Be prepared! Sounds simple, doesn’t it? After all, the Boy Scouts have been teaching this idea to kids for over 100 years.
So why in the world would most job seekers show up for an interview unprepared? You see it all the time—they dash in from the parking lot with no particular plan on how to engage their potential employer. Or they relentlessly work the phones only to discover that they’ve offered nothing more than hollow chitchat.
So why IS it that job seekers fail to prepare?
THIS WEEK’s Session, Thursday, August 29… Closing The Deal II: Discussion and PRACTICE of good interviewing tactics, including POST-Offer negotiation
Because it is easier to talk about you, your company and your products than it is to prepare to have a conversation about THEM!
Here’s the big question: what are you doing to prepare that if your next employer knew you were doing it, they would be more inclined to have an open and honest dialogue with you? The next time you meet with a prospect or client, open the conversation with this simple phrase:
“In preparing for this meeting I took some time to discover a few things that would allow me to succeed in this role…” Then simply highlight the two or three critical things that you did to prepare and watch what happens to the atmosphere of the call. You will blow away the last interviewee (your competition) who opened their meeting in silence, waiting to be interrogated!
The less you talk about yourself, the more you have to prepare to talk about them. In the nine-box matrix, it’s about meeting their expectations! And the more you talk about them, the more likely they will be interested in you. Back to our matrix, it’s about creating the allusive BUYING SIGNAL, and mitigating any risks about a good FIT.
Not exactly the secret formula you were hoping for. But it is an obvious formula—so obvious that most job seekers ignore it.
Here are ten keys that you can use to create your own successful interview habits:
- Learn about their business—their products/services, customers, industry trends, key initiatives, financial status, and competition.
- Discover something about the person you are meeting with. Google them, talk to their colleagues, or call others in the industry who have insights. Use a targeted organization networking approach.
- Plan questions that establish your expertise and get them to think in new ways. The more thought provoking your questions are, the more your prospective employers will respect and remember you!
- Identify the benefits of your value to this potential employer. Your value proposition needs to be clear, concise, credible and compelling!
- Prepare ideas that hold value for your ‘next employer.’ Your language needs to reflect a focus on solutions…meeting their needs!
- Communicate an outline of your meeting prior to the actual interview. Ask them to review and provide you with feedback. Getting their buy-in before you walk in the door is critical, and it demonstrates your commitment to delivering value.
- Identify the resistance that you are most likely to encounter and prepare ideas, case studies, testimonials or expert opinions to help reduce their reluctance to move forward. OVER-qualified? No INDUSTRY experience…
- Plan how you will close the interview appointment and decide what agreements you need to ask for.
- Remind yourself to be friendly and courteous to everyone that you encounter. Your potential employer is constantly deciding how much they like you, how much they trust you and how much confidence they have in you.
- BE CONFIDENT in your PRE-Offer and POST-Offer negotiation approaches. It takes time—often a long time—to build your personal brand. And it takes only a few seconds for it to be destroyed.
Every step in the job search process is aimed at obtaining interviews. It is at that point, a potential hiring manager decides if you are right for the job, and, just as important, it is your time to evaluate whether the job is right for you.
Think of an interview as the natural extension, the successful result of your effective networking. Many networking conversations actually become screening interviews, where influential contacts are assessing your qualifications, skill sets and experience relative to an opportunity at hand. “Perfect practice” of the basics builds the confidence necessary to perform well in formal job interviews.
THE Careerpilot’s high TECH-HIGH Touch philosophy
Joining a network like LinkedIn is simple, but turning it into a powerful networking tool takes a bit of savvy. Here’s a start at how to set up a profile and put it to work — without HIGH TECH, social-networking anxiety.
Having your collaterals prepared and rehearsed prior to active personal marketing is central to your success and builds confidence.
Many people talk about “information overload” and “decision fatigue” when it comes to how to conduct your job search, or write your resume, or develop your LinkedIn Profile…or answer those challenging interview questions.
THE Careerpilot believes there’s another side to the coin… Receiving options is actually motivational and liberating, with the right mindset. Asking for someone else’s advice isn’t about getting the right answer out of them. Rather, it’s about adding perspective to your view so you can choose the right answer for you.
What is the most critical skill to one’s CAREER success – yet also the most elusive? 
A famous coach, of Green Bay Packer fame, spoke frankly when he said, “Perfect practice makes perfect.” Mr. Lombardi’s intent was CLEAR. He wanted his players to concentrate on PRACTICE, drilling on the “little things”, the basics, so that they became instinct during the heat of real life.
Step #3 in Our 12-step Process had you beginning to develop your Personal Marketing collateral materials. Like any good chemist with a fully stocked laboratory, you’ve made all those 1001 decisions, you’ve begun to practice your verbal collaterals along with your resume’s development… it FEELS like you’re ready for an active job search. 
How can one accomplish this critical element of your Personal Marketing Plan, your ‘digital footprint?’ Use the time you spend on LinkedIn to address your three critical tasks:
In order to market yourself, you must first know yourself. The job search process is essentially a highly personalized marketing process. The process starts with your candid self-assessment, which allows you to gain a thorough and workable understanding of who you are in product marketing terms.
When a Company looks for qualified employees, they seek functional evidence that demonstrates a job seeker’s ability to perform to expectations… JOB REQUIREMENTS represent the HR screening process!
MYCAREERpilot 