Sex and Your Job Search 2013: A Guide to Scoring Your Dream Job (28 page)

DON'T TRASH YOUR CURRENT
OR PREVIOUS EMPLOYER(S)

Speaking of venting, it is important to say positive things about your current or previous employers in the interview. Most interviewers will ask you about the organizations you’ve worked for. Some do it at the beginning of the interview. Some ask about it near the end.

The questions can range from, “Tell me what it was like working at your current/past employer?” to “Tell me about an organization that you were associated with that treated its employees with respect. What did you like about this? Why?”

The general line of thinking behind these questions is that if you say something bad about another company, the employer will worry what you would say about them. If you immediately answer negatively, you will most likely lose out on the job.

Your best bet is to answer these questions like you would if you were on a date and you were asked about your ex. Think “positive.” Explain that you had a good relationship and that you learned a lot from each other. But it was time to move on.

Here’s a good response. “I enjoyed my time at Acme Corporation. I improved my attention to detail skills by analyzing our business processes and made changes that were celebrated by management, as I told you earlier in the interview (Excellence). I worked well with my team members and our group received a productivity bonus at the end of last year (Teamwork). Now I’m looking for even greater professional challenges (Integrity).” In that short response, the applicant reinforces the Three Universal Values of Teamwork, Integrity, and Excellence.

Keep in mind, hiring managers, directors, and key people within an industry tend to talk. I belong to an association where I talk with other HR reps at competing hospitals once every few months. We share our struggles and our successes, including the interview process. If you start trashing an employer, it could get you black-balled from an industry.

A comedian once said, “There’s a difference between being right and being happy.” You will be a lot happier if you let bygones be bygones and get your dream job.

Now-retired American football coach Lou Holtz was fired from the University of Arkansas for no good reason. Instead of burning bridges, he kept a positive attitude and moved on. A few years later when he applied for his dream job at University of Notre Dame, he spoke positively about his time at University of Arkansas. His references from Arkansas were stellar, with his former boss admitting that the biggest mistake he made was firing Lou Holtz. Notre Dame went on to win the 1988 national championship under Lou’s leadership. How you respond to negativity directly affects what happens to you in the future.

Be gracious, be an adult, and focus on making yourself appear like the bigger person. Forget the haters that may have made your life tough. Interviewers will do the same. They forget the haters they interview.

A THREESOME OR GROUP INTERVIEW:
INTRODUCING ONE OR MORE INTERVIEWERS

If you are pleasing and impressing the interviewer at this point, they may want to bring in their boss near the end of the interview. Or the boss may have been there from the start since they were interested in speaking with you based on your awesome resume and portfolio. In addition, a peer may be present to provide insight on how they would feel working with you. You should feel flattered and more confident by this attention. Build off of it and keep doing what you’re doing. You got this.

Quick Tip:
If you are asked to interview one-on-one with a peer, be careful about opening up too much and being too candid with your answers. Corporations know that applicants tend to “buddy up” with those on the same level and blab to them about their true intentions and work history.

Honestly, it’s un-friggin-believable what people will tell someone at their own level in an interview. Be careful. Opening up to a potential colleague about calling in sick when vacation was denied, your previous boss’s nightmarish personality, and defying company policy will get you ushered out of the interview process very quickly. Consider yourself warned and think about changing your work habits if this describes you.

In the group interview, the boss’s focus will be mainly on technical ability and communication (people) skills. If the boss was called in at the end of the interview (because you did so well), expect the first interviewer to ask you to repeat your
best
stories because they feel they will impress their boss. I can’t count how many times I have asked the HR director to come into the interview room and listen to
specific stories
because I know an applicant will impress them and fill a need within the organization. So, tell the stories
exactly
like you did before and give a little more eye contact to the senior-ranking person in the room.

Your tendency may be to shorten and summarize your stories because one of the people in the room has already heard them. Please don’t! It is very important that you take your time like you did the first time you gave your answers. Otherwise you won’t satisfy anyone, and Third Base will feel rushed and awkward. Trust me, retelling your best stories (the interviewer will guide you as to what stories to tell) is like watching
Superbad
or
The Hangover
a second time. Just as entertaining and appealing.

QUESTIONS YOU SHOULD ASK:
HAVE THESE IN YOUR PADFOLIO!
(about 5 minutes)

It would be really awkward if you went out with someone and didn’t ask them any questions. What would be the point of a date if you didn’t want to get to know the other person? You have to show some effort and enthusiasm if you want to win someone over.

In reality, about a quarter of all job applicants don’t ask any questions. As a result of appearing disinterested, a high percentage of them
don’t
get job offers. I don’t know why, but I’m still shocked when an applicant doesn’t have any questions. Really? No questions?

This is a great opportunity for you to make intelligent conversation based on your knowledge of the company and interest in the position. Asking good questions sets you apart in a good way from other applicants.

At the very least, ask an interviewer how they got to where they are today. They will appreciate you taking an interest in their lives, even though they can tell that you are asking the question to show that you are taking an interest their life. Still, they don’t care. Personally, I would tell my life story until the cows come home and then flip it back to you, because I know that when I open up, you will open up even more. Call it a Jedi mind trick or Psychology 101—an interviewer wants to connect with you during your time together.

So, when the time comes, take a look at the questions below. I would recommend selecting the top three or four questions that are applicable to the position you are interviewing for and that you are interested in hearing the answers to. There really isn’t more time allotted for asking more than
four
questions. It’s important that the last question you ask is #12: “What are the next steps of the interview process?”

The best method for keeping track of the questions you want to ask is to print out the PDF Questions to Ask from my website
urdreamjob.com
. I have also listed them below. Then circle the questions you want to ask, including #12. That way you can switch up your questions if you want to and also have your Seven Go-to Story Keywords at the bottom right of the paper.

On the other hand, you can also write the questions you choose on the pad in your padfolio.

If someone asked me, I would have to say that my favorite questions are: 1, 5, 7 and 9 (tie), and 12.

Job Responsibilities and the Department

1.
--
What are the primary/most important job duties I would be performing?

a. If some of these were already covered in the interview, state what you already know (you look like a good listener) and then ask if there are other important duties that were not mentioned.

2.
--
What are the skills and attributes necessary for someone to succeed in this job?

3.
--
Who would I report to?

4.
--
How does your department fit into the overall structure of the company?

5.
--
What do you enjoy most about working for this organization? What made you decide to start working at this company? How did you get where you are today? (Any of the 3 questions or all if you have time)

6.
--
What strengths did the last person in this position have and what happened to them?

Expectations

7.
--
What would be the first big projects that I would be responsible for?

8.
--
What are the most challenging aspects of this job?

The Company

9.
--
What are the biggest challenges facing your department/organization in the next year/future and what role would I play in assisting with them?

10.
-
What are a few things that your organization has done recently to recognize your employees?

11.
-
What can you tell me about new products and plans for growth?

Next Steps (Ask this!)

12.
-
What are the next steps of the interview process?

a. (If necessary) Is there another interview?
What is the timeframe for making a decision?

WHAT NOT TO ASK

Never
ask questions about salary and benefits at this point. That’s like being on a first date and referencing during dinner what you want to do in bed with your date after the meal is finished. There are no guarantees that you will get any action!

This is not to say that these aren’t good questions. Just save them for after you’ve hit a Home run and scored a job offer. Or when the employer brings them up. We’ll talk more about this in Chapter 14. At this point, focus on impressing the interviewer with insightful questions.

Aside from asking about salary and benefits, please don’t get too personal like in the example below.

A number of years ago, a female applicant in her late twenties, in response to my request for questions, paused, looked down, took a slight breath, lifted her head quickly, and with direct eye contact asked me, “Do you have any kids?” Wow. I paused, smiled, and said, “No, but let’s focus on any other questions you may have.” She checked herself and decided to go all in, “Are you… single?” I tilted my head and gave her a very direct professional look. She blushed and said, “I’m, I’m good. Thank you so much for the interview.” I escorted her out right after that.

Please don’t hit on the interviewer. It will get you nowhere. Even though we can act like models, no one has ever made a calendar of HR reps in their swimsuits.

THREE SIGNS THEY'RE INTO YOU

You’ve spent most of the interview sharing your Seven Stories, and the interviewer is showing clear signs of being into you. Or are they? Research shows that an interviewer who does the following has enjoyed their time with you:

1. The part where you ask questions is longer than five minutes, because the interviewer initiates further discussion, is attentive, and wants to make sure all of your questions are answered. Not because you ask all twelve questions!

2. They offer information about how they started in the business, without you asking (you’re bonding!).

3. They bring up their awesome benefits and start selling their company, without you asking.