Today, I want to tell you why you should have a plan before you go in your next interview.
You should have some idea how you’re going to do this job before you even show up. I mean, you’ve got a copy of the job description. You know what they’re looking for. So, you should have some idea how you’re going to do this job based on your past experience.
Now, most people when they go into an interview, they have very little idea how they’re going to do that job. They’re hoping that they can just get it and then they’ll show up and then they’ll figure it out afterwards. Well, employers are a little bit smarter than that and they want to know if you’re going to be able to do this job before they hire you. I mean, that makes sense; right? I mean, they’re going to pay a lot of money to do this job. They want to make sure that you’re going to be able to do it.
So, what I want you to do is I want you to put some thought into this job before you go on the interview. So, after you get the first interview, you show up and ask him some questions; probe them, try to find out where they’re struggling, what they’re looking for.
I mean, if you think about it; an employer has a problem and they’re looking to you for a solution– to solve that problem. That’s why they’re hiring somebody to solve a problem what they have.
So, in your first interview, ask them what they’re looking for. Try to dig deep into what the roots are of the problem; what they’re looking for. And then go home, think about that. Think about how you’re going to do that.
And then when you go back for the second interview, because they’re going to call you for a second interview, show up with a plan that details how you’re going to do this job.
Most people don’t do this and this is how you’re going to separate yourself from the competition.
I mean, you think about it; they bring in 10 candidates, they interview 10 people. None of them are going to have a plan for how they’re going to do the job. None of them are going to show up with a detailed framework that outlines how they’re going to do their job with a timeline and what resources they’re going to need, how they’re going to do it, when they’re going to do it. Nobody does this because nobody puts that kind of thought into it and they wonder why they don’t get hired.
I mean, when you blend in, you look like everybody else. When you go in there into the interview and you say all the same things that everybody else is saying, you answer all the questions in the same corporate way that everybody else is doing it.
If you know anything about me and my channel here, I’m all about teaching people how to stand out; how to be unique. What things can you do in a job interview that’s going to make you stand out from everybody else?
Because, I mean, you know as well as I do interviews are wildly competitive. A company posts a job description; they might get 50 or 100 responses to that. So, they have to whittle all those resumes down to maybe 10 or 15– the people that they want to call in.
So, with this 10 or 15 people, they have to find somebody who they feel comfortable with; who is going to be able to do that job. And they’re going to feel comfortable with people who understand them, who understand their company, who understand their products, who understands what their problems are.
And if you can understand them, and you can understand them by asking them questions. That’s how you discover what people’s problems are, what people’s pains are. You ask them questions and they’ll tell you. They’ll tell you where they’re struggling.
I mean, you don’t want to just come off and say, “Hey, what are your problems?” You want to be a little bit more clever than that. But through conversation, you’ll find out. You’ll know where they’re struggling, what they’re looking for and then you present yourself as a solution.
Now, you don’t want to just say, “Yeah, I can do the job”. Everybody says that. I mean, if they ask you, “So, how are you going to do this job?” and you come back and say, “Well, I’m going to meet and exceed all your requirements for the job”. “Well, that’s great. We’re glad you can meet and exceed. But we don’t really feel that you understand even what the requirements are for the job”. Plus “meet and exceed all the requirements” is kind of cliché anyway; anybody could say that. But you can do better; you can do so much better.
So, let’s talk about a little example here. Let’s say you’re a medical device sales. So, when they ask you, “How are you going to do this job?” Here’s what you say. So, if this is for medical device sales, you can say, “What I’m going to do is I’m going to increase your medical device sales of your new product by 12 percent.
And I’m going to do that by reviewing past customer purchases and look for the ones who have older models. And what I’m going to do is I’m going to retarget and remarket our new product to those people.
And based on what I’ve seen so far, I think I can increase sales by 12 percent and I can do that probably within a 12 month timeframe. And I’m going to do that by retargeting back to existing customers who have old product.
So, that says a lot more than meet and exceed; doesn’t it? It says how you’re going to do it; it’s by retargeting back to old customers. It says by how much; 12 percent. It says how long it’s going to take you; you’re going to do it in a year. That shows you have put some thought into it.
So, when you go back for that second interview, you’ve got a little framework here, a piece paper, that documents exactly what you’re going to do, how you’re going to do it, and you can present this back to them and show them that you have put some thought into this position and that you understand the product, you understand their customers, you understand the company, you understand the market.
And this is going to put you miles above everybody else who comes in for that job, because they’re just going to go in and they’re just going to interview like everybody else and they’re going to say, “Yes, I can do that because I’ve done it before”. They’re not going to go into the details. They’re not going to give the specifics. They’re not going to have a hard core plan for how they’re going to do that job. And that’s how you’re going to separate yourself from your competition. That’s how you’re going to do it.
And when you’re more specific with your choice of words, and using words that that they’re used to hearing, maybe you grab some of the words from the job description, some of the industry words, keywords, buzz words, and you use those in your language back to them during the interview, you’re going to relate to them a lot more than everyone else because you’re speaking the language and they’re going to start to feel think and feel that you’re one of them.
I mean, you’re talking like them, you sound like them, you understand their problems. This is how you’re going to go farther. This is how they are going to see a confidence in you that they don’t see with everyone else because you’re like them.
It’s like you’re one of them, you’re just not employed yet. And what they’re going to want to do is say, “You know, come on in here. I think you would be happy here. You’re going to fit in with this group of people because we’re all likeminded. We all share the same thoughts and we have the same goals. We have the same values; the same principles”. This how you stand out.
You can’t just go into a job interview and give the right answers. It’s not like a test in college where it’s right or wrong. I mean, you can go in to a job interview and you can give all the right answers; every question they ask, you can give them the right answer.
But if you do it like this and you answer each question in a real monotone voice and there’s no feeling in it, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter that you’re giving the right answer, but you are failing.
That’s what so many people do; they go in, they give the right answers and they still fail the interview and then they scratch their head and they’re like, “What? I said everything they wanted to hear. Why didn’t they hire me?” Because you had no feeling, you had no passion, you didn’t understand them.
And that’s what I’m trying to get through to you. You want to understand them. And when you can understand them, they’re going to want to bring you in. They’re going to want to invite you in because like I said, “You’re one of them. You share the same thoughts, the feelings, the same goals. You have a plan for how you’re going to solve their problems.
And who doesn’t want to hire somebody who’s put some thought into what their problems are and has ideas and solutions to solve those problems? That’s how you’re going to go farther my friend. That’s how you’re going to go farther in the interview process. That is how you’re going to land the job. That’s how you’re going to stand out from everybody else. That’s how you’re going to be unique.
So, from the top. Here’s what you do. The first interview you get, you act like an investigator. You ask them questions and you try to find out what their problems are; where they’re struggling. And then you can talk about how you might do the job a little bit.
And then when you come back for the second interview, make sure you have a well thought out plan of how you’re going to do that job.
And then you can just bring it up. When you go back to the second interview, you can say, “Hey, Mrs. Jones. I was thinking a lot about this position and I had some ideas. Do you mind if I share them with you?” and she can say, “Well, yes of course”. And so, you share some ideas with them about how you’re going to do the job, what you think it’s going to take, the resources you’ll need and how you think you can grow this position.
And it doesn’t have to be sales; it can be engineering, it can be software, it can be management, programming; it doesn’t matter. Just have an idea, have a plan, something that shows them you’re thinking about them.
It’s not like you had the first interview and you went home and you just waited for them to call you back. No, you put some thought into this while you were away.
You can even do this; just to push them to give you that second interview. After you get the first interview, go home, think about the job, email them back and say, “You know what? I was thinking about this position. I had some really good ideas about how you can do this, this and this. I would love to come back and share those ideas with you”.
What are you going to say? They’re going to say, “Yes, of course. We would love to hear more ideas about how you think you can help us solve our problems here”. They’re going to love that. And that’s going to nudge them to give you that second interview. You’re going to go farther. You might get the third interview and most likely after that, you’re going to get the job.
But think about this. Everybody else that they’re interviewing for this position, they’re not doing this. They’re not creating a plan. They’re not thinking forward like that. They’re playing a very passive role.
What I like to call a “passive role” in the interview process; where they just sit back and they answer questions and then they go away. And basically, it’s like Simon says, “Every time the interviewer tells him to do something, they do it”.
What I would encourage you to do is to have an active role in the interview process. Don’t just sit back and let them tell you what to do. Be a forward thinker, be active, volunteer more information, show them you’ve thought about this, challenge them, say, “Hey, have you thought about this? Have you thought about that?”
You know, it’s almost like you’re a consultant to them and you’re coming in and you’re giving them suggestions and ideas for how they can solve problems, how they can sell product and whatever it is, how they can manage people. You’re helping them. You’re helping them for free basically.
What do you think they’re going to want to do? If they like your ideas, they’re going to want to invite you in so you can help them work on those issues that they have in this position, in the company, in the department, whatever it is.
Alright, makes sense. So, create a plan, invite them to talk about that plan, show them the plan, show them the foresight that you have and you will go so much farther in the interview process. I promise you that my friend.
