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The Successful Job Interview

• How To Be Simply Irresistible
• The Successful Structured Job Interview

 
How to be simply irresistable home - top of the page -

The following advice is written for guys who want to get a woman in bed. Same advice equally applicable to a job interview. I left the text as it was, so you will have to translate the meaning from sex to job interview while you are reading:

    she  -  your future manager
    get laid  -  get a job
    married  -  currently employed
    etc.

Enjoy.
 

How To Be Simply Irresistible

  Some guys are able to get any woman into bed after spending only a couple of hours with them. Some can't. The ones that can have a few things in common and we've arranged a set of rules for successful seduction. Some are obvious, some are subtle. Follow them and you will have a better chance to score.

 Rule #1 Impeccable Grooming

 You can never be too clean. Shower before your date, use antiperspirant, wear cologne (but not too much), style your hair, trim your nose hairs, cut your nails, shave without leaving stray hairs on your face, brush your teeth, floss, use mouthwash, and don't forget the breath mints. It doesn't get any simpler but many guys have missed out on the best sex of their lives by overlooking one of the above. To be irresistible you have to appeal to all of her senses in a favourable manner.

 Rule #2 Positive Attitude

 Women do not like to have sex with a guy who is filled with gloom and doom. Have a positive outlook on life and steer conversations away from negativity. Project confidence without being intimidating- that means sell yourself without putting anyone else down or being a know-it-all.

 Rule #3 Be Honest and Forthright

 A lot of guys think that it isn't proper to ever bring up sex in a conversation on a date. That line of thinking comes from a conquest approach, i.e. treating women like prey. It's wrong, it insults the woman's intelligence, and it's not as effective. If you can't wait to get her home, tell her so- as long as it's at the right moment and it's an honest attraction to her, not just a desire to get some pussy. The more honest you are with her and yourself the more success you will have- even when being honest means being bold.

 For guys using the Internet to find women this rule is even more important. Internet dating allows people to find a compatible partner from millions. It's essentially speed dating at a rate that is thousands of times faster than conventional dating. Let the numbers work in your favour and cut through the bullshit.

 You are not going to get laid if you exaggerate yourself too much. You won't make a good impression if she's expecting Tom Cruise and comes face to face with Danny DeVito. When there are so many to choose from, lying just wastes time.

 If you're married, why lie about it and risk being discovered? There are lots of women that don't care. If you want a one-night stand, advertise that you are looking for a one-night stand. Etc. There are so many people online that you can fit a woman to a profile you set out. Understand that she's doing exactly the same profiling for guys. It's much easier to be irresistible if you're what she is looking for.

 Rule #4 Be Interested In Her, Genuinely

 It can't be faked. She will know if you are just going through the motions of conversation to get in her pants. She will not want you if she receives any signals that you find her boring.

 Rule #5 Keep Her Interested

 On top of being interested in her, you have to keep her interested in you. The easiest way to do this is to keep her talking- especially about herself. It's funny, but rules 4 and 5 are almost the same. She will be interested in you if you are interested in her. The key to being irresistible lies in holding her interest for an extended period of time. It helps to leave a little mystery about your life. Don't tell her everything about your past (this should be easy if you can get her talking about herself most of the time).

 Rule #6 Be Original

 This is just another way to say 'be yourself,' but it gets the message across a little clearer. You are original, there is no one on earth like you and the stuff that makes you different from others is what she will find most attractive. Sexual competition is all about diversity. She's genetically and socially programmed to fall for a guy that's different from her previous/current lovers. Don't try to be someone else. You want to stand out in the crowd.

 
The Successful Structured Job Interview home - top of the page -

The Successful Structured Job Interview
(I don't know the source of this article - but it is good).

Preparing for the Interview

Few individuals prepare for their initial interview like they should.

Even more important, very few individuals recognize that there can in fact be an underlying format to a successful interview.

This document is not intended to be the "definitive answer" to all issues regarding interviews. In fact, no document can anticipate all issues that will arise during an interview. However, it will provide a foundation to help you prepare and control the "tempo" and direction of your interview.

There are 2 major concepts regarding interviewing:
 - The philosophy of a successful interview, i.e., the viewpoint or mindset you take with you on the interview,
 - The actual content of a Structured Interview - the process you go through when you interview with any company.
 

Philosophy of a Successful Interview

The most qualified applicant is not always the individual who gets the job offer! The individual who is reasonably qualified, AND prepares for the interview has a much better chance of obtaining not only the offer, but a BETTER offer than the competition.
First - You need to recognize that when you go on a job interview, what you are really doing is becoming a salesperson. The product you are selling are your technical skills and background.

A good salesperson talks 20% of the time and listens 80% of the time. This is not always possible when you are on an interview. Therefore it is important to understand either how to control the timing of the interview, or how to interject questions to help gather information to best represent your background.

Second - In order to keep yourself in control of the final decision process, you need to "sell yourself" like this is the only job left on earth. Until you receive the actual written job offer, you have no option to accept, change, or reject. Until the company extends the offer, you are in competition with all additional candidates and have no true position of power.

Third - You must represent your technical skills in terms of "BENEFITS TO THE COMPANY". In other words, why is it in the company's best interest to hire you!
 

The Structured Interview

There are 3 major sections to a structured interview:
· Collecting Data
· Selling Yourself
· The Finish

Collecting Data
You must do this in order to understand how to sell yourself in terms of benefits to the company. If you go into the interview without gaining as much information as possible, you will be at a distinct disadvantage. Typically the manager will have your resume. If a recruiter is also involved, the recruiting company may have shared their impression of you. Additionally, if reference checks have been performed, the manager may be in possession of that information also.

You should begin the data collection process prior to the interview. You can often do this by simply visiting the companies web site. It is helpful to gain an understanding of the companies vision, structure, key players (employees), services and/or products.

An Important Note!! Just because the manager is "controlling" the interview, does not necessarily mean that the manager has been trained in how to conduct successful interviews. Equally important, business dynamics change on a daily basis. This could mean that skill sets that were important on a Monday, may not be important on a Thursday. This could especially be true if that manager has recently added someone to his or her staff who changes the mixture of existing skills within the group.
A typical initial question that a manager may ask in the beginning of an interview follows:
"Well <Your Name>, tell me a little about your software development experience."
The problem with this question from your vantage point is that you truly do not have a clue as to what the most important skills or critical requirements are in order to represent your skills in terms of "Benefits to the Company". It is a fundamentally unfair question to both you and the person conducting the interview.

Given this situation, it is important that you have a 1 to 3 minute executive summary of your experience to allow you to begin to address the question. The summary will also provide you an avenue to ask a question at the end of your response to obtain more specific information. Keep your initial response at a "high level", while still being responsive to the manager's needs.
As an example:
"Well, <His/Her Name>, as you can tell from my resume, I have a total of 9 years of design and development experience. My work has ranged from full software lifecycle development responsibilities, to specific assignments of product enhancements, to assisting in short term development efforts. Typically, these development efforts were accomplished using both C and C++ in a UNIX environment. The application code itself has ranged from real-time control and data collection software to off-line data capture and analysis requirements."
Having said this to the person conducting the interview, you now have an opportunity to take some control of the interview, altering the initial tempo and information collection part of the interview. You may now be in a position to ask follow-up questions to get information about how to best represent your background skills. Try this method or question:
"While I am familiar with your company, I don't know much detail about the specific skill sets you require for this particular position. Could you please share with me what skills you feel are important to be successful in this position?"
Having asked this question, it is very important for you to take good mental notes on the response. This single question could potentially provide you will all the information required to separate yourself from the competition. It will also allow you to do a good job of presenting specific skills that you have that relate directly to the manager's needs.

Selling Yourself!
By far the largest amount of time is spent in discussion regarding your experience. As a result, you have more opportunity to either excel in the interview, or do a mediocre job. It is important to excel, and understand how to get "feedback" during this stage of the interview.

Once the manager has answered your question regarding the important skill set needs, you need to be able to respond appropriately.
1. In 5 minutes or less, describe your skills that directly relate to those required skills.
Be BRIEF but precise, and do not ramble.
2. Touch only on points you have. If you are not experienced or proficient in a particular area mentioned, leave that topic alone.
One of the more subtle points of conducting a successful interview, is obtaining feedback from the individuals that you are interviewing. Just because you are giving good information, does not necessarily mean that they are understanding the information correctly. When you have touched upon a particularly important or critical point, give the individuals conducting the interview a few moments to "digest" the information. Then, get verbal feedback to reinforce the importance of that topic.
Feedback can be obtained by simply asking a question such as:
"Does that satisfactorily answer your question or concern?"
"Is that sufficient information to answer your question?".
You must get positive information back regarding important topics, otherwise the persons conducting the interview may come away with a misunderstanding or a negative impression of your skills.
Remember, there is no such thing as the perfect job, and equally important, there is no such thing as the perfect applicant. If during the interview, you are asked questions regarding skills or experience that you do not have, there is no need to apologize. In most cases, lack of experience is only a reflection of lack of opportunity, not lack of talent.

Overcoming a perceived weakness.
If in the interview process, the manager questions your experience or lack of experience in a particular area, it is important to remember not to go into an immediate rebuttal. You must first qualify the importance of that particular skill set. This can be achieved with a straight forward question such as:
"How important is that skill to this position?"
If the manager replies that the skill is not that critical and that you can probably come up to speed quickly, you need do nothing more than agree with his assessment. If on the other hand, the manager indicates that the skill being discussed is important to the success of the job, you now recognize that you must have an argument to overcome this concern.
Recognize, that all individuals who interview always tell the hiring authority how smart or what a quick learner they are. The problem with just this statement is that everyone makes it, and more importantly, there is no substance to the argument. Therefore, you must be prepared to separate yourself by example.

One method to accomplish this is to have 1 or 2 examples of past successes in your career that you achieved without having a previous background in that area. Your description of this should be brief (2 to 5 minutes), and should cover the following areas:
    1. Brief description of the problem or challenge.
    2. Brief description of what you did to successfully complete the project.
    3. Brief description of what the result of the efforts accomplished.
Once you have given this information, it is important that the manager agree with your position. One way to obtain this agreement is to ask the question:
"Does this satisfy your concern with my ability to come up to speed on the project quickly?"
By asking this question, you now have the opportunity to understand whether or not the manager agrees with your assessment of your skills or talent.
Finishing the interview, and discussing money.

At the conclusion of an interview, it is very important that you understand how you did, and what the next step in the process is. This is important so that you understand when you will hear from the company, and if you need to take additional steps to help generate the offer.
At the conclusion of the interview, if the hiring manager does not specifically state that they are interested in you, you need to "help them" come to the decision to make the offer.
One way to do this is to tell the manager that based on today's interview you feel you are both qualified and interested in this opportunity.
At this point, it is important to once again obtain feedback regarding their interest level. One way to obtain this information is by asking the following question:
"Are there any additional questions or issues that need to be discussed that would potentially prevent you from making me the offer?"
Although you may feel that this question is somewhat bold, in fact it is not. Remember, that while you are on an interview, you are really a salesperson or business person representing your skills. You would not think of making a purchase decision of any sort, without knowing what the price and warranty of the product is. As important, you should not leave an interview without knowing how you have done.

The "Money" Question.
The money question is: "How much money do you currently make?" or "What are your minimum salary requirements?"
This is always the tough question to handle. Unless you know exactly what has been budgeted for the position, it is not easy to answer this question.
Ideally, you want the company to make the best offer they can. Bluntly put, the better you did in the interview, the better the offer will be. However, you cannot always "get off the hook" by not answering the question.
  If you give an answer too high, you may potentially lose the offer because the company believes you will not take an offer less than you say.
  If you give an answer too low, you may leave "money on the table". You would like to avoid both situations if possible.
A suggested method of answering the money question: Honesty is always the best policy. How you present that honest answer can have a major impact of the results. Here is a suggested way to address this issue.
Tell the manager, right up front, you do not know how much salary is budgeted for this position; however, based on today's interview, you hope that he would evaluate the value that you would bring to their organization, and that based on that evaluation, that he would make you his "best offer".

Notice that I said best offer, not a good offer. You want to leave the impression with the manager that he needs to put his best offer on the table, so that you can accept that offer, and have him gain a talented and enthusiastic employee.
If all else fails and the company demands a specific answer, provide one that you are comfortable in accepting, and leave the interview confident with your figure based on your perception of your value to their organization.
 

After the Interview.

Immediately after the interview send a thank you note via the mail service or E-mail to the hiring manager. Thank the hiring manager for his/her time and reaffirm your interest in and qualification for the position.

Naturally, it is courteous and professional to let your recruiter know how things went.  A call is preferred but an e-mail message works if you are strapped for time.

From this point forward, they will become your advocate and continue the sales process for your candidacy.

Interviewing Tips - Level II

Thinking on your feet can be very rewarding - and no more so than in a job interview.  The only problem is that many technical professionals, who are quite comfortable planning and organizing in a structured environment, are not used to rattling off answers to open-end, infrequently-asked questions about themselves.  Especially on the spur of the moment.

For example, imagine this question in the first interview: "If you were to be hired here, what would your 30-Day Success Plan look like (if you take over this position)?"  This was asked of a very intelligent applicant recently by a particularly perky interviewer.  It would not be a problem if you have time to research, ponder, read a few articles and then come up with something really clever…  Obviously, this kind of preparation is never an option when interviewing….  Or, is it?

Consider the following answers as being
  - adaptable (in their context, content and audience);
  - easily remembered (remember the acronyms to help prompt you when you are nervous); and
  - variable in length (20 to 2000 words could be used to expound on them).

Learn these and have them ready to deliver and adapt on-the-fly for those particularly thorny questions you are thrown in the next job interview.

Questions:  Well, Mr. Candidate, what are you looking for in a company?  How do you evaluate one company against another?  If you were to come on-board here, how do you think you could contribute?   What do you like about this company?

Answer Number 1: PPPP (Or P4) - Product, People, Process, Priorities
Sample Answer:  "Well, Mr. Hiring Manager, I evaluate a company on four basic legs, almost as a chair rests on four legs, each being critical to the overall success of the endeavor.  They are the company's product or service, its people, its process that differentiates it from the competition, and its priorities in the marketplace.  When I look at this particular company, I see a tremendous asset in each of these areas.  For example, one thing that I am also strong in, just like your company, is my creativity.  I think this will allow me to fit in nicely with the other people here…"

Questions:  Well Ms. Candidate, how do you feel you stack up to your competition for this job?  When you are interacting with clients, what makes you different from the competition (i.e., other candidates we are interviewing)?   How do you make the most of your business trips?

Answer Number 2: SWOT - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Trends or Threats
Sample Answer Number: "If I were to take over in March as you mentioned, my first plan of action would be to make sure I had a full understanding of the four most basic areas of any given entity.  The first is the organization's strengths.  In order to maximize a positive impact, one must know all strengths, in all areas.  They can come in many shapes and sizes, but a full assessment will give me a much better chance of success that almost any other knowledge base.  Secondly, I believe it is critical to know of any weaknesses.  This is typically where competition likes to hit us… where we are vulnerable.  If there are any ways to bolster this area, with obvious fixes, I would want to get right on it…."

Questions:   What would you do during your first 30 days on our team to make a positive impact?   Tell me…how do you like to solve problems in your work environment?

Answer Number 3: ASP - Assess, Prioritize, Commit
Sample Answer: "Within the first two weeks, I like to take a full assessment of all critical areas of an organization, the most obvious being its people, its product, all major processes and, of course, the public and private priorities of the organization.  This usually takes, at a minimum, a few meetings where you can get a feel for how the organization thinks.  Once I have a feel for all of these kinds of variables, I like to prioritize them.  Clearly, some of my priorities may be handed to me from above; however, I don't like to march blindly into any solution - there may be some other solutions or details that I can identify because of my unique background.   Finally, I believe in personally committing to a solution and a time frame to get the job done, at least stage one, if it is a complex list of issues.  This commitment gets attention, motivates the team and rallies all players around the same goal…."

Conclusion
With these kind of answers, the hiring manager will know that you are a player.  You have something to add to the organization.   You like to make good things happen and you take your job seriously.  Isn't that the goal of the interview?

Interviewing Tips Level III
Some of the most difficult  questions are sometimes the most obvious - yet if you don't have a planned answer, you will appear disoriented.

The following questions will, in many interviews, come up.  You ABSOLUTELY must have an answer in advance.  Unlike the Interviewing Tips Level II, these are questions and answers that you can anticipate and must have reasonable answers for:
 


Just for Sales Persons and Sales Support Engineers (to a lesser degree).
Doing your homework from a business standpoint is critical.  Before you interview, you need to indicate that you have done your homework by building a profile sheet on the company.  This is for your own benefit, not to show to the interviewer.  The point is to fill in the blanks and then study the answers.  Here is what you need to know about a company before you interview:
Corporate Profile:  Name of CEO, stage of going public if IPO, etc.
Competitors:   Name their top two or three;
Revenue:   Where are they now?;
Business Strategies:  Be able to broadly describe it;
Differentiators:  Know this if possible; if not, it may make a great interview
question…: "Although I have tried to quickly learn what makes XYZ Corp. so unique, from your perspective, Mr. Hiring Manager, what makes your products/services  stand apart from the competition in this industry?"
Geography:   Are the regional, national or global?
Distribution:   Do they distribute via  channels, or a direct sales force or
both - which is dominant?
Headquarters:  Where is it?

 
Interviewing Tips - Summary
These tips are taken from R2 Services' web site and although they are not definitive, do help us to understand the dynamics of a structure job interview.

Why do we call it a structured job interview?  Because as an applicant, you need to walk into the interview (or telephone interview) with a specific goal in mind.  This is the only way to assure that you reach your target -- structure your thinking, delivery, execution and follow up!  Unless you do this, you will run the risk of failing to get your career to the next level!

    1. Do Your Homework!  Also remove all typos and text paragraphs from your resume.  Also realize that the most important preparation is MENTAL in nature.  If you know your strengths, you can walk in as a peer, not an underdog!
    2. Develop rapport - find something in common with the interviewer…
    3. Realize that you are your own sales person!  Get comfortable with talking about yourself in a very positive light…  obviously not like an egotistical sow-in-sow but what I call "humbly confident".  YOU MUST KNOW  what you bring to the organization!  Why should they hire you?
    4. Understand what your goal is! The goal is to take the relationship to the next level - this means a job offer, a second interview or what ever is appropriate.  It is very important to remember, Do Not begin negotiating the details of the job offer until it is made.  Many candidates want to talk about benefits during the first interview!   Wrong!!!
    5. You MUST learn what the specific requirements of the actual job are!  For example, "Kevin, which skills and abilities would a candidate need in order to be successful in this position?"   Most interviews are too busy to interview properly and begin the process with something like …"so, tell me a about yourself…".   The general rule - have a 1 to 3 minute summary description of your skills and abilities and stay positive.
    6. Always, always express your benefits, desires, goals and skillsin relationship to the company - not your personal life.  Long descriptions of your dog, house, car, personal life are better saved for the coffee break after you get the job!  This is what will be remembered!
    7. Use imagery to prompt you:  THE HAND IN THE GLOVE example!  This means your skills and abilities must fit (like a hand into a glove) into his requirement!  You need to deliver this message.
    8. Be careful not to talk too much!  If the interviewer is looking for a 20 word answer, you need to give him one 20 word answer…Not five.   General Rule -- give summary answers and ask, "does that cover the issues or shall I go into more detail…".
    9. How should you answer a requirement if you are not particularly strong in that area?   Always qualify the issue!  (("How important would you say that skill is to this particular position?"))          If you determine that you are not strong and it is at least a mildly important area, try something like this…"Well, Kevin, given the maturity of my skills in directly related areas, I know coming up to speed in that area is going to be very easy…"
    10. Review the details of some successful anecdotes from your career.  These will need to be delivered with a emphasis on how your actions benefited the company for whom you were working at the time.
    11. Wrapping up the interview:  Defer the money discussion to later if possible… You can certainly tell the interview honestly what you are making now, but do not come across as firm in your requirements until you are in a position to negotiate. RESIST THE TEMPTATION to lay down terms!   Use this: "I look forward to your most competitive offer in light of my skills, talents and abilities…"
    12. Ask for feedback:  "I am very excited about your company and I believe I could be an excellent addition to the team.  Would you agree that my skills are well suited for this position and we can take this discussion to the next level?"
    13. Always follow up with thank you e-mail note.
    14. ADVANCED TIPS:    PPPP, SWOT or APC.  These are simple acronyms that prompt you into a discussion for those particularly thorny questions.  By using these you will have a skeleton answer that can be adapted to almost any situation:
    PPPP = People, Process, Product (or Service) and Profitability - Used when evaluating an organization from the outside…
    SWOT = Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Trends - Used when evaluating your competition…
    APC =   Assess, Prioritize and Commit - Used when determining the best course of action for a given challenge or what to do during the first 30 days of employment at the new organization…
    15. Stay positive, interested and open minded!  Until you have an offer, you have nothing!
    16. Smile when you talk.  No slang and do not berate your current employer…