My Odyssey Blog

Ask yourself this question about me

If Mark gives all this away for free I wonder what it would be like to have him as my personal job search coach teaching me everything he knows about finding the job I really want?

Job hunters know your acceptance criteria before you interview

I have probably interviewed well over 2000 candidates over my 30 years in the recruiting/employment business. They have ranged from entry level to C level and from sales people to PhD level scientist. Basically there is no background or field I have not interviewed. Through all of this I have learned that everyone starts their search having gone through basically the same thought process to decide what they want.

Obviously everybody gives some level of thought to what they want to do but for the most part their analysis focuses on duties, responsibilities, tasks, title and money not in any particular order. I’m sure that most people reading this are thinking, OK, so what? What else is there? What are missing are the most important criteria. What will make the new employee happy, content, fulfilled and committed for the long haul? After reviewing what a candidate thinks he is looking for I ask the following question. Other then duties, title and compensation (base salary) list the criteria that must be present for you to enthusiastically accept an offer on the spot. List what will make you happy in order of importance.

Since I had taken away duties, title and money I am first answered with silence and a blank stare. With continued encouragement I start to get answers like “challenge”, “culture”, “work life balance” etc...  He is starting to get the idea and is on the right track but everybody uses these words. What specifically do these words mean to this candidate? Exactly what will satisfactorily challenge him? How will he be challenged and most important how will he identify and evaluate the presence of the required challenge during the interview process.

I take the candidate through this analysis for each criterion he comes up with until he gives a resounding YES to the following question. If all of these criteria (I list them) are present and you are offered reasonable compensation you will without hesitation accept the offer on the spot, correct?

You should put yourself through this same exercise. Figure out what is truly important for you and your families happiness and well being. Come up with 5-6 critical factors that must be present, understand exactly what they mean to you and how you will evaluate/identify each during the interview. If you do, the interview will go smoother and your decision to say yes or no to an offer will be painless. You will also see that the importance of money diminishes. Try it. Happy  hunting.

 

Stop wasting time reading about all the trick or difficult interview questions: The secret to the perfect interview

I am amazed at the number of so called experts that post something every day in all the Linkedin job groups and many blogs about how to answer strange and difficult interview questions. The truth is maybe 1% of all hiring managers ever ask most of these questions and they are usually poorly trained interviewers who do not know what to ask and get these crazy questions out of an obscure book on interviewing. Some of the questions might be ask by a shrink or an occasional HR staffer but hardly ever by a hiring manager. When was the last time anybody reading this was ask something like “If you could be any animal in the jungle what would you be”? or “What color are you?” Even questions that seem reasonable like “Tell me about the last time you turned around a failing employee” are very rare.

If you want to have a great interview every time simply remember that hiring managers only really want to talk about one thing; their needs and how you satisfy those needs. Everything else is just fluff and filler. You have two primary objectives in any interview. Uncover/identify needs and prove you have the experience and skills to satisfy them. That’s it. If you uncover all his needs and deal with each one to his satisfaction you will have a great interview, so spend your time preparing  to do that don’t waste a lot of time preparing for all the strange questions that he may never ask. All that is left is do you like each other( the cultural fit) and all you can do about that is relax and be yourself. You can’t fake a personality fit. You are who and what you are. Even if you can “fake it till you make it” in the interview the real you will come out on the job and you will be shown the door, so why try?

Memorize some basic questions that will identify needs. Here are a few to get you started.

• What will the successful candidate achieve in the first six months?
• What are your goals for the position?
• How will you evaluate success? What criteria will you use?
• What did the last person in the job struggle with? What did he do well?
•  What problems exist in the department that you need fixed?

Now every time he answers with a specific need follow this simple formula.

1)      Mirror it back to make sure you have it

2)      Tell him that you have experience doing whatever the need is

3)      Tell him exactly how you did it

4)      Tell him specifically what the results were, by the numbers if possible

5)      Ask a closing question such as.. Is that the way you want it done? Or, Will that work here?

 Obviously when I prepare somebody for an interview I cover many other topics and situations but this is the core of a successful interview and where you should put most of your effort.

NOTE: Remember this is for the interview with the hiring manager who is the ultimate decision maker, not the HR interview.