Advice for Candidates on an Interview

The following article was written by Ken Adkins, President of Adkins Associates and fellow Pinnacle Society member. Ken's firm specializes in permanent placement in the Fashion Industry. Excerpted from http://www.adkinsassociates.com.

An interview is a short window of opportunity in which you make a vivid impression. Unfortunately, most people don't have any idea how to do that. Worse, they have picked up very bad advice from people who think they know, but who really have no extensive interview experience to truly tell what approach is effective.

Having been in executive search for over 25 years, having conducted thousands of interviews, and most importantly, having de-briefed thousands of people from both sides of the desk after the interview, I have arrived at some strong opinions about how anyone can dramatically improve their interviews.

This approach is based on a few simple, basic principals:

1. Always tell the truth.
2. Be ready to state your beliefs, opinions and values very strongly.
3. Prepare! Prepare! Prepare!

Before you go on an interview, define your goals and objectives. What do you want to get from this meeting? I would suggest that there are three prime objectives anyone should have at the top of their list:

1. You should go to get to know these people. What would it be like to work for them everyday? What is their level of competence in running this business? Is this the best place to spend the next several years, or more, of your career? Is this a place that will allow you the chance to optimize the career growth you want? Obviously, you must have a good feel for those answers before you accept any offer.
2. Just as importantly, you must go as an "open book" to let them get to know you, your values, beliefs, and opinions. The company must have a good idea of those things before they will feel comfortable in extending an offer. Don't be afraid to say what you think. If philosophical differences appear, it's better we find it out now rather than after you've gone to work and it's too late! You must be able to let them see the "real you". Many people go on interviews so uptight and spit polished there's no chance to see the real person under all that pretension. The interviewer however, will see through any pretense. You must make sure the "real you" shines through like a beacon.
3. Got to get an offer!!! You can't turn anything down until you get an offer!!!

Without question their decision to offer you a job will be based on the intangible qualities of CHARACTER, ATTITUDE, MOTIVATION and VALUES. This is always true, although if they turn you down the reason they always give is some technical shortcoming (not enough of this, too much of that). Trust me, however, it's never technical; it's always the intangible qualities. The fact that they have agreed to interview you is acknowledgement that they feel pretty sure you have the prerequisite experience and skills to do the job.

How do we achieve the above objectives? PREPARATION!

An interview is a meeting. Whatever kind of meetings you've been to in the past, I'm absolutely sure you did much better, you obtained your objective, you got what you needed if you were PREPARED!

In my experience most people don't prepare for an interview. I know this for a fact because many people come to interview with me and when I ask them basic questions they should easily answer they give very weak, unorganized responses. However, the next morning every one of them will call back and have a great answer. The reason is they thought about it overnight. As a headhunter, I give my candidates a second chance, but a company will not!

In every interview there is discussion of the candidates background. My favorite questions in this area are; "What was your number one success story while you were in that job"? Followed closely by; " How can you quantify the benefit the company derived from what you did"?

By far, the most common mistake people make, in writing their resume, in describing their job, or describing their success stories to a listener, is no information given to define the company, product or service, process or volume. Without that data the hiring official does not know if the place you worked was you and your brother-in-law working in a garage or a billion dollar company. Obviously, they can't assess your capability in their company without knowing that information.

I believe there is a huge amount of bad advice out there about writing a resume.

It seems from the resumes I receive people believe the fuzzier the wordage, the more grandiose the flowery summary statements, the more basic facts are hidden or left out all together, the more likely the company will fail to notice the candidate has no relevant background! Nothing could be further from the truth. What this actually does is mask the things that possibly could have worked for the candidate. In dealing with thousands of senior executives all over the globe, without exception, they tell me they totally ignore summary statements, objectives, self-written paragraphs about the candidates' wonderful analytical skills, boundless energy and brilliant leadership skills. Hiring officials make decisions to interview and hire on three kinds of data; clearly laid out past achievements, verification of those past achievements from references, and most importantly, the discovering and identifying through the personal interviews of the candidate that he or she has the character, attitude, motivation and values necessary to have an outstanding, successful tenure in this job and in this organization.

That's it! Anything that gets in front of, or dilutes that message is negative and counterproductive.

The way the hiring official learns about your past achievements is through your verbal presentation of success stories in the interview. Don't think the resume will do it for you. The Headhunter got you the interview. The resume was one of the tools, although not the most important one that helped him or her achieve that, but now that you have an interview your resume has done all that it can for you. As I said before, you have a short window of time to make a vivid impression!

Telling good success stories is one of the best ways to validate your work experience and showcase your character, attitude, motivation and values. Most people I work with are not prepared to tell their success stories effectively. A good success story takes three or four minutes to be told well. It has a before and after structure. Every story starts with problems and never just one. There may be one main problem but there are always underlying and tangential problems. First you tell what all the problems were. Be sure and quantify the numbers under the bad conditions. Never exaggerate but be sure you get in all the negatives. Then explain your study and analysis of the problems. Explain what conclusions you came to and how you began to implement them. Be sure and give credit to others who helped because none of us accomplish anything alone. Also explain what you tried that didn't work. I certainly don't fix all my problems on the first try and I doubt you do. Then you get to the changes that began to occur. Be sure and quantify the good numbers achieved contrasting them with the old numbers. If you can't quantify a success story it will probably make little impact on the interviewer.

Obviously, you must spend some time a couple of days before the interview thinking and remembering your actions and achievements in the recent past. In an interview you will not get to tell every story, or explain every job. Therefore, you take the most important, best and most recent job and success story and tell that. In many interviews the candidate only gets to tell one story but if it's a good one told well that's enough. Remember, the most important reason for telling success stories is that it is a chance to demonstrate those intangibles that are ultimately most important. Demonstrating you values, philosophy, problem solving and leadership skills is the most important message that comes out of those stories.

In the days before the interview think about how you might answer the following type questions:

How would you describe your leadership skills and tell a story that demonstrates it.

How would you describe your analytical skills and tell a story that demonstrates it.

If someone goes on an interview, however, and all they get to talk about is his or her past history I bet they will not get an offer. Because, the company is only interested in the candidates past to a point, what they are far more interested in is what the candidate can do to help the company solve its problems today. Trust me, the company has a problem or they wouldn't be interviewing. In many cases the company has already been fairly well convinced that the candidate has the background skills and experience for the position by the Head Hunter and his presentation of their resume and references.

When the candidate gets to talk about the companies' problems and how they can apply their skills, leadership, values and motivation (those intangibles I mentioned earlier), to solving problems they go a long way toward giving the hiring official the confidence that the candidate can be an outstanding contributor and can solve the problems.

I want to share with you two wonderful strategies to use in the area of discussing the companies problems and how you can be a part of the solution.

First, be prepared to ask good tough questions!

The better, tougher questions you ask, the more they respect you. You must develop your questions ahead of time. Make a list of a dozen or more great questions about their operation, problems, goals, plans, shortcomings, philosophy, failed attempts and market dynamics. Don't be afraid to ask questions about their problems. Trust me, they love that. They have problems or they would not be interviewing you. Their fondest hope is that you are the solution.

After you've made the list, memorize it. Throw it away before you go in the door. Never take notes into an interview nor make notes while you're there! There should never be any barrier between you and the interviewer.

The questions can sometimes be used as a way to introduce a topic into the conversation that you want to make sure gets discussed. They can be a lead in to your success story, or a way to demonstrate one of your intangible qualities.

The Second strategy is called the strategy of the keys!

I have learned in my years in executive search that in the mind of every hiring official there are a few key things the person hired must be able to accomplish to be the success needed.

Here's how you use that: After you've been talking for a while, look the interviewer in the eye and ask this question:

"If you decide to hire me in this position, what are the key things I will have to accomplish for you to be the success you need me to be?"

The interviewer will think for a minute and then say: "Well, you have to do......."

In my experience the most common number of keys they come up with is two. They almost never come up with more than four.

But, whatever the interviewer says, you take each key named, and you explain two things about each key:

First, you tell them your experience.

Second, you tell them your philosophy.

The experience statement should be just one overview sentence stating your direct experience with that subject. (where, and how long).

The philosophy statement should be one short explanation of what you truly believe would make this key happen consistently and successfully.

After you have done the above, you have done the most powerful thing anyone can do in an interview; you have looked them in the eye, and told them from the horses' mouth why you can do their job. When you think about it, everyone who ever goes on an interview should do that but in my experience almost no one ever does. You must realize you are the only person who can convincingly deliver this message. The Head Hunter has done their job by getting you the interview; you have to close the sale.

I have come to realize that in every search there are only three things the successful candidate must have to receive an offer from the company. I frequently receive multi-page position descriptions from my clients and I have certainly written many hundreds on behalf of my clients, but there are only three things the candidate must have for the company to extend an offer.

FIRST: there is the question; "Is this person technically qualified to do this job?"

Obviously, there are a full subset of questions that define that issue, however, in my experience in our search firm, if my client company decides to interview my candidate, virtually 100% of the time the candidate has the appropriate technical qualifications and skills to do the job. If you get and interview with a company, they have been pretty well convinced that you have the skills or they would not schedule an interview.

SECOND: (This is the most important question of all).

"Does this person really want to do this job?

More people are offered the job or not because of this issue than any other single factor.

First of all, if you're not sure you want this job, don't go on the interview. I believe everyone should set their goals in life to do what they really want to do.

If you do really want this job you must be very strong in getting that message across to the company. There are dozens of indirect ways to pass that message through; your enthusiasm, your questions, your paying attention etc.

There's also one direct way: look them in the eye and tell them you're very interested.

Most all of the candidates I work with are senior executives who have hired many people. They all tell me of stories in which they interviewed multiple candidates for a job and ended up hiring one whose experience was perhaps not quite as impressive but whose enthusiasm said: "Just give me a chance to show you and you'll never be sorry."

They always hire that person. I bet you always hire that person. I assure you I always hire that person.

THIRD: Chemistry.

As soon as I got in the search business I began hearing employers and candidates talk about "chemistry", particularly as it related to "chemistry in an interview". Pretty soon I realized I had to find out what this "chemistry" was because it was surely going to affect my business.

I began to study the subject of chemistry in an interview. I learned what "interview chemistry" was by debriefing hundreds of candidates and interviewers.

Here's what I learned:

Chemistry is nothing more than communication!

Chemistry is two people talking and understanding each other. It is not your power tie, or where you went to school or your accent. As a good ole' southern boy I've found that I have great chemistry with lots of my clients who speak very strangely, from weird places like New York City! The most amazing thing of all is that they think I have an accent! Oh well, the real point is two people can have wonderfully stimulating conversations and great exchanges of ideas, but, only if they hear each other.

You must be a good listener!

If you don't listen, you have about zero odds of responding to anything said, intelligently.

One of the most important lessons I learned was that an interview is one of the most common times for people not to listen. What happens all too frequently is that a person does no pre-interview preparation except for a fair amount of unproductive anxiety.

Then they arrive at the interview and suddenly realize they have to start talking in a few minutes and sound like they have good sense. So, immediately they tune out the interviewer, so they can think of something brilliant to say when the interviewer shuts up and lets them talk. A classic situation for the candidate to give a dumb answer, "hem and haw" when asked a question, not remember how to explain why they were successful in their last job, or let the opportunity slip to get across the information necessary to validate all those intangibles I mentioned.

However, when you are prepared, you can relax and focus on the interviewer like a laser!

You can hang on every word. You already have great things to say because you thought about them beforehand. Because you're prepared, you already have great things ready to say that's just sitting in your mental hip pocket ready to pop out when the subject or opportunity enters the conversation.

In the best interviews the conversation goes back and forth like a tennis match. Remember that the things you prepared to talk about are the very things the interviewer wants to learn about you. Be prepared to help out the interviewer by being pro-active in the conversation and guiding the topics around to those subjects if the interviewer does not bring them up.

There are a few questions that seem to come up over and over in most interviews and lots of people are concerned about how to answer them. The first and most important advice is to always tell the truth. You'll never go wrong by doing that.

"Why did you leave your last (some) job?"

I'm not going to tell you the answer but I will tell you how to structure the answer by following three rules:

1. Always tell the truth and be open.
2. Be positive.
3. Be brief.

The most important is "brief." No one ever got a job talking about why they left another one. So, develop your answer and don't be apologetic or embarrassed. However, state clearly and positively in a few short sentences the reason you're no longer there, and then shut up! Also, be prepared for a follow up question. Answer those forthrightly, then shut up! This is one of those areas that the more you stir it, the more it stinks, no matter what happened.

"What salary do you expect to receive?

This one certainly can be tricky. The problem is you don't know how much money it will take and you will not know for sure until you go through the process. I'm sure there are a lot of factors that will come into your decision and most of them are not about the first paycheck you receive, but are more about your career ambitions and where you can spend the next several years that will give you the best chance to realize your career ambitions. But, how do you answer this question? One thing I've learned in the search business is "the better you do in the interview, the better you do in the money." So, that's one more reason to follow my advice.

When asked; "What salary do you want?" If you give any numerical answer it will automatically be the wrong one. You'll be too high and blow the deal or too low and leave money on the table.

My advice: Give no numerical answer, but state your general career goals. That's probably your most honest answer, anyway. That works about 80% of the time. But, if they come back and push for a specific answer it is ok to give the amount of your current or last salary. That number is a fact and they probably already know or can find out.

You can say: My last salary was______. I would like to get an increase above that, or something to that effect.

"Why are you interested in our job?"

In my experience most people get this one wrong. I always ask this question of my candidates and unless they can give me a very satisfactory answer I will not present them to my client!

Some of the common wrong answers I hear:

" My Grandmother, (Parent etc.) lives near by and they're getting old and need me closer."

"I always wanted to live in that city."

"I'm out of work and need a job."

"I need to make more money."

"I don't want to be commuting (traveling) as much."

All those and many other answers are wrong! There is only one correct answer to that question:

"That is the job I want to do!"

If you think about it from the interviewers' perspective he cares nothing for your grandmother, unemployment, commute, cash flow shortage or city of choice. He or She is going through this exercise for one reason only; they have a problem that must be solved and you are hopefully the solution to that problem. Nothing else matters to them and it shouldn't.

What should I wear?

There seems to be more confusion today than ever before since so many companies are espousing casual dress in the work place, not only on Friday, but all the time.

However there is one simple rule to follow, regardless of the companies dress code, or even if the company tells you to dress casual on the interview:

Always wear you best conservative business outfit (suit).

You want to be making the statement; "This is a serious and important occasion in my life and I went to the trouble to groom carefully and put my best business foot forward." You are now forewarned and forearmed. I expect you to go forth and conquer!

Everyone has a natural level of performance they achieve in interviews, but it is definitely my experience that most people, regardless of where they might fall on the scale between awful and fabulous in interviews can make a tremendous leap forward by following the suggestions contained in this article.

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