Interview Skills by Rowan Manahan

In selection interviews, most people talk their way out of the job. Here's how to NOT do that.

1. INTERVIEWS Surviving at job @Rowan_Manahan
2. Nothing has really changed in the world of job interviews ... for a long long time
3. And that’s because we haven’t really changed very much since we came down from the trees
4. Your interviewer
5. Your interviewer, who will make his mind up on you in a matter of seconds
6. A highly-sensitive decision switch is sitting at ‘Neutral’ when you walk into the room From a blog post, way back when ...
7. The trembler switch drops to “No” very easily and very quickly - a lot like dating. It takes much longer for the switch to click over to “Yes.”
8. EDGE And for that to happen, you need an edge - not in the job skills per se, but in the skill of job-hunting.
9. Job-hunting is simple, but then again, so is tennis. It takes a lot more work than most people realise in order to be great.
10. Yourself Enemy Terrain To be great in an interview, you need to be good at the job in question - but you also need to know these three things.
11. Yourself Enemy Terrain
12. 4 SECONDS Because your interviewer(s) are 98.5% chimpanzee
14. There are people who believe that they can tell a lot about you from a handshake. It doesn’t matter that they’re wrong, you need a good handshake.
15. You also need to be turned out appropriately for the industry / company / role - this is easy for men ...
16. Not so easy for women!
17. 1. Professional 2. Presentable 3. Fashionable For both sexes - build your interview wardrobe on these priorities and you won’t go far wrong.
18. Suit is invisible Accessories! No clutter Colour under your chin For both sexes - pay attention to the details
19. Dark hair roots Revealing clothes Visible labels Perfume / After-shave Piercings? Too much jewellery
20. 3 MINUTES Then, you open your mouth for the first time ...
21. “ Tell us a bit about yourself ... Walk us through your CV ... Take us through your last two jobs ... Only about 10% of the audience had a response for this prepped and ready to go.
22. 2-3 minutes 150 wpm 50% on last job / 2 years News headlines This is how to answer that question without sending your interviewer(s) to sleep.
23. CHESTNUTS
24. Nature of the role? Weaknesses / Strengths? Team / Leadership style? Communication approach? Task / Problem approach (+examples!) Sectoral / Company issues? Best moment? Why you? Any questions? You’ll be asked these at most interviews - they are the chestnut questions.
25. Five magic WORDS You need a specialised vocabulary to deal with interview questions
26. Best friend Impressive colleague Amazing boss Total asshole Describe each of these people in 5 words/phrases. Then think about how they would describe you.
27. Five magic NUGGETS Condense the lists down to your NUGGETS
28. And map them out against the predictable stuff that’s going to be discussed in the interview room.
29. More details on this (and coping with the ‘Nightmare Interview from Hell’) is in Where’s My Oasis?
30. COMPETENCY Cavemen rarely had to deal with competency interviews
31. Screening/HR Interview Cascade Line manager Psychometric testing Structured / CBI Social / Informal
32. “Give me an example of a time when you had to …” “If you saw XXX taking place, what would you do?” “Have you ever had to YYY?” “How would you solve ZZZ?” These are the giveaway phrases
33. Situation Process Outcome WPM? 140-160 2 minutes = 300 words And this is how you should structure up your (prepared) responses. Keep it tight and focus on your approach/process.
34. Yourself Enemy Terrain
35. Able? Willing? Fit in? This is what all interviewers want to know - they ask lots of variations around these three questions.
36. ‘Fit’ - John Collison from Stripe wants to know if he will enjoy having coffee with you on Sunday morning, having worked through straight from Friday morning!
37. “ If you wish to persuade me, you must think my thoughts, feel my feelings, and speak my words. To be great in an interview, you really need to get into the heads of your interviewers ...
38. It’s a form of stalking!
39. Supply chain Customer channel Competitors Macro Widgets Inc. X Suss out the company from all angles - what’s really going on there?
40. www.widgets.com If they are a PLC, their website will be a mine of information
41. But don’t just stop at their website ...
42. Who are the players, what are their backgrounds?
43. You may find stuff about the company, or promotions here
44. Start following the players in the company, and in the wider sector, on Twitter - what is occupying their minds?
45. And keep digging ...
46. ... and digging ...
47. ... and digging ...
48. Yourself Enemy Terrain Until you really know your enemy
49. Yourself Enemy Terrain Then you need to know the ground you’ll be fighting on.
50. Meh This really distinguishes you from the herd
51. “ The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated And taps in to the deepest need in the human psyche
52. “Please sir, may I have some more?” You must move away from a delivery that essentially says, “I’m a jobseeker, I need a job, please give me a job”
53. “ I noticed that your company / division / department is XXX ... How can I help? To something akin to this.
54. “ I noticed that your company / division / department is XXX ... I can help because I .... Or this.
55. Supply chain Customer channel Competitors Macro X Show them you understand how their company fits into the landscape.
56. Informational interviewing Conferences Competitors Journalists Politicians Use the approach of ‘informational interviewing’ to flesh out your picture of the sector, and of how you can contribute.
57. SYMBIOTIC Make these conversations symbiotic - not parasitic.
58. “ I noticed that your company / division / department is XXX ... I can help because I .... And be careful about your language - ensure that you don’t sound too much like a stalker.
59. “ I noticed that you ... Softly ...
60. “ I understand that you ... ... softly ...
61. “ One thing that has really struck me as I’ve researched your company is ... ... catchee ...
62. ... monkey.
63. Yourself Enemy Terrain When was the last time you went into a job interview knowing all three of these? Why do so few people do this? It’s obvious! (But it’s not easy - it needs a lot of slog)
64. EDGE Do all that, and there’s your edge - and it’s a big one.
65. TONE One last thing - the tone you strike
66. In case you hadn’t realised, it has somehow become uncool to sound like you know what you’re talking about? Or believe strongly in what you’re ... like ... saying? (Taylor Mali)
67. TONE Declarative. Emphatic. Fact-based. Unapologetic. Unequivocal. Clear. Concise. Articulate. Logical.
68. M’ KAY? www.RowanManahan.com
69. Thagyewverramuch Rowan Manahan @ _