Change Your Tactics When Job Interviewing with an Executive

It was the fall of 1988.

Pretty sure it was a Tuesday.

I had just wrapped up and exhausting day of interviews, a lunch, and then more interviews with, what at the time was, Arthur Andersen Consulting in the process of changing its name to Andersen Consulting (which eventually again changed its name to Accenture).

If I’d have known the company was having such an identity crisis, I might have taken a job somewhere else. Ha ha.

Anyhoot, it was time for me to head into “the closer’s” office.

Neil D. was waiting for me. A prestigious looking fellow.

I knew after the day I just had, he was going to make me an offer.

I’m pretty sure I won the job at lunchtime.

The nice staff woman and her interviewing buddy (a senior staff person) had taken me to Avanzare’s.

She ordered fettucine.

When the dish came, she wondered why her noodles were black.

I, someone who’s had an Italian dish or 400,000, told her not to worry.

That’s only the dye from the squid. Unless, of course, they used Cuddlefish, which I doubted. Either way, she could dive right in and fear not.

She smiled. It was a turning point.

(Now I’m hungry.)

Where was I?

Oh. Neil.

He looked at me and said, “Andy, this year I’m gonna make a lot of money.”

He then proceeded to tell me the exact amount.

The fact he told me surprised me. The amount he told me surprised me too.

But, what the hey, he looked and sounded rich. I guess that’s what some rich people do.

He continued, “Everyone loved you today. I’d like to offer you a job.”

I asked, “That’s it? No questions for me?”

I continued, “Are we just gonna negotiate then?”

He said, “But, you don’t know what I’m offering yet.”

I said, “It doesn’t matter. I won’t be able to live myself if I don’t negotiate.”

He laughed and then said, “Oh. Now I see what they meant.”

I’m sure he’d already gotten some kind of dossier on me from the other 19 people I met.

We did, in fact, negotiate. He seemed to let me win.

Turns out, all worked out just fine for the next 10 years of my professional life.

Maybe you have an interview coming up with a senior person like Neil.

But, what if it’s a true I’m-gonna-grill-you type interview? Not the cushy back-and-forth I had?

The good ol’ storytelling tactics you typically use to explain your projects, what you do, and how you do it won’t be enough.

You need to take a different approach, which, good news, I’m serving up today…

OTHER COOL STUFF!

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Enjoy this week’s video, digest, and I hope to see you Thursday!

Andy

…put people first, results second.

88 words on me: I’m a world-leading career and leadership coach and award-winning author of three books, including Interview Intervention (grab free-ish) and The Hiring Prophecies. During this most-recent act of my career, I’ve successfully helped more than 60,000 members of my programs across 100 countries thrive in their careers. I know there are millions more who’ve also benefited from my freemiums.