How To....Find Your Perfect Job!

How To....Find Your Perfect Job!

All the information you'll ever need to take control of your career!

Published every other Thursday by Find Your Perfect Job Coach

March 12,2009 2009
Volume v, issue 6


STOP GIVING AWAY YOUR POWER - part 1



The reason hiring authorities control the interview process is because job seekers let them, especially in these days of "Give me a job! ANY JOB!!!!" From the moment a candidate begins their job search, right up until the offer – when they suddenly decide to show they're not a push over by negotiating - most job seekers don't realize how much they allow themselves to remain powerless, or the consequences of doing that. This issue and next, we'll be looking at this problem closer.

Nobody is drawn to a needy person, and we've all known someone who was like that - and most likely it destroyed your friendship or relationship. Freshman year in college, I had a friend who never ended the phone conversation, so I would. Really beautiful, intelligent girl. She'd always try to cement something first - happy hour, another phone conversation, whatever. She always wanted to go to the caferia or the sorority house together. She did this with everyone. It drove me nuts. I couldn't get rid of her until I finally, basically, said "Please. Leave me alone." I saw her years later at a reunion - she was still a mess.

She was desperate for a friend. You're desperate for a job. Get the parallel?

The majority of people interviewing rail in frustration against the process. But in fact, most never connect the process with the concept of power - much less that they give that power away - and if you're stressed because you need a job, then on top of that, your desperation is coming off you in waves. You undermine yourself.

Too many candidates are under the impression that they must submissively answer questions until they’re invited to ask them. They don't want to make a bad impression or cause the interview to dislike them. They hasten to answer every question in a convincing way instead of thinking critically about what the question is and the meaning behind it.

There are ways of creating a dialogue and obtaining information that don't take the control away from the interviewer, but that don't give it away either.

Keeping your power begins with knowing what you want in your perfect job, and you find that out by taking a microscope to every single job you've held. You examine who you worked for, what bosses you liked or didn't and why, what made you irritated, what worked for you, what didn't, what gave you enjoyment, at what parts of your jobs you excelled and what parts you hated. Examining those issues helps you to discover what you want and what you want to avoid, and it's this knowledge that shapes what you need to find out when you interview.

Unfortunately, instead of building a foundation and then beginning their search, most job changers jump headfirst into the market, and frequently end up deluding themselves about what's important. As a result, you make decisions based on irrelevant and unimportant information. You miss the red flags because you're not objective and detached. You rationalize the reasons for your gut telling you there might be a problem.

Since you don't know what you want, you don't know what you need to be discovering, or how to uncover it. All of this puts you at the mercy of the hiring authority.

One of the ways it happens is remaining silent after you've answered a question. To radically change the subject is to take control of the entire interview, and that's not your place. But neither must you sit quietly and wait for the next question.

Instead, tag on your own question at the end. When he says, "Tell me about a time you……" Answer, and finish with "Is that skill something that's important?" He'll say, "No," or "Yes." If it's "No," ask what some of the important characteristics are. Other appropriate ways to throw the ball back in the interviewer' s court are:


Do you find that to be true?
Is that something this company values?
Is that important to you?
Would you agree with that?
Do you see that fitting in with what you’re looking for?
Is that an advantage to you?

Essentially, you're probing, and you're connecting it to your answer. His answers eliminate any assumptions you might otherwise make. They let you know where you stand, what you need to elaborate on or clarify, and what you might as well stop talking about, because it's not important to the interviewer.

Additionally, candidates often provide explanations before asking their questions. When you want to know something, just ask the question. Explaining not only apologizes for asking it, but it indicates your preferred answer. Consequently the answer may not be what you want to know, it may be what the interviewer wants you to think.

Asking questions that stay on topic and create a dialogue allows you to retain your power. It also tells the interviewer that you know what you're looking for and that you're there to find out if this company meets that outline or not. That, alone, makes you stand out in the interviewing crowd.

I know from the days of being a recruiter and discussing candiates they saw before they engaged me, and following up with them on interviews I set up, how important it is that an interviewee not come across as unfocused, desperate, unprepared, or unaware. So any interviewer worth his salt will appreciate your discernment. Any one who doesn't may be on a power trip, and you don't want to work for them anyway.

But the irony is - the less focused and the more desperate you are, the more likely you are to land a job in a place you'll grow to hate, because the healthy companies who are looking for focused, confident employees will turn you away