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by
Carol Fleming, Ph.D.
The
Intelligent Interview
I
am going to give you two “tips” for skillful communication
in a job interview. Just two, but they are a very big two.
Careful attention to them is absolutely necessary if you want
to be the
candidate of their dreams.
1.
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Never
show up for an important interview without knowing everything
you can about their operation. You must go to their website
and see how they position themselves, their reports and
their mission, as well as what they have in the pipeline
and who the important players are. They have your resume
in front of them; you need to walk in with equal information.
This knowledge will become evident during the interview – don’t
force it – and it will make a very good impression.
They’ll know that you are smart, that you are a self-starter
and that you can hit the ground running. |
2.
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By
hiring, the company is trying to solve a problem. You
need to appear as a solution to their pain, so you need
to probe in an empathetic – even nurturing – manner
to clarify the problem. “Can you tell me more about
that? Is there a recent example? What solutions have
you tried already? Why do you suppose they failed? What
did that cost you? Have you given up?”
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You
can see this is a long way from sitting passively and just trying
to answer their questions. While you will not be taking over the
interview, you will be an equal partner in defining your suitability
for their perceived problem. You will not only hit the ground running,
you’ll be way ahead of everybody else.
Carol Fleming, Ph.D., often partners
with Larcen to provide public speaking and other
business communication training to help clients increase
their impact. Visit her website at www.speechtraining.com.
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