Chapter One —The Product Is You
The object of this chapter is to prepare you to comfortably answer one—and only one—question: "Who are you?" Believe it or not, the success or failure of many interviews will hinge on your ability to answer this seemingly simple question.
The interviewing process is a kind of sale. In this case, you are the product—and the salesperson. If you show up unprepared to talk about your unique features and benefits, you're not likely to motivate an interviewer to "buy."
The sad fact is that many job candidates are unprepared to talk about themselves. You may have mailed a gorgeous resume and cover letter. You may be wearing the perfect clothes on the day of the interview. But if you can't convince the interviewer—face to face—that you are the right person for the job, you aren't likely to make the sale.
Too many candidates hesitate after the first open-ended question, then stumble and stutter their way through a disjointed litany of resume "sound bites." Other interviewees recite canned replies that only highlight their memory skills.
I am assuming that, like most people, you are a complex product—made up of a unique blend of abilities, skills, and personal qualities and shaped by your own personal and professional history. Believe me, the time you spend outlining the details of your own life will pay off in interviews, and, ultimately, job offers. This chapter will guide you through the process.
What You Should Know about You
You may think you already know your life by heart, but you'll be amazed to see how much additional detail you can remember (and ultimately how it will fit together in the context of your next career move) once you write it down.
So, your first step is to imitate the FBI and build a complete "dossier" on yourself. The Data Input Sheets at the end of this chapter will help you organize important, work-related information about yourself. With this information in place, it will be easier to develop a concise and convincing answer to almost any interview question—an answer that will set you apart from the competition. (I've only included one copy of each form. Feel free to reproduce as many as you need.)
Employment Data Input Sheet
Prepare a separate sheet for every full-time and part-time job you have ever held, no matter how short the tenure. Yes, even summer jobs are important here. They demonstrate resourcefulness, responsibility, and initiative—that you were already developing a sense of independence white you were still living at home. Whether you choose to include some, all, or none of these short-term jobs on your resume or to discuss them during your interview is a decision you will make later. For now, write down everything about every job. For each employer, include:
• Name, address, and telephone number (plus an e-mail address if you have one).
• The names of all of your supervisors and, whenever possible, where they can be reached.
• Letters of recommendation (especially if they can't be reached).
• The exact dates (month and year) you were employed.
For each job, include:
• Your specific duties and responsibilities.
• Supervisory experience, noting the number of people you managed.
• Specific skills required for the job.
• Your key accomplishments.
• The dates you received promotions.
• Any awards, honors, and special recognition you received.
For each part-time job, also include:
• The number of hours you worked per week.
Don't write a book on each job. But do concentrate on providing specific data (volume of work handled, problems solved, dollars saved) to paint a detailed picture of your abilities and accomplishments. Believe me, these hard facts will add a powerful punch to your interview presentation. For example:
Duties: Write one or two sentences giving an overview of the tasks you handled in each of the jobs you held. Use numbers as often as possible to demonstrate the scope of your responsibilities. An experienced salesperson might write:
• Responsible for managing 120 active accounts in sales territory that contributed $3 million in annual revenues.
• Reviewed activity of three telephone salespeople.
Skills: Name the specific skills required to perform your duties—highlighting those that you developed on the job. The same salesperson might write:
• Trained other sales staff in new product lines.
• Handled telephone support for customer base of 100.
Key accomplishments: This is the place to "brag." But be sure to back up each accomplishment with specifics, including results. For example:
• Developed new call-reporting system that increased volume in territory 20 percent within 18 months.
• Oversaw computerization of department that helped realize cost savings of 15 percent.
Volunteer Work Data Input Sheet
Having hired hundreds of people during my career, I can assure you that your "after-hours" activities will be considered and weighed by many interviewers. Workaholics rarely make the best employees.
So take some time to make a detailed record of your volunteer pursuits, similar to the one you've just completed for each job you held. For each volunteer organization, include:
• Name, address, and telephone number (plus e-mail address, if available).
• The name of your supervisor or the director of the organization.
• Letter(s) of recommendation.
• The exact dates (month and year) of your involvement with the organization.
For each volunteer experience, include:
• The approximate number of hours you devoted to the activity each month.
• Your specific duties and responsibilities.
• Specific skills required.
• Accomplishments.
• Any awards, honors, and special recognition you received.
Educational Data Input Sheets
If you're a recent college graduate, or if you are still in college, you don't need to rehash your high school experiences. If you have a graduate degree or are a graduate student, however, you should list both graduate and undergraduate course work. If you're still in school and graduation is more than a year away, indicate the number of credits you've earned through the most recent semester completed.
Activities Data Input Sheet
I'm always interested in—and impressed by—candidates who talk about books they've read and activities they enjoy. So make a list of all the sports, clubs, and other activities in which you've participated, inside or outside of school. For each activity, club, or group, include:
• Its name and purpose.
• Any offices you held; special committees you formed, chaired, or participated in; or specific positions you played.
• The duties and responsibilities of each role.
• Key accomplishments.
• Any awards or honors you received.
Awards and Honors Data Input Sheet
List all the awards and honors you've received from school(s), community groups, church groups, clubs, and so on. You may include awards from prestigious high schools (prep schools or professional schools) even if you're in graduate school or long out of college.
Military Service Data Input Sheet
Many employers are impressed by the maturity of candidates who have served in the armed forces and consider military service excellent management training for many civilian jobs. So if you've served in the armed forces, even for a short time, make sure you can discuss your experiences and how they tie into your professional aspirations. Be sure to include:
• Final rank awarded.
• Duties and responsibilities.
• Citations and awards.
• Details on specific training and/or any special schooling.
• Special skills developed.
• Key accomplishments.
Language Data Input Sheet
Even if you're not applying for a job in the international arena, your ability to read, write, and speak a second language can make you invaluable to employers in an increasing number of research and educational institutions and multinational companies. One year of college Russian won't cut it. But if you spent a year studying in Moscow—and can carry on a conversation like a native—by all means write it down.
Putting It in Your Perspective
Once you've finished completing these forms, you'll have a lot of information—facts—about what you've done and where and with whom you've done it. But any interviewer worth his or her pepper will be looking for more. So once you've finished with the fact-finding, practice putting it all into perspective—your unique, personal perspective, that is. Write down your answers to the following questions, which you should expect an interviewer to be interested in asking:
Which achievements did you enjoy most? Which are you proudest of? Be ready to tell the interviewer how these accomplishments relate to the position at hand.
What mistakes have you made? Why did they occur? How have you learned from them, and what have you done to keep similar things from occurring again?
How well do you interact with authority figures—bosses, teachers, parents?
What are your favorite games and sports? Think about the way you play these games and what that says about you. Are you overly competitive? Do you give up too easily? Are you a good loser—or a bad winner? Do you rise to a challenge or back away from it?
What kinds of people are your friends? Do you associate only with people who are very similar to you? Do you enjoy differences in others—or merely tolerate them? What are some things that have caused you to end friendships? What does this say about you?
If you were to ask a group of friends and acquaintances to describe you, what adjectives would they use? List all of them—the good and the bad. Why would people describe you this way? Are there specific behaviors, skills, achievements, or failures that seem to identify you in the eyes of others? What are they?
What's the Point?
By now, you're probably a bit uncomfortable—and wondering, "What's the point of all this soul-searching? After all, I'm just trying to get ready for a job interview!"
The point is this: The better you know yourself, the better you can sell yourself to a prospective employer when you're on the spot in an interview. From your Data Input Sheets, you can compile a list of your best features under the following headings:
My strongest skills.
My greatest areas of knowledge.
My greatest personality strengths.
My key accomplishments.
Now transform your best features into benefits for your prospective company:
What in my personal inventory will convince this employer that I deserve the position?
What are the strengths, achievements, skills, and areas of knowledge that make me most qualified for this position? What in my background should separate me from the herd of other applicants?
By answering some tough questions about the mistakes you have made—and the less-than-positive feedback you've gotten—you can also locate areas that may need improvement. Do you need to develop new skills? Improve your relations with those in authority? If you have been thorough and brutally honest (and it may feel brutal!), you may find out things about yourself that you never knew.
The more time and effort you invest in answering questions like these—while you have a cool head—the less you'll sweat once you're in the interviewer's hot seat. It's up to you.
But before we forge ahead to the first of the questions you're likely to field, let's take a closer look at the interview process itself.
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