Guerilla Tactics for Job Seekers
How to Get That Job You Want By Overcoming Objections
by
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Preparing for the Interview
The purpose of this section of the manual is help you approach the interview in a positive, prepared, confident and relaxed manner. In this section, we will help you learn how to:
Make a Positive First Impression
Take Charge of the Interview
Use Eye Contact and Body Language Effectively
Answer so-called ‘Stress’ Questions with Poise and Cunning
Use Needs-Benefits Link Up Statements
Caution! You may be your own worst enemy!
There are pitfalls ahead. Some specific ones, such as dealing with stress questions, will be discussed later. For now, we want to focus on those pitfalls that you might have dug for yourself: Your attitude toward yourself and your attitude toward the interviewer.
Attitude toward Yourself!
You must have a positive attitude toward yourself and what you have to offer. Build yourself up in your own mind. Review your accomplishments. Think about your successes. Many thousands of persons like yourself happen to be between jobs. You are just one of them. Now you have an opportunity to find new associations and new challenges.
Jot down the points about yourself that you want to make during the interview and keep them clearly in mind. Think positive.
Attitude toward the Interview
There are two attitudes or postures regarding the interview itself that will seriously undermine your performance:
1. "This is an exam. The interviewer’s role is to ask questions. If I give enough good answers, I’ll get the job."
This attitude puts you a weak position. You will tend to be passive. You will respond, but you won’t initiate. You will be tense. Your leadership abilities and your initiative will not come through.
2. "This is competition between me and the interviewer. Our roles are to try to beat each other in verbal combat."
If you take this posture, you will come on very strong and probably seem too aggressive. The interviewer cannot be beaten, and if you try to overpower him or her, you will blow your chance for the job.
Feeling the Role of the Interviewer
You must approach each interview according to what you expect to get from the exchange. First, you must identify what kind of an interview are you having? Your want to approach the interview as though you are a fellow professional in the field and that you are having a discussion about business with another professional, the interviewer. If you can adapt this attitude, it takes the pressure off of you and the interviewer. You will have more of a personal exchange of information than a classic interview. This has to be your benefit.
You get your foot in the door with the first interview. Chances are good that you will be compared to other candidates. You need to try to discern or find out what the interviewer or the company sees as an "ideal" candidate for that particular job. What are the likely internal problems? How can you assist solving them?
If you make it to a second or even third interview, you will know a great deal about the needs of the company, if you have done your work right up until this point. You should be able to capitalize on this knowledge and present yourself as the person who can help the company the most.
If you are not selected for the job, there is a ‘post interview rejection’ that can slow you down, if you allow it to do so. But if you are not selected, you need to go back for some candid criticism on why you were not selected. This will assist you in future interviews. ASK the interviewers why you did not get the job. Or if they do not want to discuss you, specifically, see if they will tell you why the person who did get it, got it! But keep the door open. Tell them that you enjoyed the opportunity for the interviews and that you want to be considered for any other openings they may have where a person with your experience is needed. Remember: The person hired may not work out or may even back out for some reason. The company may turn to you.
You must attempt to ‘feel’ the role of the interviewer and try to pre-guess the questions that will be asked at the interview. Write a script and try it out in a mock interview. You cannot get too much practice!
Remember, we want you to think of the interview not as an interview but as the opportunity to EXCHANGE INFORMATION. The interviewer needs more information about you, and you need more information about the company and the position. Clearly, you are interested in each other or the meeting would not be taking place.
Successful Interview Preparation - A Multifaceted Approach
Approach.
Approach the interview as a meeting between equals.
You are prepared. Friendly. Respectful.
You will make suggestions.
You answer questions concisely.
You analyze. Summarize.
You find out what action is expected of you in the position.
You say you want the job.
Prepare yourself.
Know yourself and what you want.
Know as much about that company as you can learn.
If you have taken the time to research the company, the interviewer will be impressed.
The first impression.
Dress smartly but conservatively.
Look and act like a competent, professional businessperson.
Be dignified, it is expected of you as a mature person but be relaxed and confident.
Accept a cup of coffee or a soda, if offered but never accept liquor. (Driving, remember?)
Be courteous and friendly to everyone you see, especially the receptionist and others.
Ask questions.
You are face to face, at last, with someone who can hire you. Make the most of it.
Ask questions but do not interrupt the interviewer or attempt to control him or her.
If you have done your homework, you should have several questions memorized.
Answer questions.
Answer positively and completely.
Look the interviewer in the eye as you talk.
When possible, end your answer with a question.
Prepare answers for questions that may probe weak points in your background.
Avoid over-talking.
A five to ten second answer is long enough (ten to twenty words).
Avoid shutting down or clamming up but do not ramble.
The matter of compensation.
Avoid discussing salary early in the interview. You want to know more about the job.
Try to
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Book Details
About the Book
In less than a decade, anyone using a typewriter has probably moved to a word-processor and then a computer. We have become a technological society in many other ways. The majority of new jobs created today have a relation to technology in some fashion. Earlier in the 1970’s and 1980’s the highest paid workers at any specific company were the ones in upper middle management positions. They had worked their way up the ladder, paying their dues, so to speak, with the company. Now the highest paid are usually the most recently hired in the management information section, programming or designing. Older workers who do not have these new skills are being retired, down sized or simply let go. All of this thought has produced a lot of justified anxiety among the workers who fear that if and when they are cut or if they leave a job, what will they do to get another one? Lacking technological skills is only part of the problem; the other part is marketing oneself to fit the needs of an employer in today’s market. It is entirely within the scope of this manuscript to offer advice on how to find a job, perform the research that helps accomplish that and how to get the positive results you need. The advice here is our advice. We believe it works because we have seen it work. It should work for you.
About the Author
The author is a director of two business graduate universities (
Supervision and Curriculum Development, American Evaluation Association and Canadian Association for Distance Education.
Payne is also the author of two non fiction books, Caught in the Crossfire (also a NBC-TV movie and Above the Law, the hidden career of John Volz, USA. He is perhaps best known for his international best selling periodical The Death of Brandon Lee: The Untold Story.