A Critical Interviewing Mistake!

Candidates more often that not miss one of the best opportunities during the interview to shine, to differentiate themselves, and demonstrate their ability to do the job. What a great opportunity missed!!

In most interviews, the interviewer even sets the candidate up with the opportunity to shine and candidates blow right past it. The interviewer asks the soft ball question, “Do you have any questions for me?” A golden opportunity to shine. The questions you ask can outshine every answer you have given so far in the interview.

However, time and time again, I hear candidates do one of two things:

1. Answer,”No, not really. Most of my questions were answered during the interview.” What a terrible answer. How did the interviewer answer “MOST” of your questions, when they were asking you questions.
2. Reply with one or two (occasionally someone stands out and asks three) standard, unimportant, basic no-brainer, no forethought questions such as, “What is the budget?” or “What is your management style?” Again, these reveal the candidate has not prepared and is very shallow.
3. Actually, there is a third, the candidate sits there like a deer in the headlights trying to think of something to say.

This is your opportunity to ask questions that demonstrate your ability to understand the job and what performance standards will be. Challenge the interviewer, ask “Why” are you doing X, probe deeply into the issues you will face once on board, how they manage, etc. Every candidate knows this question is coming in one form or the other. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Asking questions is a sign of strength, confidence and demonstrates a depth of knowledge. As a recruiter for almost 30 years, when a hiring manager calls back and says, “This person really asked me some great questions. They made me think in the interview.” I know that person is getting the job.

One component of your interviewing preparation should be questions to ask. Not just questions about the company, but specific questions about the job, ask “why”, ask about communications, ask about past issues, ask about future challenges, ask about people, ask about KPI’s, ask about systems, there are so many issues to discuss to make sure you will be successful.

The best advice I have is ask the same questions you will be asking once in the job to be successful. You might as well know them before you accept the position. Otherwise, it might be a position where you can’t succeed.

This is such a critical issue in our job search workbook, “This is NOT The Position I Accepted” (This wouldn’t happen if candidates probed in the interview.) We list over 150 question to ask in an interview in this workbook. We even break these questions into categories to help identify when to ask the question. In addition, we give you the 10 most important questions to ask in an interview. You can receive this book to review for FREE right now. Just pay the $5 shipping. CLICK HERE

Also, join our Linkedin Job Search Networking group. This is a very active group that deals with every aspect of a job search. All Linkedin groups are free to join and provide a wealth of information. CLICK HERE

Don’t miss our talk radio show every Monday at 11 AM PDT on www.latalkradio.com. Barry and I discuss the most important challenges you will face in your search. You can listen to past shows in our audio library. CLICK HERE to enter the library. All files are free to download

Avoiding Age Discrimination

My last article, “Busted, Age Discrimination Reveal” I gave two examples of reverse age discrimination. As a short refresher, I was working two searches for two different companies. In both case they selected the older more experienced people, over the younger candidates with less experience. These were both very senior level positions and even the younger candidates had 20+ years experience. The older candidates had 30+ years experience.

So if age discrimination is so wide spread, one has to ask themselves, “How could this happen in two completely different companies and for two completely different positions?”

Regardless of your viewpoint as to the extent of age discrimination what is clear there are a few things you can do to help minimize it.

I firmly believe there were two major contributing factors that came together:

1. Position level: These were very senior positions and the two older candidates were not only highly qualified, but were not taking a step backwards. I am approached on almost a weekly basis by candidates claiming to be “qualified” for a search I’m doing. Yet, when I read their resume it is true they are qualified, however they are over-qualified. For example, a CFO willing to accept a Controller position, a VP Sales interested in a Sales Manager, a CEO interested in a VP level job. I’m not saying they couldn’t do the job I’m working to fill. In fact, most have done the job 5 or 10 years ago. Recruiters are looking for someone who has done the job 5 or 10 years ago. They were qualified 5 or 10 years ago. They aren’t qualified today.
2. Presentation: In what I believe is one of the most important blog articles for candidates to not only understand, but to actively implement into their job search was, “The Three Most Important Words In A Job Search.” A job search is all about the presentation. At the end of the day, the one that makes the best presentation usually wins. Couple a great presentation with extraordinary experiences or qualifications and you have a winner every time. So then what is a great presentation. The most common complaint, feedback, comment or whatever else one wants to call it for those older candidates is, “They seem like they just want a place to ride out until they retire.” or “They come across as just needing a job.” Generally, due to a poor presentation. Some thoughts
   1. If you look old you will be discriminated against. I am not known for my tact and political correctness. Don’t kill the messenger. This is a fact like it or not. In our job search workbook we talk about the 4 A’s required to get a job. Appearance is one of them. These were given to me by a VP Human Resources at Rockwell. If you don’t know the 4 A’s or know them but aren’t doing them you can get them for free, just pay the $5 shipping charge. The candidates that were hired, no one knew their correct age. They all presented themselves extremely well.
   2. Energy/Enthusiasm. Too often candidates come across burned out, desperate or tired. Their body language even communicates this. The problem is most candidates think they can mask this. FEW CAN. So few that it would be inappropriate to assume you are one of the few. I know you all know this. However, demonstrating these during an interview is a completely different thing. So if you know this, “How are you demonstrating these?” “Have you tested your demonstration to a non-biased (i.e. not your spouse or neighbor) person?” If you haven’t tested this too ensure you are sending the right energy then you may have a problem. Again, everyone of the candidates hired, the hiring manager never questioned their energy or if, “they were just looking for a place to retire.”

Granted there are a lot of other things one can do to help reduce of discrimination. I’m not suggesting these are the only two. I’m just suggesting these are the two most common I encounter.

If you think you have been discriminated against then the best way to avoid this in the future is to ensure you don’t fall into one of these categories.

If you haven’t joined our LinkedIn job search networking group please consider it. We have over 2000 members. This is a very active group dealing with job search issues. You can post your background and let 2000 people see your experiences. Click here to join.

Also we have a free download to assess the quality of your LinkedIn profile. This is one of the critical aspects to be found on LinkedIn. Click Here to get your free assessment to make sure your profile is the best it can be.

Listen every Monday 11 AM Pacific time as Barry and I discuss critical issues in your job search. You can hear us live on Latalkradio.com

Interviewing Faux Pas To Avoid.

An Innocent Comment Kills The Deal

A few years ago, a client in Arizona was searching to fill a VP US Sales position. The search was narrowed to two finalists. One lived in New York and the other in Southern California. The final round of interviews included the CEO and two board members. The candidate from NY made a comment she felt was in jest or just off the cuff, however, it was fatal. She rather flippantly said, “It is really hot here. People must be crazy to live here.” The CEO was offended by this comment and felt that someone at this level should be careful with such comments. He was very concerned this kind of comment could turn off a customer.

Moral of this story, be on guard at all times. Even an off the cuff comment can kill a deal.

Words say a lot but the body speaks louder

While doing a search for a VP of Sales, one of the requirements was up to 50% travel. Although the candidate knew this going in, when the subject came up in the interviews he apparently squirmed in his chair and lost eye contact. The client wasn’t convinced that he was really comfortable with this amount of travel. We discussed this with him in detail and in fact he was comfortable with it and had been doing that much travel for some time. He couldn’t explain the reason for their concern. We were able to overcome this with the client, but only after many conversations with the candidate and client; he did in fact get the offer. However, if he had represented himself and not had us to clarify the situation he would never have gotten the offer. Worse yet, he would never have had the chance to address this point.

Just remember, your body may speak louder than your words do, which is another good reason to hire a coach as they can help you with your interviewing style. Before you do this CLICK HERE to listen to our radio show interview on Career Coaches.

Little things that candidates rarely find out about can dramatically impact the interview. We recommend in our job search workbook some things you can do to make sure these examples don’t happen to you. For example, have you video recorded yourself in a mock interview? This is one of the most revealing things you can do to improve the interview. We make this job search workbook available to you for only the cost of $5 shipping. CLICK HERE to at least review the book to see if it will help you.

Busted – Age Discrimination Revealed

Anyone that has read the discussions in our Linkedin Job Search Networking Group knows that I am not a big believer in age discrimination. That doesn’t mean I think it doesn’t happen. What it does mean is that I don’t think it happens as frequently as many candidates do. In fact, I believe it is far more rare than most.

Well I am wrong. Age discrimination is alive, living, and doing very well. My last two executive searches prove that I’m wrong and it definitely exists.

I have been retained to fill a CFO and VP Manufacturing search. Both positions are very senior level spots and in two different companies. In a normal search, we will present 4 or 5 candidates to the client before they hire one of them. These two were a little different. I had presented my normal 5 candidates and the client was interested in, but not sold on, a couple of the candidates. They still wanted to see a few more. (By the way as a side journey, in today’s market that is very common. Clients seem to always want to see a few more. After all, there are so many candidates on the market.)

The candidates they liked were all 7 or 8’s on a scale of 1 – 10. They all had 15-20 years of experience and judging from when they graduated from college, ranged in age from late 30’s to mid-40’s. Both of these jobs were very senior, and due to the nature of the challenges facing the companies required a real depth of experience and not just the normal depth one gets in 15-20 years. These candidates just weren’t “mature or experienced” enough were the words the clients used.

As the client requested, I presented 2 more candidates to each company. These last 4 candidates all had no less than 30 years of experience, and all had graduated from college in the late 70’s and early 80’s. You can do the math on their ages. My guess is mid to late 50’s and possibly even 60. To no real surprise my clients each hired one of these 4. The comment the client made to me at some point during the hiring process was, “If I can get a good 3-5 years from them, that is all one can expect in today’s world, and I’m more than fine with that. Hell, I may not even be here in 5 years.”

WOW, a clear case of age discrimination if I ever saw one. The first group was clearly discriminated against due to their age.

Again, before you write me a nasty comment, I agree age discrimination exists. But it works both ways. I also don’t believe every time a person doesn’t get a position, especially more senior candidates, it is age discrimination. Often they are just plain over-qualified for the job, just as these candidates were under-qualified for these jobs.

Part 2 on this topic will be more in-depth as to some other contributing factors that helped the second group win the job. There is hope, and by following the suggestions in part 2, you can avoid age discrimination on either side of the equation.

We provide a large repository of free tools and resources (CLICK HERE FOR LISTING) for candidates of all ages to help you significantly reduce your time in search. Every day of lost wages costs you hundreds of dollars and stress. I personally want to encourage you to spend some time reviewing these. There are audio files (CLICK HERE to enter the audio library), templates, assessments, and articles. The topics cover just about every aspect of the search process, networking, branding, resumes, interviewing, common mistakes, leveraging social networks, etc.

Our bi-weekly Candidate Open Forums are available to all who want to participate. You can speak directly with myself or Barry on the conference calls. Our homepage list the upcoming forums. CLICK HERE FOR LIST.

We are committed to assisting you in your search as best we can. These free resources are the best we can do for now. We have even more ideas coming and all will be free.

It Is OK to SWEAR In An Interview!

There seems to be two types of candidates in this world. Those that ramble on and on hoping if they talk long enough the person will forget the question they asked or the candidate that gives one or two word answers to every question. It is like pulling teeth to get a complete answer.

There is a happy medium between these two.

We suggest never talking more than two minutes without re-engaging the hiring manager. To re-engage, simply ask a follow-up question. For pain questions we use the acronym S.W.E.A.R. to format an answer, tell a story and stay within the two-minute rule.

• Statement – Repeat the question in your own words to clarify you heard the question. This should take five to ten seconds.
• What relates in your background – Select an experience or accomplishment in your background that relates. Give enough background information so the interviewer can put the example in the proper context. This should take twenty to thirty seconds.
• Examples – Next describe a specific example ensuring that it directly relates to the question. Use a recent accomplishment. The example must address their pain and show a benefit to them. This should be one of the five accomplishments you developed during your preparation. Keep this from forty-five seconds to a minute.
• Action – What specific action did you take? Use action words such as: led, developed, implemented, changed, or improved.
• Results/Re-engage – This is the most important component in the answer and one that is generally left out. Quantify the results you achieved. How did the company benefit from this, what changed for the better as a result, what savings occurred? How did you calculate the savings? How did management make better decisions as a result? Sales people refer to this as the WOW factor. The hiring manager should think to themselves, “WOW, that is what I’m looking for.” This should take about fifteen to twenty seconds.

Finally ask a follow-up question that gives you feedback and re-engages the hiring manager.

Pay close attention to the hiring manager’s body language. If you notice any change in body language, you need to determine if it is positive or negative. If you determine it is negative stop and re-engage. Don’t keep on talking. They are not listening anyway.

In our job search workbook, “This Is NOT The Position I Accepted” we go into great detail on the interviewing process. There is so much to the interview that most candidates can’t possibly absorb it all in just one posting. Right now you can get the complete job search workbook for just the cost of shipping $5. You should at least CLICK HERE to take a further look to see if it can help you.

Also, we offer a comprehensive home study course for those that want to learn at their pace. We will send this complete course to you for $14.95 plus shipping. Again, at least take literally one minute to review the content of the kit to see if it will help you get out of search. CLICK HERE to review the contents.

Every day you spend looking is costing you a few hundred dollars in lost wages. If either of these tools or resources can reduce that by even one day you win. Please take a moment and see if this will help you.

Honesty + guts works in an interview.

Speak up and be honest

Two different situations explain why, no matter how desperate one is for a job, interviewing the same way you would if you had the best job in the world, is the difference between getting an offer and not getting one.

As the economy is slowing we were conducting a retained search for a CFO for a small company in Southern California. The company was starting to consider budget cuts. The final two candidates, in the final interview with the president/owner were both asked; “As my CFO, you will lead the cost reduction program, where will you begin?”

Candidate one answered the usual stuff, look at reducing inventory, cutting overtime, review benefits, and require an across the board reduction in the budget, etc.  A solid safe answer the president told me.

Candidate two had a more direct and to the point answer for the owner. He looked the president straight in the eye and said, “I would start with your salary and then the rest of the executive team.”

The president later told me, “any CFO that has the guts (he used different anatomical parts) to tell me that directly to my face is the kind of CFO I want.”

Second situation:

On another retained search for a Director of Human Resources, the candidate was interviewing with a large very well-known multinational company. The final interview was a panel interview. In all of the previous interviews she was kept waiting as much as 30 minutes. Prior to the panel interview it was close to 45 minutes.

She was asked in the panel interview “What would be one of the first changes you would make as the Director.” Her answer was; “The way you hire people. The process of letting candidates wait in the lobby for so long is inappropriate and turns good candidates off. In fact, I was ready to walk out just before someone came to meet me.” The panel apologized. They know she was right and had the integrity to tell it to their face.

The new Director of Human Resources later told me she was informed by those on the panel that not one other candidate brought this point up. We both found that to be amazing.

Displaying confidence is a key attribute in the interview. Too often candidates take the easy or safe answer path and miss a great opportunity.

Just be honest. If you are right, and hiring manager doesn’t want to hear it, the bigger question for you is, “Do you want to work for this person?” If they can’t accept the truth now, what will it be like once you come on board?

If you do accept the position I can almost guarantee you, you will end up in the “Circle of Transition.” As our job search workbook and blog article indicates this is not the place anybody wants to be.

If you aren’t familiar with the Circle of Transition, I strongly encourage you to download a free copy of the “Circle of Transition” by CLICKING HERE.

I believe this is one of the most important issues for candidates to know, understand and implement in a job search.

The Most Important Three Words In A Search?

Everyone knows the three most important words in real estate are location, location, location.

So then, “What are the three most important words in a job search?” (Answer below)

Not knowing these will impact just about every aspect of your job search, including your resume, the phone interview, definitely the face-to-face interview, and even the first impression once you start. That is why these three words are so important, no critical, to one’s search.

Recruiters are constantly amazed at how candidates take a job search for granted. The genesis for this article was a comment a candidate said to me just yesterday. Having just completed an interview the previous day, I asked the candidate how he thought the interview went. He replied, “I think it went OK. I did a lot of research on the company ahead of time so I felt prepared.” So far so good. Then I asked, “Were you asked any questions that you didn’t feel you answered completely?” His reply, “I guess I wasn’t really prepared for the questions. I haven’t had that many interviews so I wasn’t ready for the questions. I think I need to start preparing for that.”

Isn’t it a little late to start preparing for the questions one is going to be asked, after the interview?

This is the problem recruiters encounter daily. Candidates don’t understand, or get, the priorities of a job search. Knowing what to do and when to do it is the difference between getting the job and not getting it. Random luck rarely works in a job search.

I have said to hundreds of candidates, “You need to prepare for the questions you are going to be asked.”, he would have said,”I know.” I get so tired of hearing “I know.” From now on please replace it with, “I’m doing it.” PLEASE.

The answer to the question is, presentation, presentation, presentation.

Let me know if you knew these. I have asked over 500 candidates this question and none knew the answer.

Please don’t say, “I knew these.” Instead please tell me, “I’m doing these.”

Presentation, presentation, presentation is the key to a successful job search. Those that have this mastered will always do better than those that don’t.

Presentation includes:

1. How well your resume presents your accomplishments. This includes aligning them closely with the needs of the job. The correct terms and phrases immediately catch the reader’s eyes. Leave the correct amount of white space so the resume doesn’t look cluttered and unorganized. (Consider listening to our audio on, “Traditional Resumes Are Worthless – Click here).
2. How well you communicate during a phone interview. If 70% of communication is body language, and this is missing during the phone interview, how do you effectively communicate when 70% of the communication is removed. (Consider listening to our audio on phone interviewing click here or downloading our free chapter on, “Winning the Phone Interview” – Click here).
3. Face-to-face interview. The first impression drives the interview. A strong first impression will set the tone for the rest of the interview. Make a strong presentation and you often get an easier interview than with a weak first impression.
4. Preparation is all part of the presentation. Knowing how to make a strong and professional introduction, when to pause for effect in your answer, how you will stress the points you know are critical, how to answer the question in a succinct manner, when to lean forward in the chair, how to demonstrate high energy during a phone interview, what questions to ask during the interview, how to use your voice inflection, eye contact, etc. are just some of the keys to a great presentation. (Consider reading the blog article, “Where’s Wes, Not Waldo” – Click here).

Presentation takes an enormous amount of preparation and practice. This about “doing” not “knowing.”

Please leave us your comments and if you knew the answer to the question.

To review all our free resources and tools – Click here

Are Recruiters Looking For Qualified People?

NO.

A common assumption made by most candidates is that, “I’m qualified. Why don’t you call me?” Simply put, you answered your own question. We don’t want qualified people.

Recruiters are only looking for exceptionally qualified people.

Especially in this market, companies don’t need to hire us to find qualified people. They can do that on their own for FREE.

If you want to have recruiters notice you, if you want recruiters to call you once they receive your resume, and if you want recruiters to return your phone call, then you must demonstrate why you are exceptionally qualified. We are not looking for just qualified, or as most candidates indicate in their emails, “I think I’m a good fit.” Recruiters don’t want “a good fit” either. We want exceptional fits.

Our book, “This is NOT the Position I Accepted” was written for this exact reason. We really attempted to help candidates understand how to demonstrate they are an exceptional fit. The 5 steps in the book give great detail on being or becoming exceptional. These 5 steps closely follow a sales model, after all, you are now in sales.

1) Define the product. That is you. Why are you so different from your competition? This is the, “what makes me exceptional” part. If you can’t define this, then you are not exceptional. Don’t feel badly. Not everyone can be exceptional. Only the top 15 – 20% are exceptional.

This is probably the biggest reason most candidates fail at being exceptional. They don’t take the time to perform an in-depth analysis of their strengths and transferable skills. (We have a free skills assessment tool for you do download at the bottom of our home page CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD).

2) Identify Customers. All good sales people have a target list of customers , who they want to talk to in that company, and how to get to them. This is your network. Of the thousands of candidates I interview, very few have a real focused, targeted list and a plan to get to the person. Real sales people don’t just randomly call on companies and neither should you.

3) Marketing Materials. This is your resume. Sales people know that marketing materials are just support documents that open doors. These documents don’t close the sale. Most companies that are market focused have multiple marketing documents. They know that customers are motivated by different things and they need to get to what motivates that customer to make a sale. One size fits all, doesn’t work.

Your resume should be focused to the company/hiring manager/recruiter’s motivation. Your resume should clearly articulate the benefits to the person or recruiter whose attention you want to attract. This is not one size fits all.

You can download a free audio on, “Why Traditional Resumes Are Worthless” by CLICKING HERE

4) Sales Presentation. In the candidate’s case the presentation is the interview, either via phone or face-to-face. Sales people practice this at length. Sales reps often have the manager go along to ensure they are skilled at this. Sales reps anticipate objections, seek out the answers to overcome the objections, and then practice to make them appear unrehearsed. Sales people know exactly what questions to ask to elicit the information needed to make the sale.

Most candidates don’t rehearse their presentation to anyone. They practice answers in their head, but rarely write out the answers. I have watched more interviews collapse when the hiring manager asks, “What questions do you have for me?” The candidate sits there like a deer in the headlights. This part of the interview is so important that we have included over 150 questions to ask in an interview in our book and have even divided the questions into categories. The list includes questions on leadership, initiative, values, management style, and questions specific to the job, organization, etc.

The questions you ask are often more important than the answers you give.

To receive a free chapter on, “Winning the Phone Interview” CLICK HERE.

We also have a whole chapter on the ten most important questions to ask in an interview.

Less than 10% ever ask even one of these. Amazing.

5) Follow-up and closing. It is all a waste of time if the follow-up and closing doesn’t happen. For candidates, this happens in a couple of different areas, thank you letters (we even provide an example), second and third interviews, and of course closing the deal. This may even include a contract.

Mastering, NOT JUST KNOWING THESE, but mastering these will make you the exceptional candidate recruiters are seeking.

Knowing them will ensure you stay a qualified candidate.

For more information on becoming exceptional see all of our free resources, review the free audio library where we post new audios every week, read our other career management blog entries and even listen to our talk radio show on Monday’s at 11 – noon PDT on www.latalkradion.com.

You can receive our candidate job search workbook for FREE by CLICKING HERE

Now you have the resources and tools to become an “exceptional” candidate. We hope you will pick up the tools and begin using them.

Phone Interviewing Quiz

Most interviewing processes start and stop with the phone interview. In our opinion this is the most important interview. Not only because if you fail here the process stops, but mainly because it sets the stage for the in-person interview if you do well. Have a great phone interview and the mindset of the person bringing you in for the face-to-face interview is already positive, they believe you must be qualified, and you are starting out in a strong position.

Here is a quick quiz to see if you are ready to, “Win The Phone Interview.” Answer these in your mind, not fair if you already read the book or downloaded the free chapter. (Answers below)

1. List all three factors that can be measured during a phone interview. Must list all three.
2. How long should you talk before re-engaging the interviewer?
3. Is the format for answering a question different than a face-to-face? If so, what is different?
4. Is there a possible benefit from not answering the phone? If yes, what is it?
5. What is the only purpose of a phone interview?

If you can answer all of these, then you are aware of how different the phone interview is from the in-person interview. If you can’t answer all of them then you should consider doing your homework. It is possible you’ve missed an opportunity because you were weeded out during a phone interview.

To help you, we have a number of completely FREE resources to make sure you know how to win the phone interview.

1. Our chapter on “Winning the Phone Interview” from our job search workbook is free to download. It answers all these questions and more.
2. We just posted a 1 hour audio file from our radio show focused completely on the phone interview.
3. There are also a number of other blog entries dedicated to the phone interview for you to read.
4. Our Linkedin discussion group is a great forum to discuss any issues you have regarding your job search.
5. Our monthly Candidate Open Forum tele-conference has been one of our most successful methods to discuss all job search related topics. These forums fill up in less than a day. Click here for the next date and time.

Please consider taking advantage of these. They are all free tools you can use to ensure you not only win the phone interview, but win the job.

Help your friends and family know how they can win a phone interview by sharing this with them.

Please let us know how you did on the quiz. Did you really know all of the answers?

Answers:

1. Energy level, technical abilities and communication skills
2. 1 minute.
3. Yes, since it shorter and you can’t read their body language it is very important that your answers are succinct and impactful.
4. The hiring manager leaves a message saying, This is the VP of HR from ABC company. I’m calling about X opening and would like to speak with you.” Now you can do some basic research on the company.
5. To screen you in or screen you out.

Don’t Be “OUTED” In An Interview

A friend CEO recently reminisced about a conversation he had with his executive team. I thought this directly related to so many candidates that I felt compelled to share it with you.

The CEO said to his team, “In order to survive this market without cutting back we must “OUT” our competition. We must, out deliver, out perform, out service, out sell, out market, out price, out satisfy, out prepare and out them with every thing we do. We can’t leave anything to chance. If we don’t, many of our team will be out and ultimately we may be out.”

WOW, pretty powerful stuff. So how does this relate to you – the candidate.

You have to “out” your competition too, or as the CEO said, “You will be out.” In this case, out of the running for the job you not only want, but need.

So how do you “out” your competition? Two words, “Proper Preparation.” This in my opinion is the all time biggest reason candidates fail. The optimum word is “PROPER.” I didn’t say candidates don’t attempt preparation. I believe they do. The problem is that the preparation is so superficial and vague it is worthless. (See blog entry on “Where’s Wes – Not Waldo).

Here are a few tips on how to properly prepare:

1. Proper preparation is NOT about researching every “trivial pursuit” fact about the company since it started in 1950. Good stuff to know, but when was the last time in an interview you were asked, “Tell me everything you know about the company?” I suggest never. Instead prepare for the questions you will be asked.
2. Proper preparation is writing out complete and detailed answers to commonly asked questions. In case you missed it, writing out. Just to stress the point, writing out.
3. Practice, practice, and then more practice. Just like all professional speakers, entertainers, professional sports players, and performers you must practice. They practice so much that it looks easy, unrehearsed, unscripted, succinct, points clearly articulated and engaging. Few candidates are good enough to wing it.
4. Did I mention writing out the answers to the most commonly asked questions?
5. List multiple accomplishments for every position. Multiple because an accomplishment for one company may not be an accomplishment in another. Accomplishments MUST include quantifiable results. Forgetting this part would be like forgetting the punch line in a joke.
6. Video yourself in a mock interview. This will be a real eye opener for many.

If you want to “out” your competition you must be so well prepared and practiced that you stand out. You can’t leave anything to chance.

Final note for all of those now thinking, “I already know all this stuff.” Great, but are you doing it? We all know a lot of things, the problem is doing them. The bigger problem is doing them at such a high level of skill that they look easy.

To help you “out” your competition we provide a wealth of free resources and tools. Our free audio library is full of helpful subjects, the articles are free to download, our Linkedin discussion group expands the wealth of resources to other qualified people, and we constantly post new stuff to help you “out” the competition. Consider bookmarking our candidate FREE Resource page and check back at least weekly.

Our comprehensive job search workbook is FREE to read and implement the preparation tools and templates included. This will ensure you have the right preparation process. With a reader rating 4.25 out of 5 it is certainly worth considering.

If this was helpful please share it with your friends so they also benefit.

We encourage comments and look forward to your thoughts.