Four Tips to Get Any Job – AND Enjoy the Interview
I created this post from one of my answers during this past Friday’s first ever Live Q&A. Thanks to the approximately 800 of you who made it to ustream after our KF server crashed. I really enjoyed the rapid-fire interactive chat environment – and all your comments about the size of my morning coffee. 
Now, onto my four tips for job interviewees.
- Make them like you. My number one advice: Make sure that by the time you leave the room, you’ve found a way to make the person like you. That's it: MAKE THEM LIKE YOU. Two arms, two legs and an MBA, being all fancy and important, are not going to get you there. Make that personal connection. Build instant intimacy.
- Find a reason to care about the person. Do your homework in advance, understand their passions, and draw out the stories of their life that make them human. When you connect with them, and start to like them, they’ll start to like you, and care about you.
- Show them your passion! Specifically, your passion for the job you’re interviewing for. Passion and charisma go a long way.
- Tell stories. Don’t rely on stats and figures to make your case. Tell stories of how you’ve changed lives for former bosses and companies. This is what my friend Peter Guber calls "emotional transportation" and it works. Take them on your journey!
Hope to see you all on December’s Q&A – we’ll announce the date here soon. In the meantime, have a wonderful Thanksgiving. On Thursday, we’ll be posting FG’s annual Thanksgiving Card on the blog, along with a great guest post on multi-tasking later in the day – stop by and check it out!
What's worked for you on job interviews?
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Keith Ferrazzi is an expert on relationship development, a world-renowned speaker and the #1 New York Times Bestselling author of Never Eat Alone and Who's Got Your Back.-
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Could you have all this in an "elevator pitch"?
I don't know why, but smth interesting happens during last two weeks. First, i've found Your book "Never eat alone". Second, Deloitte started hiring students in Russia. Third, You are writing this post about how to get a job. I am studying technical sciences in my institute, but then more i live, then more clear i can see how more interesting for me world of business.
It's become realy good time to start innovation business in Russia for young person.
Thank You so much for you books and website. Would be unbelievable to visit Your seminars in Russia. I am looking forward to see such interesting person in real.
If You'll need any information about Russia please fill free to ask. Different social views are very effective i think.
Yours faithfully,
Evgeniy Svyatenko.
Keith,
Being a recruiter for over 34 years I have found that people have always looked for the "one true secret" that will land them the position that they are after. Believe me when I say this that magic secret does not exist. Connection, preparation and genuine sincerity on the part of the one being interviewed is the primary motivation in being hired.
But there is one thing that I have found that works almost every time. We all speak about making a good first impression, but I firmly believe in the concept of leaving a good "last impression."
When you reach the point of the face to face interview you are qualified for the position, or you wouldn't be there. But, the problem is, all of the other candidates are also equally qualified. In other words, each one of you can do the job, the company is looking for the one who connects the best within their organization.
How do you leave a good "last impression?" Make certain that your goodbye is just as warm and friendly as your hello. Everything that you do up to that point will tell the interviewer whether or not you are interested in the position. We walk in prepared. We have a strong resume. We have our "brag book" of accomplishments, but if we don't connect with the interviewer then all of this preparation is worthless. Note their surroundings, their office, pictures on the desk, hobbies they are involved in. Interviewing is nothing more than speeding up a friendship. It may take years to establish a friendship, but in an interview you have a short window of opportunity to make that impression.
But remember, the interviewer is having just as much trouble trying to connect with you as you are with them. That's why it is important to make certain that at the end of the interview you leave a good "last impression" with them. The "last impression" may consist of a warm and geniune "close" or a show of sincerity on your part. A simple, "I want you to know that I am genuinely excited about this opportunity. I believe that you and I would work very well together. May we schedule another meeting before I leave for one day next week?" That might be the easiest sentence you could state in getting the offer.
There is no "magic trick" out there in securing a position. It takes Preparation, Connection, and persistent work on your part. Stay with it. Your next position may be just around the next corner.
Gary Stewart
gary.stewart@charter.net
Keith,
I have to agree with Gary that there is no simple formula. I've been to about 15 interviews in the last year, and every single time I've left feeling that I'd connected with the hiring manager. And even though I've been one of the three or four finalists, I've still never gotten the job.
In about half of these situations, the hiring managers have been 15-20 years younger than I am. And I have not seen anything written anywhere about how to overcome that gap. My computer skills are better than people half my age. I have a great resume, and in all of my jobs I've had excellent relationships with the kids just out of school. In fact, they still call me when they have problems on the job. But no one, it seems, wants to hire their mom.
Nadine Bonner
http://www.nadinebonner.com
great tips, not just for job interviews but for everyday life also!
In an age of technology and technocracy "logic" is supposed to rule the head, not emotional connections as to if someone will fit into the tribe!
We are supposed to be above and beyond tribalism. We say that our nation is democratic and that people are fair with one another, yet, many employers fear hiring the mature, and/or non-Caucasian.
The present day hiring practices are a severe hinderance to social and economic growth which play directly into the hands of foreigners and newly minted citizens that have no love or loyalty to company traditions and manifestos.
In all fairness employers should be hiring job seekers based on education, training, readiness and right away! That's It!
Keith i think these are all great points, I tend to agree that this alone won’t get you there and a good mix of experience, education and knowledge is a key criteria.
But... I believe if those 3 elements are strong combined with your advice on the 'soft' elements you create a very unique and competent individual. I think it also really depends on the organizations culture.
In your book I remember you talking about the Johari Window. From an interview and organization perspective I think individuals don’t spend enough time understanding the culture and “their fit”. I am looking at the option of moving organizations in the near future and I am already trying to find individuals in the organizations to see if I fit culturally (but that’s just my personal perspective).
Thanks for these important comments - YES, of course, skills/training/education NEED TO COME FIRST. But by the time you're in for an interview, you're often at the point of competing against others which similar qualifications. It's your job to create an edge - somehow.
Age discrimination (or hiring based on other "tribal" urges) is an unfortunate reality. My first thought is, find a way to present your age and maturity as an advantage. Confront it head on. Interesting there's no literature for advice on this out there, Nadine. I'll take a look and see what I find and hopefully do a long post with more ideas in the future.
Dealing with the age thing is a two-edge sword. My former boss was trying to sell me to someone and got the response, "I need someone young and hungry." Meaning someone who is willing to put the hours into a job that they assume a mature worker won't.
I see myself in just the opposite position: I'm finished with the things that used to hold me back. Unlike the young women I've worked with, I'm not taking off to get married, have babies or take care of sick kids. I'm past all that and am at a stage where I really want to devote myself to a job. But I don't know if it is appropriate to get that personal in a job interview.
Hi Keith ... great stuff ... sometimes I wonder if anyone with great skills but no empathy would ever be hired by one of our hiring managers
So all of us need both ... "hard" skills and soft skills ... with the difference thar, in my humble view, soft skills are more scarce and the combination of soft and hard ... very very rare ...
my 2 cents !
Full disclosure: this tip is not mine. However, once I heard it, I never forgot this great tip for answering the "Why Should I Hire You" question.
The perfect answer: "I will make your job easier."
Of course, you have to be able to explain how you'll go about that.
Keith, I could not agree more that it's all about making the connection. The education, experience, and skills are the baseline expectation and will not, on their own, get you hired. No hiring manager is that dispassionate, nor should they be.
Hi Keith, I'm a career coach with the Five O'Clock Club and have a point of view on this issue. Interviewers need to perceive you as a consultant. If you're there in a needy way, you won't be attractive. If you're there to help solve a problem (and show them how you think) they will like you. Even more important, they will need you. You also want to position yourself as an industry insider, up to date on everything going on in the market that affects the interviewer and his/her company. If you're changing industries, this is especially important. If you know your stuff and have done your homework, you'll add value in the interview, and they will like you.
Keith,
This is such an important discussion, especially in these times. It is important to understand that job skills does not translate to job success. We all possess the neccessary skills to do countless jobs that we have no desire to do. What we can do has little to do with what we are passionate about doing.
Even more overlooked is the passion we have about who we are serving, or what causes we support.
Consider these two questions:
What would you do to help cure cancer?
What would you do for $8.50/hour?
I would imagine the same things you would gladly do to help cure cancer you would never do for $8.50/hr.
Ask yourself how you can translate that mindset into the intervew. Who or what causes does the company serve? What is there purpose; vision; big picture perspective on goals?
If you can identify and connect to those things you will certainly leave a "lasting impression."
"Make them like you" ???
I'm disappointed by this bit of advice - it is really vacuous. How do you make someone like you who's seen your resume and decided not to like you in advance? That's happened to me. What if you really have no shared interests? Talk to me about just about any rocker and I'll give you a blank look. Finally, I'm autistic, so I can't do small talk and whatever verbal codes "neurotypicals" use, and my nonverbal communication is often out of sync with my verbal communication. Tell me "X", meaning "Y", and I'll interpret it as "X". Then, you get upset that I don't understand "Y".
I can't make anyone like me more than I can make a woman feel attracted to me. All I can do is be nice and otherwise try my best. Most relationships, including marriages, don't start by "clicking". They take time. A job interview is really too brief to bring out each other's preferences that determine likability.
Chuch, there isn't a simple answer to how one does that - it's a complex thing, and I wouldn't call it vacuous at all. Just being aware that "they must like me" will help, because it will help you remember to connect, to be personable, to consider the feelings and interests of the others, and especially to remember their names. If you view the interview as a test where you need to show off and impress everyone, you could miss important chances to connect and may come across as cocky or aloof.
A major reason for on-site interviews is not see how smart you are, but how well you will fit in with the people you are going to be working with. The interview is much more about your people skills and your ability to fit in with the culture and to be liked by your future peers, than it is about showing how smart you are.
Information technology is too broad a term to be thrown around without further clarification. It would be like me asking you to help me present how engineering works without defining if I am talking about chemical, bio, computer, aviation, production or any of the other types of engineering out there. Please be specific if you expect an actual response. Information Technology is a broad term used to encompass many things with respect to computers, generally the interaction of people with them.
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