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I am amazed at how many people forget that an interview is a “personal selling” situation.
Obviously I don’t mean jumping up and down and doing a raw-raw sis-boom-bah chant but I do mean turning in your best effort AND asking for the job at the end.
Just the other day I witnessed a candidate not get an opportunity because the employer didn’t think they where all that interested OR at least, not as interested as another candidate.
When I asked what the employer meant by that statement [because the prospective candidate had professed his interest to me - very enthusiastically after the interview] the employer explained it like this. The choice between who would be the next VP of Sales for this company literally came down to a coin toss – the talent match was that close. They had two outstanding individuals to choose from and they literally could not make up their mind. What broke the tie? “The younger candidate seemed to want it more’” my client said.
When I asked him how he came to that conclusion he said that Candidate A said when he was leaving the client office for the airport, “I had a great day and it appears we both have a lot to think about.” Seems innocent enough doesn’t it.
Whereas Candidate B said, “I’m glad you invited me down to meet the rest of the management team because I’m even more convinced now that this is the right opportunity for me”. Now, in truth neither had made up their mind that it was indeed the right opportunity BUT the second one closed the deal and told the client they where interested – very interested, whereas the first was non-committal. Can you see the difference?
Let me explain it another way. Perhaps this has happened to you. Could be it’s just me again.
Do you remember the awkward moment when you told someone you loved them for the first time? If – as was the case with me – their face contorted with “an oh no – what do I say now, expression then you appreciate the awkward emotional vacuum I’m talking about.
Well let me tell you, employers experience the same thing. After courting a candidate for weeks or months there’s nothing worse for them than telling a candidate “we love you” or “you’re our top pick” only to have them say… “I have to think about this…”. It’s like NOT saying I love you too! And believe me it matters. I know. I know it’s not just about what the employer wants BUT remember the first Rule of Job Hunting it’s not about you.
How might this have been avoided? Bottom line is this guerrilla. You have the right to do your due diligence on the employer at your own pace. It would be nice if it matched their pace
but likely it won’t.
Know this, you never and I mean never ever let them see you’re still thinking about it. It doesn’t strengthen your bargaining position to play hard to get BEFORE YOU GET THE OFFER.
In front of the employer you should always be “in love”. You close and close and close until you get the offer then hopefully you tell them what they want to hear. AND this applies at all levels. In this instance it was a $300K position. I’m used to seeing this at the 50-80k level and not in executives but as I said it doesn’t take much to tip the decision in the other guys favor. So moral of the story is do your do diligence behind the scenes as you go through the process and don’t forget to tell them you love them too even if you’re not 100% sure yet.
You have to close the interviewer at every stage.
They aren’t mind readers… neither was my girl friend a the time – BUT I DIGRESS. Tell them you want them. Be sincere! Negotiate the package AFTER you get their first offer. Focus son getting the offer!
What do you think? Learn anything new? Could this have helped you get the last offer you didn’t?
- David Perry, co-author Guerrilla Marketing for Job Hunters
Managing Partner, Perry-Martel International Inc.
www.perrymartel.com
Think
of your job search as a journey, one of the most important you’ll ever make,
along the lines of a thrilling ocean voyage.
Have
you ever heard of a ship’s captain who didn’t consult his maps before and
during his journey? Of course not. Captains like that don’t last long — it’s
too easy to get off course just a little bit each day, until the ship is
hopelessly lost at sea.
So
don’t expect a successful outcome to your job search if you don’t consult your
“map†at least once a week, and make course corrections.
To
do this and stay on course, you should hold a 30-minute meeting with yourself weekly. Do the
following:
- Repeat out loud and reaffirm
your Job Search Objective: What’s the exact title of the job you seek? The
salary? What 3 skills do you want to use? What’s your target company or working
environment? Regular repetition will burn your goal into your brain. - What’s working? Do more!
- What’s not working? Make change
or drop it.
I’m
reminded of a picture I saw, of a forlorn and pathetic-looking man on the front
page of The Wall Street Journal. He had had been standing on a street corner
for nearly three months holding a sign that said: "I NEED A JOB … 36 YRS
EXPER; INSUR/MNGMNT.â€
Apparently,
this man had never thought long and hard enough about his job search to STOP
doing something that clearly was NOT working. He remained out in the wind and
weather begging for work, hoping something would fall into his lap. For all I
know, he’s still there ….
Don’t do
that.
Action Step:
Have a 30-minute meeting with yourself every week and analyze your job search
activities. What’s working? Do more of that. What’s not working? Change your
approach, or drop it altogether. Then plan your efforts for the next 7, 30, 60
and 90 days.
Compliments
of David Perry and Kevin Donlin
Grab your Free Guerrilla Job Search Audio here.
David
Segall, credit professional from Warwick, NY, uncovered a lead one New Year’s
Eve that turned into a new job.
After being
laid off by his firm, he got out a listing of decision makers in his industry,
picked up the phone and started dialing.
“I knew a
great way to network would be to simply call other credit professionals. I did
that by using the member roster list of an industry group I belonged to,†says
Segall.
“The script
I followed on the phone went like this: ‘Hi, my name is Dave Segall and I got
your name from XX. I was working at Y Company until recently as an Assistant
Credit Manager. I’m calling to see if you had any opportunities at your firm.’â€
Segall say:
“If I got voicemail instead of a live person, I would add: ‘I’d like to speak
with you; my cell phone number is 212-XXX-XXXX.’ That way, I could get
callbacks while calling out on my regular phone.â€
Be sure to
call managers who can either hire you directly or influence a hiring decision.
Segall targeted titles just above his level when calling, such as Credit
Director or Credit Manager.
What where
Segall’s results?
“I got a
job offer right over the phone! In total, I talked to about 50 people live
after making nearly 100 calls in one day.â€
Action Step: You can produce a
week’s worth of results in your job search in only a few hours spent calling
decision makers and asking for interviews. There are directories of names and
phone numbers for almost every industry imaginable. Sure there will be
rejection. You may even get the phone slammed in your ear. But that just means
you’ll have less competition.
And what if
you can’t find an association for your industry, even after checking with your
local reference librarian?
Try
looking through www.superpages.com by
industry and/or location as a way to contact and network with decision makers.
You’ll also find names and phone numbers of valuable network contacts at www.hoovers.com, for a fee. (Be sure to ask
your local library if they subscribe to Hoovers. Some do, and you can use the
information at no cost.)
Compliments
of David Perry and Kevin Donlin
Grab your Free Guerrilla Job Search Audio here.
You may
think it’s nearly impossible to stand out at one of those “cattle call†job
fairs typically held at hotels. But you can make a great first impression –
and get hired — if you take the initiative.
That’s what
Patrick C. from Texas did.
“I
interviewed with an insurance firm and I thought they liked me. As I was
leaving the interview, I thought, ‘I want this job. I’m going to try something
different,’†says Patrick.
“So
I went to the front desk and asked to use their word processor. The hotel
secretary let me type up a thank-you letter that re-emphasized all the reasons
I thought I was a perfect fit for the job. Then, I paid a bellhop $5.00 to take
it up to Mark Jones in suite #101 – he was the guy I interviewed with.â€
The
result?
“I
got the job. When the hiring manager called me the next day, he remembered me
from the ‘instant thank-you letter’ I had sent.â€
Action
Step: Every employer wants go-getters on the
payroll. If you follow up FAST and creatively after every interview, you’ll
prove that you have what it takes, no matter what the job.
Compliments
of David Perry and Kevin Donlin
Grab your Free Guerrilla Job Search Audio here.
One client
of mine, Cindy S. from Minnesota, just got hired at a huge Fortune 500
corporation. She persisted creatively in her search after others would have
given up.
You can,
too.
“I had
applied to this company many times through a big Internet job site, but got no
response,†said Cindy.
“Late one
night, I saw a job posted on the company’s own Web site that was perfect. I
applied online and the next day got a call from them! I don't think I had the
experience for the job I applied for, but the recruiter was very nice in
helping me find a position that would be a good fit.
“Coincidentally,
I got a temp job at the same company, as an administrative assistant for a VP
in the HR department. I wrote a thank-you letter to the recruiter and mentioned
I was working on the 9th floor for 2 weeks, and that maybe we should meet. It
turned out she worked on the same floor!
“Because I
was already working there, I was able to interview with 3 different people on
my lunch hours. And I got hired full-time!â€
Action
Step: When using the Internet, apply directly to your
target company through their Web site. Send a thank-you letter to every person
you speak with. Then, make your own luck by working hard to get an interview
with decision makers. Even a temp job can lead to a permanent one, as it did in
this case, if you make smart use of your contacts and network within that firm.
Compliments
of David Perry and Kevin Donlin
Grab your Free Guerrilla Job Search Audio here.