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Interview Skills by Rowan Manahan

Rowan Manahan
February 13, 2013

Interview Skills by Rowan Manahan

In selection interviews, most people talk their way out of the job. Here's how to NOT do that.

Rowan Manahan

February 13, 2013
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  1. A highly-sensitive decision switch is sitting at ‘Neutral’ when you

    walk into the room From a blog post, way back when ...
  2. The trembler switch drops to “No” very easily and very

    quickly - a lot like dating. It takes much longer for the switch to click over to “Yes.”
  3. EDGE And for that to happen, you need an edge

    - not in the job skills per se, but in the skill of job-hunting.
  4. Job-hunting is simple, but then again, so is tennis. It

    takes a lot more work than most people realise in order to be great.
  5. Yourself Enemy Terrain To be great in an interview, you

    need to be good at the job in question - but you also need to know these three things.
  6. There are people who believe that they can tell a

    lot about you from a handshake. It doesn’t matter that they’re wrong, you need a good handshake.
  7. You also need to be turned out appropriately for the

    industry / company / role - this is easy for men ...
  8. 1. Professional 2. Presentable 3. Fashionable For both sexes -

    build your interview wardrobe on these priorities and you won’t go far wrong.
  9. Suit is invisible Accessories! No clutter Colour under your chin

    For both sexes - pay attention to the details
  10. “ Tell us a bit about yourself ... Walk us

    through your CV ... Take us through your last two jobs ... Only about 10% of the audience had a response for this prepped and ready to go.
  11. 2-3 minutes 150 wpm 50% on last job / 2

    years News headlines This is how to answer that question without sending your interviewer(s) to sleep.
  12. Nature of the role? Weaknesses / Strengths? Team / Leadership

    style? Communication approach? Task / Problem approach (+examples!) Sectoral / Company issues? Best moment? Why you? Any questions? You’ll be asked these at most interviews - they are the chestnut questions.
  13. Best friend Impressive colleague Amazing boss Total asshole Describe each

    of these people in 5 words/phrases. Then think about how they would describe you.
  14. And map them out against the predictable stuff that’s going

    to be discussed in the interview room.
  15. “Give me an example of a time when you had

    to …” “If you saw XXX taking place, what would you do?” “Have you ever had to YYY?” “How would you solve ZZZ?” These are the giveaway phrases
  16. Situation Process Outcome WPM? 140-160 2 minutes = 300 words

    And this is how you should structure up your (prepared) responses. Keep it tight and focus on your approach/process.
  17. Able? Willing? Fit in? This is what all interviewers want

    to know - they ask lots of variations around these three questions.
  18. ‘Fit’ - John Collison from Stripe wants to know if

    he will enjoy having coffee with you on Sunday morning, having worked through straight from Friday morning!
  19. “ If you wish to persuade me, you must think

    my thoughts, feel my feelings, and speak my words. To be great in an interview, you really need to get into the heads of your interviewers ...
  20. Supply chain Customer channel Competitors Macro Widgets Inc. X Suss

    out the company from all angles - what’s really going on there?
  21. Start following the players in the company, and in the

    wider sector, on Twitter - what is occupying their minds?
  22. “ The deepest principle in human nature is the craving

    to be appreciated And taps in to the deepest need in the human psyche
  23. “Please sir, may I have some more?” You must move

    away from a delivery that essentially says, “I’m a jobseeker, I need a job, please give me a job”
  24. “ I noticed that your company / division / department

    is XXX ... How can I help? To something akin to this.
  25. “ I noticed that your company / division / department

    is XXX ... I can help because I .... Or this.
  26. Supply chain Customer channel Competitors Macro X Show them you

    understand how their company fits into the landscape.
  27. Informational interviewing Conferences Competitors Journalists Politicians Use the approach of

    ‘informational interviewing’ to flesh out your picture of the sector, and of how you can contribute.
  28. “ I noticed that your company / division / department

    is XXX ... I can help because I .... And be careful about your language - ensure that you don’t sound too much like a stalker.
  29. “ One thing that has really struck me as I’ve

    researched your company is ... ... catchee ...
  30. Yourself Enemy Terrain When was the last time you went

    into a job interview knowing all three of these? Why do so few people do this? It’s obvious! (But it’s not easy - it needs a lot of slog)
  31. In case you hadn’t realised, it has somehow become uncool

    to sound like you know what you’re talking about? Or believe strongly in what you’re ... like ... saying? (Taylor Mali)