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Sometime ago, I read your article on how to answer killer job interview questions, which was published in this space. I guess your advice will be for nothing if an applicant does not have a clear-cut agenda or at least a mental script to help him in organizing his thoughts during an interview. Do you agree? – Orange Juice.
Yes, I agree. Running into debt is not exactly bad. It’s running into creditors that could hurt. Its’ the same thing when you are a job applicant who is mentally and physically unprepared for an interview. Applying for a job is not exactly bad. It’s rejection by employers that could hurt.
Even if you have memorized your best stock answers and mastered answering all the possible killer job interview questions, you’ll not be worth a second look by your potential employer, unless you do your homework, and ultimately for your recitation and long-written examination. If not, it could hurt you no end. Let me explain.
Investigative job search
Do you simply go to a job interview without approximating what could happen? Sure, you’re in for a job interview. But what I mean is -- do you have enough background information about the organization, its founder and management officials, its corporate vision and mission statements, its business, and the person who will make the final decision? Have you done your homework to know what could probably interest him as a boss? Have you studied carefully the job specifications and how your current KASH (knowledge, attitude, skills, and habits) could match them?
These are some basic questions that I’d like you to explore. If you can’t answer them, then it’s practically impossible for you to get the job that you want. Here’s a story:
A motorist overtook a young man running along the road. He stopped his car and asked the perspiring runner to get in. “I imagined that you were in an emergency, that I’ve to stop,” the car driver told the young runner.
“Not exactly,” puffed the runner. “I always run like that when I want a ride. And it seldom fails, like today.”
But it’s not about getting your way by tricking people into submission. It’s about understanding your situation that you are in a job search process and that your self-esteem may be a little flat. When you send out your application or CV, you’ve given your prospective employer, the power to reject it, not respond to your courteous and warm cover letter, or ignore your request for a job interview. And so, you may feel a little bit anxious.
If that persists, chances are, you will only place yourself mentally in a no-win situation even if the interview has not yet started. That should not be the case. But what if you psyche yourself up that you don’t need a job (or another job) after all? And that you only want to experiment by meeting people and use the interview as an exercise to prepare yourself for a bigger, much lucrative job opportunity?
The most important positive preparation is to consider yourself as a co-equal of the prospective employer, and not as an unwilling victim of another rejection. Of course, it could be difficult if you are in-between jobs or you’re in a tight job market. It may seem that the employer has all the winning cards close to his chest.
That should not be the case. The reason why employers announce their job vacancies is they need good talent who can produce the agreed product or service to survive. It takes you and your KASH to create value. A material is nothing until someone discovers a better use for it and converts it to that use. A machine is nothing unless someone is willing to operate it. Even a database is worthless if there’s no one who can analyze its contents and interpret the results.
Offering solutions
You don’t simply offer yourself as a job candidate. Demonstrate that you have the unique capacity to do the advertised job. You can only do this, if you are mentally-focused to answer the following questions: One, what are the job specifications that match your qualities? Two, how can you immediately assist the prospective employer? Three, what have you done in the past that proves your capacity to contribute? And four, how would the employer benefit from hiring your services as an employee?
DO YOU WANT TO CHALLENGE THIS ADVICE? This article is for non-management people who can’t raise an issue directly against their toxic bosses due to fear of rejection or job insecurity. If you have a different or supporting view, readers may send their feedback or questions to elbonomics@gmail.com or follow Rey Elbo on Facebook, LinkedIn, or Twitter for his random management thoughts.
InterAksyon.com means BUSINESS
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