Creating a WOW!-3 Part Series to a Successful Interview (Part 1)

Increase your odds when starting the interview process

Implement a three-part series to increase your chances through each step of the interview process. Three parts are:

1.          Phone Screen

2.          Face-to-Face interviews

3.          Final-Round interview

To be more successful than the average person is in landing in their next role, you need to do more than the rest. There is a process that you can follow to increase your chance for success through each round.

During my transitions I learned that a low percentage of job opportunities are found by submitting a resume and hoping for the call. Websites like Indeed, Monster, CareerBuilder, and other job sites have an easy way to ensure that the jobs come to you by outlining job search criteria. I can send you these emails daily, weekly, or whatever frequency so that you're not spending much time searching.

You can have more success in finding your next job opportunity with your network. I speak on this subject, and my upcoming book will talk about the successful system. There are a right way and a wrong way to network for your next opportunity. Do your research before you intentionally ruin chances related to your future role.

Throughout the interview process, continue to research and network within the company. Yes, this will separate you from the majority of the competition in the interviewing process.

The phone screen

You need to make sure that you prepare for the initial phone screen call. You would think most people would do this; however, no one does an in-depth background check on the company in order to be able to articulate the reasons you've selected the opportunity—and what you could bring to the potential position. If you effectively do your homework, you can have excellent dialogue and a higher chance of moving on to the next round.

Additionally, what people do not take into account is dressing up to look your best for a phone screen. Yes, you read that right, dressing up for a phone screen interview. I found in my military days that when you dressed up, you stood straighter, spoke with more confidence, and came across more positive—and the interviewer will be able to feel this. If you like to test this theory, contact a relative or neighbor when you first wake up, and you're still in your pajamas and not physically smiling. Then wait an hour after you've taken a shower and are dressed up; then call him/her with a smile. There will be a difference.

Finally, it's essential that you genuinely listen to the person on the other end. What I mean by this is all too often the feedback that I received from other hiring managers was that the person being interviewed was continuously interrupting mid-sentence. The phone screen is to see if you fit the essential requirements and meet the cultural criteria. If you were interviewing for a leadership position, as an example, leaders must understand and listen to the situation before asking questions or making decisions.

To respond clearly and concisely based on the questions you're asked, you should follow the SAR response process:

?           S: When they ask you a question, like “Tell me a time…,” you should respond of in a concise way with an example of a time and the situation.

?           A: Then the action that you took in this could be anywhere from 2 to 4 sentences long.

?           R: Finally, you finish with the results: This can be another 2 to 4 sentences based on real data.

For example, the question could tell me a time when you took significant action to improve the overall business. For example: When I entered the operation, the on-time delivery was struggling to achieve greater than 70% consistently, and I pulled the team together and reviewed the data. We were able to create a cause-and-effect diagram based on all the issues that caused the on-time delivery to achieve 98% or better. I split the team into three groups, and we started to work on the top three issues. In 12 weeks, we achieved the first 98% on-time delivery and consistently sustained 98%.

Once the interviewer/employer completes their questions, ask more in-depth questions.

At this stage, it is crucial that you have only 1 to 3 specific questions. The screening call ensures that 1) you meet the educational qualifications, 2) reinforces that you are within the budgetary range for the position and 3) you could be a cultural fit. These questions should be formulated based on the homework that you have done on the company. One of the last items I ask is "When you hired the ideal candidate and are doing the first-year review, what would be some of the great successes this person achieve?" The response to this question will enable you to follow up with a value proposition "one-pager" that we will go over later in the series.

Remember, never leave anything to chance. Always leave them with a WOW!

Next week Part II-Leave them with a WOW-Face to Face Interviews! If this helped please hit like and share with your network and help them as well.