When Is a Job Interview Not a Job Interview?

(When you transform it into a networking opportunity...)

If you are fortunate enough to find yourself scheduled for a job interview, this week's prescription is to take a different approach and a different attitude towards that important meeting.

What if you could completely change the way you approach a job interview? What if you could shift the entire paradigm?

Instead of feeling like you’re running a gauntlet, or sweating under the scrutiny of an interviewer who has your fate in their hands, what if you felt relaxed, engaged, and on an equal footing?

What if you reframed your job interview as a networking opportunity?

The purpose of the job interview shouldn’t be simply to get an offer. In mid-career you’re too experienced to add the wrong job to your resume. Accepting the wrong job will be a lot more damaging today than it was in your 20s or 30s.

You want to be interviewing them as much or more than they are interviewing you.

So if the job interview is about ‘fit” from both sides, then what you’re really trying to do is see if the interviewer is aligned with your professional outlook and values. If they are, regardless of whether they offer you the job or not, you’ve made a friend who is likely able to help you down the line.

Your job interview is different in mid-career. You’re not a supplicant appealing for recognition and approval (and a job). Instead, you are (and should act like) a peer. You’re a co-equal participant in a negotiated conversation about whether or not this opportunity is of mutual interest and benefit to both of you.

In my book, Boomer Reinvention, I profile an operations exec. who lost his position as COO of a manufacturing company and spent nearly a year interviewing for operations positions without receiving an offer.

To handle the frustration and the mounting sense of futility that he was experiencing, he made a radical decision. Instead of pinning his hopes on each job interview, he decided to leave his hopes and expectations at the door. He approached each interview as if he were a consultant looking to help the company identify or address a key problem or strategic issue.

In his subsequent interviews, he channeled the interviewers' questions into probing but helpful questions of his own about the companies’ practices, challenges, and opportunities. He then offered suggestions and best practices to address these issues.

With this consultative “servant leader” approach, his goal was to propose at least one viable and appropriate solution that each company had not previously considered. As a result, he left his interviews feeling like he had made a constructive contribution. Regardless of whether they made him an offer or not, he knew that he had presented his “best self” in that interview and made a lasting impression.

He was making friends and growing his network.

The effect was immediate and electric. His interviews became more strategic and reflective of his deep background and experience as a COO.

Soon after adopting this approach, he got a call from someone who had previously turned him down for a job. This man referred him to a private equity firm looking for a seasoned operations executive to help them rescue a manufacturing company similar to the one he had once run. This opportunity led to a successful consulting engagement and opened his eyes to opportunities he had not previously considered.

As a result, he decided to network his way to more investment professionals and eventually partnered with an investor group to buy and run a manufacturing company - one that he still runs to this day.

Here are a few tips to turn the tables on your job interview, make it about building professional relationships, and opening yourself up to unexpected opportunities:

Turn the interview into a conversation.

All interviews follow a familiar format. Your goal is to shift the power dynamic. Let the interviewer start with their prepared questions, but then use your answers to engage them in a back-and-forth conversation. Ask questions. Go deeper. Bring up related topics. Use your answers as springboards to cover what you want to talk about.

Prepare your own agenda.

Do more than simply pose a few typical questions about the company or the role. Ask open-ended questions about the company and the industry that push the interviewer into longer and more detailed responses. This will push their pre-ordained interview routine into the background and loosen up the exchange. This will further equalize the conversation. The interviewer may actually find the experience (and you) more refreshing than they expected.

Use your thought leadership topics.

If you’re familiar with my 3 Elements framework, I advocate for you to stand up for what you stand for through a narrowly defined and curated set of topics in your field. If you’ve established your thought leadership activities (e.g. posting on LinkedIn or your blog, participating in an industry groups or conferences, etc.), use those topics in your interview by relating them to the goals or responsibilities of the job position and/or the company’s mission.

Identify areas of mutual professional interest.

Look for an opportunity to find common ground around trends in your field or important values. This will come in handy as an expression of why you should continue to remain in contact regardless of what happens with the job.

If you establish alignment on personal and professional goals, and your mutual vision for the future of your industry, this can become another bonding moment that can lead to further engagement beyond the interview.

If the job's not right, tell them.

You’ll get points for turning down the job in the interview. Don’t wait for them to bring it up in the room or on the call. By removing yourself from consideration, you can open up the conversation to what you’re actually looking for. In some cases, the interviewer may reveal that a position may be opening up that’s more aligned with your goals. If you’re meeting with a recruiter, remember that they have a network! Now that they have a clearer understanding of who you are and what you want, they may be able to steer you towards other positions they’re aware of - or to other recruiters who may be helpful.

It’s time for you to feel more confident and empowered in your job interviews. You’re an established professional. You don’t need to prove yourself to anyone. Your background speaks for itself.

Start by expressing a clear and specific value proposition on your LinkedIn profile (including your Headline, About, and Experience sections). This is the icebreaker that you can use to build rapport with your interviewer and drive the conversation.

You’ll be setting yourself up to feel and act more empowered and more confident.

???Recent Headlines That Caught My Eye

LinkedIn Quietly Pulls Ageist Ads After Months Of Backlash (Forbes)

A little good news from the barricades. I don’t know if you were part of this, but a bunch of us have been pestering LI marketing peeps about this for months. You’d think that a platform designed to reach senior leaders would be sensitive to their age and think twice about targeting older people as clueless or the butt of jokes. Whoops. And no mention, no acknowledgment… Corporate fecklessness at its best!

If you've been laid off or fired, here's what you should tell employers in your next job interview (Business Insider)

From what I see on LinkedIn and the resumes that people send me, many of us are sleepwalking through the job search process. We’re blindly following outdated precepts, including referring to ourselves in the 3rd person and making our documents too formal and impersonal. Imagine you’re reading 50 resumes a day. Now try to make yours stand out from the crowd!

?? On My Nightstand...

April's Book Recommendation

The Good News & The Bad News About Being a Generalist

If you are tired of being told that your experience doesn't matter and that you don't have "up-to-date" skills (or you're worried about that...), David Epstein?makes a great case for why generalists rule the world (or should).?

But in today's job market, your skills and solution-based approach will get you the job - NOT the great range of your experience.

However, once you have the job, being a generalist will ensure your success...

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Don't fight forces.

Use them

- Buckminster Fuller

Have You Joined the Mid-Career Lab?

• A Network will stand by and watch you fail.?
• A Community will pitch in and help you succeed.

If you're in or contemplating a transition in mid-career, you may have noticed it's not the same as it was in your 20s or your 30s.

I started the Mid-Career Lab to give you and others going through the same experience the opportunity to meet, bond, and support one another.

A great way to get started in the MCL is to join our monthly "office hours" calls.

We've been running them since last September (you've seen the announcements).

And by holding them as part of the community, people can follow up with one another in between calls.

Coming Up May 9th!

Monthly "Office Hours" Q&A Community Call on Zoom

Join me on the call to meet, support, and connect with others in (or thinking about)?job change?&?career growth.

Register Here