What Me, Practice?

What Me, Practice?

By now, you have what you think is a natural style and way about you. You probably figure you can just wing it in an interview. Not so fast... Yesterday's interviews may have been only about you and not about them. Jobs were a more or less static thing and they were looking for a peg about the right circumference to fit their round hole. Alas, the world no longer works that way. There are many ways that organizations are dynamic and roles are constantly evolving. Consequently, today's interviews are a little different. Prospective employers are often looking for you to tell them how you can solve their challenges. They'd also like to see you have taken the time to get to know enough about them to enable you to show them they need what you have to offer. Or, it might be that together you and the people you are meeting with are discovering what it is you can do for them. If they aren't thinking that way when you walk in, your job is to make sure they are thinking that way when you walk out.

Enough about attitude, I said you need to practice. If you are going to do as well as you can, you need a plan. Talking points aren't just for politicians. Anyone who has a message to send can use three to five. What are the three to five key messages you want to get across in your interview? You need to compress the mountain of benefit they would receive if they hire you into just three to five simple ideas. Then you need to dream up some questions that you might use to launch your ideas in response to. There are, in fact, some formula-questions. They are questions that interviewers can't help asking, if only out of habit. "Tell me about yourself." "What are your strengths?" "What would your last employer say was an area where you could improve?"

I have a book of questions that people ask in interviews and you could probably pick up something similar. It's not really important which one you use. What's important is practicing the art of turning those questions into a means to instill one of your key messages. But have ready an example of how you used these skills in your work or personal life. Any question that is not looking for a specific piece of factual information can be adapted for your use. An interviewer might lob one of those softballs in the preceding paragraph and you can bat that one out of the park, or you may just have to turn one of those "behavioral questions" into your vehicle. "Tell me about a time when you used your problem-solving skills." Search your memory bank for a few real-life situations you went through to be ahead of the game. Being able to describe a specific case of how you have done just what they need done will convince them they need what you have to offer. If you're like me, those ideas don't turn up in the interview setting because your smooth, easy style tends to unravel a bit in the pressure of an interview. So, plan ahead and practice. You will enhance your chances of success and feel better about your effort to put your best foot forward. How you feel is as important to good delivery as what you say.