaluating the company as much as the company is evaluating you

and that you’re obviously not someone willing to

jump at or settle for just anything. This last item

is a very important point that many job-hungry

executives overlook.

You can greatly enhance an employer’s desire for

you by not appearing desperate, and questions will

go a long way toward helping you avoid such an

image.

Let’s now examine the questions you might ask

to achieve each of these objectives.

Questions to Achieve Your Master Strategy —

Uncovering Your Interviewer’s Greatest Wants and Needs for the Position

Once again, let us repeat the most important

strategy in this e-book. You can get anything you

want in life if you first find out what people

want, then show them how to get it.

During the interview, your most important

objective is to uncover your interviewer’s most

ardently felt want, problem, need, desire, goal,

or priority. You’re not going to sell anything

until you know what the buyer is buying.

The only way to accomplish this is by asking

questions. Let’s repeat the example mentioned

earlier ...

After a few introductory remarks, you can seize

the initiative by saying, “Before we get started,

would you fill me in a little bit more about this

position? All I know about it is what I heard

from the executive recruiter (read in your

advertisement ... or whatever the case may be).”

If, however, your interviewer asks you the

first question, answer it and, as soon as you feel

the timing is appropriate, try to regain the

initiative by asking him or her to reveal more

about the position.

The key point is, no matter how your interview

begins, you should get back as soon as possible to

your basic strategy of uncovering his or her

greatest want. And you must do it nonchalantly,

so that it doesn’t seem as if you are aggressively

and inappropriately trying to grab control of the

interview.

Here, listed roughly in order of their

effectiveness, are some excellent questions to

help you uncover what the interviewer wants most.

Several of these questions overlap, so choose the

variations you feel most comfortable with and

always be ready to ask them in your interviews ...

* What would you say are the three things you

would most like someone to achieve in this

position? Wait for an answer, then follow up

with, And of these, which is the most important?

Then, if it’s not clear why this goal is so

important, ask, And just so I’ll understand, why is

this especially important to you at this time?

* What major strengths should a person possess to

perform well in this position?

* What would your highest expectations be for the

person who fills this job?

* What would be the highest priorities for the

person who fills this position?

* Why is the position open?

* If you had a magic wand and with one wave could

take away a given concern or fulfill any given

challenge in this department, what would that

be?

* I am a strongly goal-oriented person. What would

I have to achieve in the coming year for you to

consider my work very successful? What would you

most like me to achieve in this position?

* Which areas of this position could be better

performed than they have been in the past?

* What kind of performance would you like to see

from the person who takes this position?

* Are any major responsibilities in this position

not currently being met?

* What major changes or improvements would you

most like to see brought about by the person

who takes this position?

* What obstacles might stand in the way of

realizing this achievement?

Once your interviewer starts to open up about his

or her strongest priorities, goals, etc., be sure

to probe a little to flesh out details with

questions like “That’s interesting ... why is that

the case?” ... or “How would you like to see this

situation remedied?”

With this information in hand, you will be in an

infinitely stronger position to present your

qualifications in the manner that will most

impress your prospect that you are superbly

qualified for the job.

Uncovering your interviewer’s greatest wants,

needs, goals, etc., is by far the most important

function of your questions. But as your interview

proceeds, or as you are invited back for a second

or third interview, you will want to raise other

questions that help you evaluate the opportunity

that the position represents and whether you will

be happy there.

For example, you may wish to ask questions such

as ...

* What are the unique opportunities in this job?

* To whom would I report?

* Who are the key people I would work with?

* How long has the position been open? What

happened to the individual who previously held

this position?

* How will I be evaluated ... using what criteria?

* How would you define the firm’s objectives?

* How is the company doing?

* What are the organization’s greatest strengths

and weaknesses?

Also, since most interviewers will give you high

marks for the intelligence and thoroughness of your

questions, never be shy in asking about ...

* The company — its products, services,

distribution channels, sales, growth,

profitability, problems, strengths, weaknesses,

ownership, competitors, market share, etc.

* Your place in the company — your job title, your

responsibilities, your place in the organizational

structure, your reporting relationships, your

authority, and the expectations management has of

you.

* The department where you will work — its place

on the organizational totem pole, present

reputation within the firm, goals, functions,

budget, problems, personnel, strengths, weaknesses,

history, etc.

* Potential office politics — Why is the firm

hiring from the outside rather than from within?

Might your being hired create any problems for any

individuals in the company?

* Your position — What are the technical

requirements? What would a typical day be like?

Will you have the resources you’ll need, based on

your past experience of what such a position

requires?

Questions to Avoid Until after You Are Offered the Position

* Questions about the hiring arrangements — salary

range ... compensation package ...medical,

hospitalization, and dental plan ... life insurance

... retirement program ...pension plan ... vacation

... and other perks.

Also, when you are offered the position and wish to

inquire about these, be casual about it. You don’t

want to seem too interested in them. Your employer

may quickly get cold feet if he senses that the go-

getter he was about to hire starts to look like

someone who’s suddenly more worried about vacation

time than setting new sales quotas.

Remember that even once you’ve been offered the

position, there are several runner-up candidates

in the wings, candidates your interviewer may have

liked just a bit less than you. Don’t give these

contenders the chance to come back off the canvas

and beat you in the final round. Don’t get greedy

or cute in your final negotiations.

* Questions about relocation. You don’t want to

bring these up before you’re offered the position,

but once the offer is extended, you will want to

know the firm’s relocation policy.

Are all relocation expenses paid? Just some? Does

the firm have a policy regarding travel expenses to

scout out a new home or living arrangement before

you make the move?

Again, don’t make a federal case of these issues.

Just raise them and find out what the employer

believes is reasonable and fair.

* * *

YOUR

JOB-WINNING

EDGE #9:

The Right Way and the Wrong Way to “Close the Sale” at the End of Your Interview

Many executive recruiters tell their clients

(i.e., the hiring companies) that if two candidates

are more or less equally qualified, they should

hire the person who wants the job more.

This is because the two greatest predictors of

success are inevitably (1) a person’s

qualifications for the job and (2) his or her

motivation to do the job well.

This means that you should always indicate that

you would like to be hired. Salespeople call this

closing the sale.

But there are right ways and wrong ways to

close the sale. Here’s the right way:

At the conclusion of the interview, you should

try to close the sale with a three-part statement:

1. A summary of your qualifications, especially

tailored to the potential employer’s greatest wants

and needs.

2. An expression of your desire for the position.

The best ways to express this interest without

sounding too pushy or desperate would be with

statements such as:

a) “My approach to all my work is to give more than

expected. This is what you can expect should you

decide to hire me.”

B) “Should you hire me, Ms. Kelly, I will not let

you down.”

C) “Mr. Forsythe, it’s been my experience that the

best candidates for any position are those who have

the knowledge to do the job and who are highly

motivated to do the job well. As I’ve tried to show

in my resume and in my responses to your questions,

I certainly have the knowledge to do the job well.

And I assure you that no one is going to be more

motivated than I in giving you the outstanding

results you seek from the person in this position.”

To appreciate how powerful these statements are in

influencing the person with the authority to hire,

try to remember your own hiring decisions when you

were evaluating candidates. If there were several

people with relatively equal credentials, wouldn’t

you be most impressed with the candidate who

sincerely uttered one of the above statements?

3. An expression of your interest in how the

process will proceed. You don’t want to push too

hard to force a commitment, but there’s certainly

no harm in asking, “What happens next?” ... or

“Where do we go from here?”

One final point about not pushing too hard.

Believe it or not, some resume books advise you to

close the sale the same way a hard-sell

encyclopedia salesman might, saying something like

“Well, Mr. Smith, I think we have a perfect match

here. I could start either on Monday the 15th or

Monday the 29th. Which would you prefer?”

Even more incredibly, some executives have actually

followed this idiotic advice, invariably with

disastrous results. An executive job search is NOT

the type of sale that can be closed with high

pressure.

To show your sincere interest in the position,

stick with the three-part formula and specific

phrases mentioned above and you will strike the

perfect balance.

Finally, another extremely powerful tool for

closing the sale is a well-crafted follow-up

letter, one which again applies your master

strategy emphasized throughout this e-book.

That is, you will use your follow-up letter to

thank the interviewer for the opportunity to

discuss the position and then immediately review

your understanding of the employer’s greatest

wants, desires, or goals for the position. Then

you will proceed to explain why you believe you

are uniquely qualified to give him or her exactly

what he or she wants most.

Allow your follow-up letter to be as long as needed

to paint a full picture of why you are so well

qualified to give your interviewer what he or she

wants most. Even if you go to six pages, it’s fine.

“The more you tell, the more you sell.”

Almost all books on finding a job will tell you

to always keep your follow-up letters short — one

or two pages max. This is not true!

Think about it: If you were about to make a hiring decision, wouldn’t you want more information about

a candidate rather than less?

Remember that your potential employer is hungering

for more information that will guide him or her in

making a correct decision. This means he or she

can’t get enough information about you and the

other candidates being considered. You will often

gain an enormous edge with a more thorough follow-

up letter.

Nothing will rocket you onto the short list of

final candidates faster, if not win you the

position outright, than a thorough, thoughtful

follow-up letter spelling out why you are uniquely

qualified to meet the employer’s greatest desires

for the position.

* * *

Your JOB-WINNING

EDGE #10:

The Easiest Way to Get Better and Sharper with Every Interview

The easiest way to get better and sharper with

every interview is to conduct a relaxed but

thorough self-examination afterward.

You should do this as soon as possible after each

interview, and definitely no later than the same

evening.

This should be an “easygoing” review because your

objective here isn’t to beat yourself up and hurt

your possibly already-wounded self-esteem.

Keeping your spirits up and your self-esteem high

are among the most important tasks of your job

search.

Rather, you want to take an objective,

nonthreatening look, as if you are doing it for a

friend’s benefit, at what you did right; what might

have gone better; and, most important, how you

could improve your presentation for the next go-

round.

Which case history examples could have been

expressed more forcefully or concisely?

Which questions threw you off guard, and how

could you improve your answers?

Every human activity gets better from practice, and

since you’re playing a numbers game anyway, you’re

not going to worry too much about how any

particular interview might have gone. If you didn’t

get this job, it only means that it wasn’t meant to

be and there’s probably something even better in

store for you.

If you practice these easygoing self evaluations

after each interview, you will virtually assure

yourself that bigger and better opportunities await

you and, when they arrive, you will be ready with

your best presentation ever.

Two More Points about

Following Up after Each Interview

1. Don’t dally in providing requested material or information. If your interviewer asks you to forward additional

information or material after your interview,

provide it as quickly as possible.

Most people in this world say they will do

something, then don’t follow through. You want to

jump at this opportunity to prove you’re among the

few reliable souls who can be counted on to do

what they say.

So do it in a hurry. Every passing day will brand

you as less and less reliable.

2. Always follow up an interview with a letter, written as discussed on page 82.

* * *

YOUR

JOB-WINNING

EDGE #11:

How to Make the Final Cut (How to Get Invited Back for the

Second and Third Interviews and then be Selected as the #1 Choice)

You’ll hardly ever be hired for an executive

position on the basis of one interview alone.

But the dynamics of second and third interviews

are somewhat different from those of a first

interview.

Let’s see how.

First, before any second or third interview, you

should once again review all the information

regarding a first interview presented already in

this e-book. All these rules still apply, plus a

few more I’ll now cover.

Second, you should realize that the odds of success

are much greater in your second interview.

About 60% of the time, when an executive is

invited back for a second interview, he or she is

virtually certain to be offered the job. So the

very fact that you are invited back for a second

interview is extremely favorable. But you’re not

yet a lock.

Success in the second interview actually begins

at the end of the first. Before your first

interview is over, ask for any material that you

don’t have: annual reports, product information,

brochures, catalogs, anything else that may have

come up during your first interview. Then make it

your business to study these materials as if the

job offer depended on it.

In addition to your further preparation, map

out your strategy for the second interview.

Realize that since you have been invited back,

you’ve made the first cut and have obviously done

a number of things right. Figure out what these

were. Think hard about why this company seems to

want you, and build your follow-up plans around

the conclusions you reach. Especially bear in

mind, and be ready to address, the greatest wants,

desires, priorities, and goals you have uncovered,

and why you have such outstanding credentials for

meeting them.

You can also assume that your first interviewer

is now likely to be on your side and feeling a

little more friendly, a little more comfortable

about you. Don’t be afraid to seek his or her

guidance on how you can succeed in your follow-up

interviews. Asking his or her advice will win

your interviewer over to your side even further

and can gain you extremely insightful guidance on

how to succeed from here.

Don’t be afraid to ask about the identities of

the people you will meet on your follow-up

interviews and what each may be looking for in the

hiring decision.

You should also realize that since you obviously

did well your first time out, you now want to

repeat the pattern with each new person you meet.

Before your second interview, mentally review what

you did well during your first interview and plan

how you can repeat and build upon that performance.

Should you meet with a group, treat each person

with respect and make eye contact with everyone.

Take no one for granted. Assume that everyone you

meet has the power to turn thumbs up or down on

your candidacy. Believe it or not, I’ve sometimes

seen a recently hired management intern, invited to

sit in on a group discussion merely as a courtesy,

make the most influential comment in turning the

tide against a senior manager’s candidacy.

Remember that second and third interviews go

into more depth about the position than the first

interview. So be especially prepared to show why

you are a problem solver who can help this company

with its specific needs. But also remember not to

use the word “problem” in describing the company’s

needs. Use “challenges,” “goals,” or “priorities”

instead.

Also use the second and third interviews to ask

questions based on the information you’ve already

gathered. Ask questions about the nature of your

role in the company; the company’s commitment to

your division, department, or project; the

opportunity for growth in your position; the scope

of everything that this job entails; and any other

questions of concern to you in determining whether

this position is a good fit for you as well as for

the company.

At the end of each interview, make sure that each

key “hiring authority” knows you are interested in

the position. You can do this with the three-part

method described above or, more simply, with a

short statement of your definite and enthusiastic

interest in the position.

When you are offered a position, don’t feel

pressured to say yes or no on the spot. In general,

you should never accept or reject an offer on the

spot. Accepting immediately can make you appear too

eager. Feel free to allow yourself 24 hours or, if

you wish, 48 hours to weigh the pros and cons and

talk it over with your family.

However, as with all rules and guidelines, there

may be an occasional exception, a time when it’s

clear to both you and the hiring company that this

is an outstanding opportunity, that you both want

the match to take place and have already talked

through all the relevant issues. In these cases,

when both your heart and head are screaming “Yes!

Go for it! Take it!,” go with your judgment and

close the sale on the spot.

The End ... but the Beginning of an

Exciting New Chapter in Your Life

Copyright © G. Bencivenga. All rights are reserved.