Grace Under Fire, The Interview Answer

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009

The art of interviewing is not an art. The art of interviewing is not theatre.

Interviewing is communication, pure and simple.  Good interviewers are those who come before the candidate as  themselves, determined to exchange meaningful ideas through questioning and answering.  The best candidates are those who simply come as themselves, armed with honesty and integrity. Anything less than straight-forward is Hollywood, TV, playtime. It’s a game that each side can play where one side will win and the other will lose. Unfortunately the one that wins under less than forthright communication will most likely lose in the long run. Here’s why.

Winning a job by lying, cheating, or pretending cannot last or be fruitful for very long. A slick candidate who becomes something s/he isn’t and uses contrived skills to land the job, will eventually be discovered and either be dismissed because of an inability to perform to the standards required in the job description; or worse yet, pass time at a job s/he doesn’t fit into and is then ensconced in a dead-end job for him/her for who knows how long.

There, that said, let’s keep in mind that being yourself is the very most important concept you should remember to win the job. “BE YOURSELF” is the single most feature to practice.

Here’s the rub. As you approach your interview, the notion of “BEING YOURSELF” takes courage. To stand by your principles. But ironically, if you have courage, you are a principled person and the following suggestions will be easier than not. When a principled candidate, lathered in honesty, and bequeathed with passion for doing a good job steps into the crucible of the interview s/he will be less likely hindered by bone-chilling anxiety or panic-stricken fear of what might be thrown at them. Principled people are likely to be self-confident and poised. The next most important 2 concepts of winning a job.

SELF-CONFIDENCE – comes from being prepared. If the job you are seeking and being interviewed for is high on your list, for gawd sakes know the company and know who is interviewing you. Research, research, research.  (Ticker Symbol, Annual Revenues, Product Mix, Target Market) When faced with those seemingly difficult questions that there is no right answer for hits you between the eyes, you will be much more capable of crafting an answer that makes sense if you are prepared with knowledge. Being prepared breeds SELF-CONFIDENCE. Self confidence breeds poise.

POISE – is how easily someone performs under fire. Poise is being gracious. Often referred to as “GRACE UNDER PRESSURE,”  poise is viewing situations positively. Poise is knowing how to present yourself: eloquent speech patterns, body in control,  inspiring those around you. Poise is leadership. Poise attracts admiration. Poise overcomes words. Did you know that of all the communication performed during an interview by a candidate, the most important is how they say things, NOT what they necessarily say. The tone, the inflections, the self-confidence and yes it’s the poise of the delivery.

So after speaking of the embedded skills in “Being Yourself”: self-confidence and poise, the bedrock characteristics that can’t be contrived nor relinquished, the list of do’s and don’t are secondary.  Important yes, such as: building rapport, listening, observing, what to bring, appropriate dress code, arriving 10 minutes early, speaking 50% of the time, having a list of prepared questions and being ready for the standard questions.

In closing, let me say, interviewing is the place to shine, at the desk of your prospective employer. Practice what counts. Sage advice exists from thousands of blogs, books, friends and consultants. Trying to prepare for an interview by looking and listening through all the tips and suggestions coming at you can be trying and elevate your stress level.  And avoiding stress before the interview is essential.

Rather than getting tied into a knot with self-inspection overload and interview question memorization, I would spend the time researching the company, the person interviewing you as much as possible, drafting the appropriate questions based on your research. I would prepare for the given questions, sure to surface:

Tell me about yourself?

Why do you want this job?

Why are you right for this job?

And then with the time left I would have a chat with myself.  Something like this:

“I deserve to be in this interview. I’ve earned the right to be there. I am good at what I do. I may not have all the schooling or credentials they are looking for, but what I’ve learned in my years of experience, they can’t teach in school.”

(The little blurb about not having all the schooling and credentials is simply because seldom does a candidates sit in front of the hiring manager and possess ALL the stuff they are looking for.)

In other words, convince yourself you are the absolute best choice for the job first.  If you do that effectively, you will most likely convince them of the same.

Good hunting.