Do you have your interview tactics upside down ¿?

I read and talk to people a lot about interviews, mostly job interviews, but also about interviews for scholarships, awards and other recognitions. I have learned that a majority of the people I talk to (and the people who give them advice on interview techniques) in fact have their techniques upside down. Yes! I am taking a shot at the so call professionals in employment consultancy who give advice to potential candidates about interview techniques and preparation.

Before you ask me, I’ll tell you that I don’t have any degree in Human Resources (HR) or anything along the lines of recruitment and hiring, what I do have is great wealth of experience and practical transferrable skills about interviews and if you choose to continue reading you’ll know why you should listen to me. Simply because I have been through so much of them and never for once did I fail to impress myself. After all if you ask me on my cynical day I’ll tell you that you don’t need a HR degree (or anything like it) to make intelligent hiring decisions or give a valuable advice about job interviews and don’t get me wrong that doesn’t in anyway detract from the value of a HR degree.

And that last sentence is the problem with most interview candidates (and their advisors) that I have spoken to or read about, they’ve their tactics, from preparation, appearance and the questions they ask upside down (or so I think). For example how many of us walk into or out of a job interview asking the question will they hire me? I’d say almost everyone I know and that is the upside down thinking I’m talking about. The real question should be; will I hire me? Based on your preparedness for an interview, how you plan to sell your strengths in alignment with the job and how you plan to convince the interviewer/s that you are the best candidate for the job, you should be asking yourself “Will I hire me if I was the hiring manager”, of course all other things being equal. And if your answer to that question is anything less than a definite “yes” then you’re not in fact the rightful candidate for that job.

I know “all things are not equal” and that’s fine, but the point is that you’ve to believe that you’re the right person for a job before anyone else believes you. And sometimes you’re going to go to interviews believing (while been realistic) that you’d definitely hire yourself if you were the hiring manager, but you wouldn’t still get the job and that is because all things are not equal. Sometimes other candidates are just more qualified than you, sometimes you’re overqualified for the job, sometimes your specific skills set is not what the company is looking for at that time and sometimes companies just already have their favorite candidate in mind even before the interview, perhaps because of a referral, internal applications, networking or just something that gave them that edge over you. But at least you didn’t get the job not because you’re good enough or not because even you wouldn’t have hired yourself if you were hiring. Listen all I am saying is that you should be able to tell yourself (without knowing about the other candidates) that you’d hire yourself base on your interview.

I have been to a lot of interviews and the toughest one also happens to be my first real interview. Just about eight years ago, while attending College for my Associate degree, I interviewed for an “Accounting Associate” position within a multi-national holding company and I must add that I didn’t apply for this job, instead a friend of mine (who was the relationship manager of the company at one of the many Financial Institutions they dealt with) referred me. I was still young and it was my first interview, I obviously didn’t prepare well enough, but I was passionate about accounting. Long story cut short, I walked into the interview waiting area and there were five other candidates waiting, all of them way more qualified than me, two of them were graduating from University. I know them because the person who recommended me for the job didn't just recommend me alone. So when one of the interviewers came out to brief us about the process and finally asked who wanted to go first, believing that I had no chance against the “big boys” and “a girl” my hand was in the air even before he could finish the question. I got in there and the first question I got was also my last question. One of the interviewers gave me a scenario about a transaction involving three of their subsidiary companies and asked how I’d enter that transaction into the various accounts. I asked if I could borrow a pen and paper and after giving a demonstrative answer on the paper, the next question was about my salary expectations.

I know by now you’re wondering why I took so much space to talk about this specific interview and the answer is simple: because it just reiterate my earlier point about having your interview tactics upside down, I wouldn’t have hired myself with the attitude I walked into that interview room, I didn’t believe in myself from the moment I saw those university graduates and more importantly I didn’t believe I was the best candidate in the room, but! but they asked me a question and I seized the moment, I gave a magnificent answer and boy I walked out of that interview telling myself “I would hire myself” based on the answer I gave to the interviewers. You know I actually walked home from that interview stress free, I wasn’t worried about not getting the job because I knew I did exactly just what I had to do. If there was anything that I was hoping for that afternoon, it was that their assessment was based on the interview performance and it didn’t take very long for me to find out, I got a call that evening, I was the preferred candidate.

Interviewing great for the first time is fundamental to landing your desired job, but what happens next if you fail your first interview? After giving it all you could, like one of those situations I mentioned earlier e.g. they hired an internal applicant or a candidate whose qualifications are more in line with what the company is looking for. What do you do? Where do you draw the line? This is another area of upside down strategy that I have noticed among interviewees and their advisors alike. A common response is to apply again, but what do you tell them in your next interview that you haven’t in the first one? (That’s if you get the invite). How about just writing right back to the interviewer telling them how you feel, this is not a marketing stunt, this is telling them that you’re disappointed you didn’t get the job if you were indeed disappointed, this is showing them your level of enthusiasm about the job and working for the company (be realistic), this is the time to make this person remember your name for next time and more importantly this is the time to build a relationship (network) with that person. A lot of people believe that hiring managers don’t read those letters, there’s an element of truth to that, I think there is, but not when you make them want to read it, tell them how feel but also acknowledge the positives of the interview process, remember this is not the time to dwell on the negatives. Here’s a good example:

Dear Mr. Doe,                              

“I would be lying if I said I'm anything but keenly disappointed that I wasn't selected for a second interview for the position of JUNIOR ASSOCIATE at XYZ Ltd. But knowing how professionally and thoroughly each candidate was assessed, and having had the opportunity to chat with you at the first interview, I'm also honoured to have been on that short list. I appreciate that your job of selection was very, very difficult.”

I don’t always write this follow up letters, but if I miss out on a job opportunity along my desired career path, a job I am passionate about, then I make sure I write one, because I know I’m going to apply again when the opportunity arises and when I do I make sure I reference back to the first interview. What this does is, it gives you something to tell the hirer in your next application, for example saying something like:

“I have had the opportunity to chat with [Insert Managers name] when I first interviewed for this position in [date 200X] who gave me an insight into this role and I knew it is a position I’d love right away, I have since never stopped looking for this openings within [Company name]”.

With a statement like the above there are two possibilities; the manager either remember your post interview letter (because not everyone writes them), if not from the interview or if it is the type of manager who conducts hundreds of interviews, then he would want to see this guy again. Either way you just make the manager want to see you again, which is the key purpose of a resume.

Job interviews are not a rocket science, in fact it is not very hard to figure out the qualities companies are looking for from their job postings (and sometimes they make these qualities unnecessary complicated), but your job is to make them simple, most often than not all you need is to be able to learn. Listen, all I’m saying is that you have to be the first person to believe that you've those qualities before anyone else could.