The Interview Playbook

How often do you stop to consider how valuable you are outside of work? How do you convey that to someone else? More so, how do you convey that to an employer? Naturally it would be through a resume but it's really how you tell the story to make your experience leap off the page. Through my almost 8 years of being a Recruiter I've always hunted for the best candidates with the best qualifications. The resume is never enough to get an offer from just submitting an application. It takes an interview, "The Story of Me", to sell someone's candidacy for the job. It is true that interviewing is an art, but there is a formula like a science behind it. Simply put the most prepared candidate wins the job regardless of what their resume looks like. Once you have the opportunity to interview you are on the same playing field as the other candidates. I still find myself many times sending candidates on interviews assuming "Their resume is good" or "They sounded great on the phone therefore they will get the job." However, I forget that with thorough preparedness they can actually leave the interviewers' satisfied and wanting that person for their job.

Whether you are in sales or something else interviewing is selling. I was fortunate enough to meet a colleague in the industry a few years ago and she shared with me the lengths she went to in making sure every candidate she sent out on an interview was a prepared as they could be. Taking a page out of her book I wanted to share tips you can follow in securing the job you are interviewing for.

The goal of the interview is to get a job offer. Interviewing is about charming and impressing them enough to say, "I want him or her on my team."

1. Every person you connect with in an interview counts and whether you make the right impression or the wrong impression builds or takes away from your candidacy. It's important to remember that people like to hire people they like. You have to find ways to connect with the person you are meeting with.
2. Most people are visual thinkers and without illustration you have to tell the story so well with details that they can see it, feel it, and understand it. In doing so you should prepare yourself with stories of situations you have been in. Explain the scenario and walk them through the thought process of how you analyzed the situation and what led you to the actions you took. Share the successful results it led to. Prior to the interview you should write down 3-4 strengths and spend 1-2 minutes talking this out. Any less than a minute leaves details out and anything more than 2 minutes you will lose your audience.
3. When writing your strengths and your situations the night before the interview you should practice speaking them out loud and timing yourself. You are investing in you and you cannot rely on your resume to give the whole story. The best person to tell anyone about themselves is YOU. You have to know and believe why you are so great and convey this to them. Show humility and confidence. Practice really makes perfect.
4. So many life's lessons can tie back to dating and interviewing is the same. Do your homework. Research the people you are meeting, know the company, their products, their recent successes, and so on. We live in a time where information is at your disposal. You can never be over-prepared so take the time to know your "date." Doing so shows interest and this is how you woo the person you are trying to attract.
5. Prepare yourself for the "Tell me about yourself" question. If you don't know your personal elevator speech you are more than likely to start with filler works like "Umm" and "Well." Right off the bat this sounds like you don't know yourself very well and that is not how you want to start. Practice this and keep it to 30 seconds. Make it as personal and about you as possible. Talking about your resume is where you will showcase the professional part of you.
6. Next is "Walk me through your resume." This is where you need to be most excited because you get to talk about you and how your background is a mutual fit for the employer. You start with where you graduated from and start to top line what you accomplished at each company. Tell them the skills you developed and then why you made a transition to the next company. This should stay within 3-4 minutes. Be sure to be mindful of your interviewer and make sure you have their attention and have not left anything unanswered.
7. If at any point you notice you're probably not giving the best answer you were hoping to deliver stop yourself. Let the interviewer know, "Hey I sense I'm not nailing this. I really want to give you the right answer. Could I start over?" This shows self awareness and more importantly the confidence to correct yourself rather than let it be. Employers will respect this and it will make you memorable.
8. Compensation does not have to be tricky. Let this be the least of your worries as your goal is to secure an offer. Should you be asked what are you looking for you should respond with something like, "I am looking for the right opportunity and company and sense this could be the right fit for both of us. I'm looking for long term growth and would entertain the entire compensation package." Keep it simple and don't spend too much time here. Should they nudge a little harder then share with them your current compensation but never inflate it as it could backfire.
9. Now you are getting close to the end of the interview and the employer is going to ask you what questions you have for them. You should have some good prepared questions to ask but before you do (as you continue to sell you) ask something along the lines of, "I do have questions but before I ask my questions I want to make sure you have what you need from me. I am really excited about this opportunity and don't want to leave anything unanswered and that you are sold on me. Is there anything I need to clarify about my experiences?" This reiterates your interest in them and allows you to close up any loose ends.
10. Your questions to them should show you are smart, strategic, invested and prepared. This is not the time to ask about benefits or anything that relates to your interests. Questions should be focused on the company, the people, the role, and the goals. Once you have an offer in hand you can address the benefits, hours, and so on.

Be sure to follow up with a personal thank you note to the interviewers. Email is perfectly acceptable.

Interviewing is the hardest part of the process but it's the one thing you can fully control by being prepared. Invest in you and practice. Know what you are going to say the night before, the morning of, and as you make your way to the interview. You will walk in confident and walk out just as confident.