Job Search Solution Blog by Tony Beshara

We have most likely covered the topic of interviewing in the past however, as John Wooden stated,

“The eight laws of learning are explanation, demonstration, imitation, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition, repetition.”

Therefore, we will practice a little repetition in the area of reviewing successful interviewing tips.  As we have discussed in the past, performing well during the interviewing process requires the need to recognize your own context, as well as the context of the people you are interviewing with.  Successful interviewing should be easy, conversational.

Below are 3 main tips to assist in making the interview process effortless.

1. Understand the business perspective. Candidates have to realize from what point of view the employer is inquiring from and then answer accordingly.

Ask yourself what is the employer attempting to discover?

• • Can you do the job?

  • If you have an agreeable personality?

  • Are you a risk to the company?

  • Will the salary you seek be within budget?

2. Take the time to understand and comprehend what the employer is asking?

Often, people are so nervous in an interviewing situation, they start answering a question before the really understand what’s being asked.  There’s nothing wrong with asking the hiring or interviewing authority to restate questions for you to get a better understanding and allow you to process a response.

3. Research and preparation for the interview.

Attempting to ad-lib answers rather than providing an examined response, regarding the company or the hiring authority, will always lead to disaster.  No matter how well a person thinks on his or her feet, the interviewing process is more sophisticated than it has ever been. Ad- libbing won’t hack it.  Answering questions well takes a lot of practice and preparation.  The candidates who prepare well for interviewing questions get the offers.

Interviewing has a great implication on your career.  Practice the above tips repeatedly to assist in your next interview success.

When candidates lose out to a lesser candidate, of skill or background, due to lack of salesmanship when it comes to their qualifications or lack of interview preparation they often fall into the “blame game”.

A great example of this was a candidate I had who changed the interview time with the hiring authority twice, he did practically no research or preparation on the company or the person he was going to interview with.  The candidate went into the interview with a, “what you got for me?” attitude.  The hiring authority, obviously unimpressed, eliminated the candidate immediately.   When I relayed the elimination information to the candidate he stated, “Well, I guess it just wasn’t meant to be.”

No kidding, I thought.  He totally screwed up the interview.

Taking advice from trusted sources is the best way to see your blind spots.  In this case, I suggested the candidate should:

• Reflect on what he contributed to the rejection notice

• Modify and change his interview mindset and approach

• Review results, once new interview tactics are applied

If a candidate does their absolute best in interviewing for a job, meaning they researched, practiced, and prepared themselves the best way possible and still are not hired.  All they can do is try again.

Michael Jordan stated this best,

“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.”

Do not waste your time blaming others, particularly if you do not try, merely reflect, modify, and review your process to be prepared for your next opportunity.

Word of advice, please avoid wasting your time formulating answers to oddball or senseless interview questions rated by popular publications.   Many large online publications claim hiring or interviewing authorities ask a host of absurd questions during interviews, such as:

• Does life fascinate you?

• How would you get an elephant into a refrigerator?

• How many planes are currently flying over Kansas?

Hiring authorities who ask these types of questions are rare, to say the least.  Either way, you are better off spending your time preparing to convince the hiring authority what assets you can offer the company that nobody else can.

The majority of people do not spend enough time focusing on this kind of question, which would benefit the company and the candidate in understanding and communicating their assets.

Any interviewer or hiring authority that is so egotistical to ask “tricky questions” may not be the kind of person you want to work for.  If they are more interested in tricking you than they are in finding out if you would be a good fit, this should cause concern.

Some time ago, I had a candidate who was asked a “tricky question” during her interview and rather than trying to formulate a witty answer she simply asked the hiring authority, with a smile, “What does that have to do with the job?” The hiring authority took her response well, given she was polite, and thought she demonstrated lots of courage.

Tricky questions, during the interview process can be distracting however do not get hung up, simply focus on your key reasons why you want the position and emphasis your assets that would benefit the company.

Put your best foot forward and let the pieces fall where they may.  But, by no means should you waste your time focusing on how to respond to irrational interview questions.

In doing my bible study time I thought, if Abraham could negotiate with God, we should be able to effectively negotiate with employers.

While I understand this is a big jump, to go from biblical to employment skills, the point stands that effective and respectful negotiation skills is key in a job search process.

When I read Genesis 18, Abraham attempted multiple negotiations with the most-high God in stating:

“. . . .will you sweep away the righteous with the wicked? What if there are fifty righteous people in the city? Will you really sweep it away and not spare the place for the sake of the fifty righteous people in it?”

“. . . what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty?  Will you destroy the whole city for lack of five people?”

• What if only forty are found there?
• What if only thirty can be found there?
• What if only twenty can be found there?
• What if only ten can be found there?

The Lord answered each time, For the sake of fifty, forty-five, thirty, twenty, or ten, I will not destroy it.

 Even God Might Negotiate!

Understanding when and how to negotiate job offers or salaries is an essential part of the job search process.

Key Tips when Negotiating:

• Do not lead as if you have alternative offers unless you really do

• While God is patient, humans are not, there is not always room to negotiate

• Prove your value and reasoning in requesting more money

Overall, the emotional and psychological strain of negotiating wears most people down therefore they are not willing to do it appropriately.  Just remember, very few companies try to get away with paying as little as they can. There are some cheap companies out there, but even they know that they get what they pay for. If they “low ball” you, don’t take the job.

Being able to effectively negotiate with employers, when appropriate, is an essential part of the job search process that should not be dreaded or anxious, when done tactfully.

Janice was a great salesperson, even the leading salesperson in Texas.  She had been with her relatively small accounting consulting firm for 10 years. The firm was family oriented with their corporate offices in Chicago.  They pretty much left Janice totally alone to do whatever she wanted, given she was a top producer.  She ran her business like she owned it and everybody was happy.

But over a period of a few months, the corporate office wasn’t giving Janice the consulting support she needed and she got frustrated. She has consistently been earning in the $150,000-$200,000 range every year for the past few years.  However, the response time on the part of assigning consultants to her projects got longer and longer and she even lost one deal because corporate didn’t move fast enough.

Janice’s company had been a client of ours and in contacting her to see if they had any job opportunities for any of our candidates, she voiced her frustration regarding the need for consulting support. But, she said that this kind of thing has happened before and she knew how to work around it.

It just so happened that a competitor accounting and finance consulting firm to Janice’s employer had an opening for a salesperson, through us. They are a much larger consulting firm and they take really good care of the deals they sell and pay better than just about any consulting firm of their kind in the country. It is not uncommon for some of their salespeople to earn as much as $400,000 to $500,000 a year.

We mentioned to Janice that this client was actively looking for someone in Dallas and considering the frustration she was going through it might be wise for her to speak with them. We realized that she was not actively looking for a job but the first year earnings with this organization would be somewhere around $300,000, if she performed at the same level. It seemed like a no-brainer.

Janice decided to at least speak to our client. We explained to our client how Janice was not actively looking for a job but showed interest given the consultant support and increase in earnings.  They interviewed Janice and absolutely fell in love with her.

Janice had a noncompete contract with her employer.  To a certain extent she would have to “start over” with new clients.  However, our client was willing to “bridge” her earnings for the first year. It would be relatively easy for her to earn $300,000 the first year and even more the second year.

Our client offered Janice the job, however she decided to stay where she was in order to avoid having to “start over”.  By all standards, Janice should have taken this job. There’s really no comparison to the caliber of companies, the amount of support, and obviously the kind of money that she could have earned.  We certainly respected her decision.

One of the mysteries of my profession is that we deal with people. And you never know what they’re going to do. Janice may not ever earn the kind of money she could have from our client, however we are certain she’s going to be relatively happy wherever she’s employed.

Most of the books and articles written about how to get a job are by theorists, who have not actually helped people find jobs!  So much of readers’ time and money is wasted on reading articles and books that have little value or no proven strategies.

My day-to-day responsibilities are solely concerned with finding people jobs. What are my qualifications? I have been successfully finding people ‘real jobs’ for over thirty years. After receiving a Ph.D. in Higher Education from St. Louis University, I began to forge a career working outside of academia – in the real employment world. I have personally placed more than 7,000 people, interviewed more than 24,000 people (of all professions), worked with over 21,000 different companies and have been adding to these numbers every day.

Babich & Associates, the firm that I work at (and once owned) has been in the placement and recruitment business since 1952. I joined the organization in 1973. We are the oldest placement firm in Texas and certainly one of the most experienced in the Southwest. Since its founding, the firm has helped more than 100,000 people find jobs.

Our developed surefire recruiting techniques help people find new jobs and new careers, every day. If you are new to this blog, I explore specific challenges of finding a job and a behind the scenes view in the hiring process in an ever changing economy.

The following are just some of the aspects I will continue to explore:

• How a recessionary market impacts your personal job search or employment change

• The psychological dimensions of finding a job in a changing economy

• How to start taking action immediately

• What to expect from potential employers

• Searching for a new job while presently employed

• How to manage the initial and all follow-up interviews

• How to deal with being fired and laid off

• Negotiating the highest pay

For continued practical and highly useful information on how to get hired with companies of quality, good pay, and work/life balance, please continue this journey on my blog site and share it with your friends/family.