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The Perfect Interview
Posted by randy on: 2005-10-18 14:07:06
The Hidden Agenda of Interviews
Joel Vance
Copyright 2005 The Perfect Interview
ItГў??s Not What They Ask - The Hidden Agenda of Interviews What do
you think youГў??re going to an interview for? To list your
qualifications and discuss whatГў??s on your resume? ThatГў??s just
the tip of the iceberg, and youГў??re the Titanic if you donГў??t go
in with at least an idea of what is behind their questions.
Sure, there are the standard questions, because the basic
information has to be conveyed some way, and besides reading
your resume, they like to see you sweat and whether you can be
caught out with any inconsistencies between what is on paper,
and what comes out of your mouth. But interviews can be full of
potholes that you wonГў??t even see coming, because youГў??ve been
lulled into a false sense of bonhomie by the pleasant manner of
the recruiter. Before you know it, and sometimes even without
knowing it, youГў??re spilling all your little job secrets, your
insecurities, and clues as to your character or work ethics.
Preparation as always, is the key. Having talent and being
committed to your employer wonГў??t cut any mustard, if the
interviewer snags a juicy bit out of something you just said,
and tosses it back at you, only to be greeted with a blank stare
and stuttering.
ItГў??s not what you want out of the job, itГў??s what you can bring
to the job.
Face it, you can be the most qualified (technically) candidate
on the planet, but youГў??re not going to get the position on that
alone. Do your homework and find out what the company wants in
the person who does get the job. What do they expect in the way
of job performance? How do they view initiative? Then when
youГў??re interviewed, give them a potential employee who has all
that and the technical skills. Because a successful interview is
not always about what you can tell them, but about what they
want to hear.
Employers want people who are not only going to keep the company
running, but who are going to take it to new levels of success.
You can tell an interviewer what youГў??re capable of, but how are
you going to sell them on your aptitude and attitude? Show them,
thatГў??s how!
DonГў??t just say Гў??I work well with othersГў??, tell them how you
involved different departments in a cooperative effort to cut
waste within the office, and how your past employer benefited
from it, as well as how the company Гў??teamГў?? enjoyed their joint
efforts.
Never mind boasting that you have a nose for new things. Give
them a rundown (not a brag list) of new procedures that you
initiated, which resulted in more efficient operations at your
last job. Or tell them about the ideas you presented, which were
incorporated into the company marketing plan, resulting in
increased profits for the last year.
As stated in The Perfect Interview Book
(www.theperfectinterview.com) interviews are not just
fact-finding missions. Recruiters and company interviewers are
looking beyond the person in front of them, to find the right
one for the job. And the applicant who gives them a potential
employee with depths to be plumbed to the companyГў??s benefit, is
the one whoГў??s going to get that job.
About the author:
Joel Vance is an Human Resources expert who has been in HR for
17 years and interviewed 3,159 people. He has also taught at 4
major universities around the country and currently has a best
selling book on interviewing entitled The Perfect Interview at
http://www.theperfectinterview.com
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