How to flip the interview - Part 2: When to use your plan

Now that you have built your "Flip the Interview" plan - It's time to put it to work. If building the interview plan is the science of the interview, then how you use your plan is the art. The first mistake a few of my mentees have made is to barge into their first interview and explain they have a plan and want to share it. Take your time and make sure to present your plan with maximum impact and proper timing. To be specific, timing is everything. Here are few general tips before we get to the timing formula:

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1. Read the interviewer and put your plan in context - Give yourself enough time to read your interviewer. Seek to understand more about the position and state of the business to better put your plan in context. Remember, no matter how well built your interview plan is, you are still looking at this business from the outside - it's important to build rapport and establish credibility with your interviewer so they take your plan seriously.
2. Use your plan to ask great questions and make sure you understand the challenges you are taking on - In building your plan you have prepared to have an informed and robust conversation about the company, job, and the key strategies the company is undertaking. Use that preparation to ask great questions. Think about the second and third order effects of the strategy the business is undertaking - what are the collateral impacts to culture, growth, profitability, etc.?
3. You, company, product - My first mentor taught me a valuable lesson that I bring to every sales interaction - sell yourself first, your company second, and your product third. If you haven't adequately built rapport with your interviewer, presenting your plan too early can come off like a know-it-all (and no one likes a know-it-all). You want to interviewer to trust you and be curious. Once you have your interest, you can present your plan. Remember to sell you first, and your interview plan second. Most interviewers will be excited and impressed by your preparation and thought process. They've likely had very few interviews where the interviewee has come so prepared.

Sell yourself, your company, and your product in that order! ?

So when is the best time to present your plan? There is one point in the interview I have found the most success with: After you have navigated past the initial interview with HR/recruiting and you are in your initial interview with the hiring manager. As the interview is wrapping up you should do a few key things:

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1. Ask a killer question about a key strategy for the business and what challenges it is solving/creating for the business.
2. When the interviewer is done answering your question, let them know you put together a short, 5-slide business plan for how you would tackle the role.
3. Empathize with the interviewer that it can be difficult to see how people think and build strategy in short interview windows (because it is!!), so you built a plan to demonstrate your thinking.
4. Close, close, close - Make sure you close out the interview or next step. Sales leaders especially are looking for this. The most popular close I hear is, "One last question, is there anything you saw from our conversation that would preclude you from hiring me/advancing me to the next round." I think everyone in the last round of interviews asked me this exact question.

?I want to work for you and your company - so much so, that I built a five slide business plan on how I would tackle the challenge of the role.

BUT, you're different and in a stronger position because of the work you put in - your close can look something like this "I am really excited about the position and our conversation today. I want to work for you and company x - so much so, that I built a five slide business plan on how I would tackle the challenge of the role. I'll send it to you after the interview and I'd like 30 minutes to walk through it the next time we talk.” This is great as it secures the next conversation and gives you an extra advantage over the other candidates.

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That's it - a simple formula that has worked about 95% of the time. One fear I hear from interviewees is that if they share their plan, the company will take their information and just hire someone else. It's an irrational fear - I have never had this happen to me or with the people I have mentored. If anything, the company circulates your plan internally and you build some great reputational credibility before your start your job.

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One bonus/pro tip: If you're next interview is in person, make sure to print out your plan as a leave behind for each of the people you are interviewing with. I also try to get all the names of the people I am interviewing with so I can research them ahead of time and pre-write hand written thank you letters. Both the plan and thank you cards are excellent leave behinds and leave a great impression.

What are your thoughts on the best timing to introduce an interview plan?

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