There is No Substitute for Good Preparation to "Ace the Interview"

… these tips won’t help you get a job you don’t deserve, but they will help you get one you do.

Last week I revealed that a major job board trashed a video program we jointly developed after I strongly urged job seekers to spend more time networking than applying. Here’s a link to the intro video if you’d like to see for yourself what the fuss was all about. (To watch the full video, use this LinkedIn member code - HIRED50.)

In the first part of this article series, I presented five points covering the importance of creating a “10-second Wow” resume and how to get an interview through the backdoor. We’ll use this week to prep for the interview and describe what you need to do to ace it. In Part 3 I’ll introduce you to the Performance-based Interview we use for training hiring managers, and show you a new method for interviewing and assessing yourself.

Six: Prep for the Interview. If you’re not prepared for the interview you’ll be nervous, talk too much or not enough, or give inappropriate answers. Being prepared will allow you to answer questions properly and ask the right kinds of questions. While I could write a book on this topic, prepping starts by writing down all of your strengths in some logical order. Next to each strength describe how you’d prove you were good at it. The best way is to describe some significant task in detail that required you to excel using the strength. Presenting a sample of your work is another. This could include sending a person a link to a website, or bringing a portfolio or samples of your work to the interview. Demonstrating a real-time solution to a typical problem using the strength is another.

Seven: Learn the Universal Answer to Any Question. The best answers are about 1-2 minutes long. If less than this, you’re making the interviewer work too hard. You’ll be considered long-winded if they’re much longer. Use the SAFW format (Say A Few Words) to structure your response. Make an opening Statement. Amplify and explain the opening. Add a Few examples to prove or validate the statement. Then Wrap-up with a conclusion. For practice, prepare an SAFW response for each of your strengths. (This post describes the complete process.)

Eight: Ask Questions to Ensure You’re Accurately Assessed. Ask forced-choice questions if the interviewer is box-checking skills or seems headed in the wrong direction. These take the form of, “Is a background in (mention one of yours strengths likely relevant to the job) important for success in this position?” A more general one is, “What are some of the performance objectives of the position?” Then use an SAFW response to answer. Adding a hooked question at the end of your SAFW response can keep the conversation going in your direction. Hooks take the form of, “Does the example I provided seem consistent with what you need done?” Interviewers judge candidates as quite astute when they just ask job-related questions like these. They’re considered hirable when they answer them properly.

Nine: Find Out How Well You Did Before the Interview is Over. If it isn’t clear you’ll be invited back, force the person to give you some feedback. In this situation try something like, “It seems that my past accomplishments are quite relevant to what you need for this position. Do you believe my background is appropriate or are there other areas where you have some concerns?” Getting the interviewer to describe the gaps in your background allows you to disprove it, if possible. Of course, use an SAFW response for this.

Ten: Don’t Negotiate the Compensation Before You Know the Opportunity. Jobs can be modified and hard-and-fast compensation ranges can be expanded. I suggest to recruiters, hiring managers and candidates alike, that opportunities to have career discussions should not be filtered through the lens of negotiable items. These include compensation, location, job scope and titles. It’s worth taking less compensation for a great career move, and it’s worth it for a company to pay a bit more or adjust the scope of a job for a top person. None of this will happen if compensation enters the picture too soon. How to negotiate offers is too important a topic to leave to one paragraph, but the video described above and the book below cover it all. The big point: don’t make long-term career decisions emphasizing short-term factors.

If you’re under- or unemployed, these steps will help improve your odds. If you’re fully-employed, you need to ask yourself if your current job is moving you forward, or just maintaining your personal status quo. Regardless of where you are on the job-hunting spectrum, being prepared is the key to improving your odds. A word of caution though: these tips won’t help you get a job you don’t deserve, but they will help you get one you do.

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Lou Adler (@LouA) is the CEO of The Adler Group, a consulting and training firm helping companies implement Performance-based Hiring. He's also a regular columnist for Inc. Magazine and BusinessInsider. His latest book, The Essential Guide for Hiring & Getting Hired (Workbench, 2013), provides hands-on advice for job-seekers, hiring managers and recruiters on how to find the best job and hire the best people. You can continue the conversation on LinkedIn's Essential Guide for Hiring Discussion Group.

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