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Think Like an Employer!

By Steve Gallison CPRW GCDF CFJTC CIIS

Wow! You were successful in getting through the intellectual exercise of a fellow subject matter expert and in all likelihood the person who may be your next boss. You were reviewed, measured and compared to literally hundreds of others job seekers hoping to make the cut. Many were called, only one will be chosen. You must realize that the selection process is almost always an intellectual effort with a decision to interview 3-5 candidates.

The next step will be to probe your background face to face by means of an interview. The interview process requires thorough preparation. You've spent hours finding and researching an employer whom you believe is the best fit for your skills, experience, education, knowledge, and abilities. You believe you could fit into their organization without a problem. You have created a terrific resume that clearly matches your background to the position you are seeking. Your marketing documents are effective and the interview is proof positive the documents you prepared are winners. You created a classic one page cover letter that is “catchy” and businesslike. Your hard work in attempting to catch someone's attention has paid off. You have now secured an interview.

You receive that long awaited phone call or email. You even remembered to ask the person calling “with whom will I be interviewing” and gathered information about their job title(s). With a huge grin on your face you are now aware that much of the marketing effort is behind you and the ÒsalesÓ phase of your Job Acquisition Strategy is now in your not too distant future. The job is now yours to lose. As you sit facing your computer you begin to gather the “411” on those you'll be sitting down with in a few days. Now it is time to “Think Like An Employer.”

Not Your First Rodeo?

For an overwhelming number of people in the labor market today, this is not your first job. You may have 5-10 years or more of experience accomplishing this type of work for one or several employers. Perhaps you have even hired people with similar skills to yours. You have an extreme familiarity with the skill, knowledge and experience requirements of this position. Yet, you have butterflies about attending an interview that basically is a discussion between you and one or more professionals who have the same basic experiential background. It is only natural to have a bit of anticipatory anxiety. But you need to think about the reality of the situation. The reality isÉ you are a subject matter expert in your field at a specific level. The employer that was attracted to you has a need for someone with your set of skills and experience to accomplish a unit of work necessary to maintain their business at a productive level. You are one of the applicants whom the employer hopes can fulfill the elements of the position. In order to find a new employee, the employer is willing to sacrifice some of her productive time in hopes of finding an employee who can productively carry this load and fit in with the other employees and the company’s culture.

Preparing for an Interview

Many candidates spend more time selecting their interview clothing than preparing to answer the questions they anticipate being asked in the interview. Here is a method that will prepare you to handle many questions that an employer may ask. Think like an employer, then prepare the “Dependable Dozen” questions that you would ask a candidate if you were hiring for this position. Before you say I can’t do this, remember that you are a subject matter expert at a particular job and have intimate knowledge and experience in doing that job on a daily basis. You have spent time researching the employer so that you could send them a targeted resume and now must create a series of questions using deductive logic based on your knowledge, experience and skills. The “Dependable Dozen” questions will form the backbone of the interview. After the interview you’ll be surprised how much you and the employer think alike.

The next step is to write a response in a script format to each question that fully answers the question and you, being a subject matter expert, always know the correct answers. It is important to write these questions and answer each one in a conversational script. Review these 12 questions and their answers and you will have a “Dependable Dozen” that will work with virtually any employer who is hiring a person with your particular skills experience, education and knowledge.

But First - The Hardest Question in the Interview

It isn’t a skill question! It isn’t a knowledge question! It isn’t an education question! It is a question about you! It is generally the toughest question in the interview. The question isÉ “tell me about yourself?” This question sets the tone of the interview and if well thought out, provides a prospective employer with an insight on how you process and express information.

Respect the Employer’s Time

Over the years of talking to employers about interviews, they report that this is a fairly standard question used to get the interview “ball rolling” and the question provides insight as to how a candidate thinks. Employers report that responses vary from… “like what type of things do you want to know?” to “well, there really isn’t too much to tell.” Employers even have candidates tell them about their weekends of “going out and hitting the bars to blow off steam.” If you were an employer, how would you react to hearing this information? Still other employers report that many start out with their education and employers even report that candidates start out with where they were born and provide a progression of their education through their work history. Employers are hoping you have the good sense to tell a meaningful brief story.

Answering the “Tell Me About Yourself?” Question.

If you were the employer conducting the interview, how would you like the candidate to answer this question? You need to answer the question that allows the employer to see that you are direct and informative and can relate the question to what the employer wants the successful candidate to accomplish. Respect the employer’s time in all likelihood the employer may want to check their email between interviews and starting with your birth is too time consuming and most uninteresting. Candidates should clearly relate what they have done for their previous employer always relating those activities to what you’ve identified as to what the prospective employer is seeking.

Go back four to five years making sure you highlight your achievements. Next provide some brief details of your education as it is related to the position and any professional development programs you have recently attended. After about a two-minute introduction ask a well thought out question that shows your interest in the employer’s needs. This question is also designed to turn the interview towards the job to be accomplished. The questions could be… “what type of projects would you see me being assigned to?” or “what would you want me to accomplish within the first six months of working on your team?” The effort from the outset of the interview is to start collecting concrete information in order for you to begin relating your skills throughout the interview, the sooner the employer begins talking about job specifics the better you will be able to relate to the position. Clients who have used this approach report employers are impressed and provide detailed information about their intended assignments. The interviews start taking on the tone of a meeting rather than a formal interview.

Have you ever said something that you wanted to instantly retract?

We all misspeak. We speak without thinking the thought through completely or it gets jumbled coming out of the Wernicke/Broca areas of the brain. When we do this with friends, we laugh it off or are able to describe just what we were thinking at the time. In an interview, you don’t often get a second chance to make a good impression. The employer is meeting you for the very first time and is judging you on how well you respond to a series of questions. You have to “talk the talk” before you get the opportunity to “walk the walk” with an employer. Preparation is vital. I suggest that you sit, think and write down the “Dependable Dozen” questions as if you were hiring for this position, then write answers in the form of scripts and read through your responses several times, editing as needed. You will be pleased with the polished responses you will create. Pre-thinking interview questions and crafting responses will allow you to sound professional, prepared and well versed in your particular field. Interviews should not be a major source of anxiety. Interviews are joyous occasions, reframe the interview to an employment meeting and you’ll become more comfortable with this important event, and after all you’ve attended many, many more meetings than interviews. Be comfortable in knowing the interviewer wants you to be gloriously successful, so that they have an easy hiring decision.

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