From a lecture at the Career Zoo in Dublin, February 2013. A job interview needn't feel like the Spanish Inquisition - some simple thoughts that will help you avoid the costly mistakes that most candidates make.

1. Surviving at job
INTERVIEWS
@Rowan_Manahan

2. Nothing has really changed in the world
of job interviews ... for a long long time

3. And that’s because we haven’t really changed
very much since we came down from the trees

4. Your interviewer

5. Your interviewer, who will make his
mind up on you in a matter of seconds

6. A highly-sensitive decision switch is sitting at ‘Neutral’
when you walk into the room
From a blog post, way back when ...

7. 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.”

8. EDGE
And for that to happen, you need an edge - not in
the job skills per se, but in the skill of job-hunting.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. Yourself
Enemy
Terrain

12. 4 SECONDS
Because your interviewer(s) are 98.5% chimpanzee

14. 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.

15. You also need to be turned out appropriately for the
industry / company / role - this is easy for men ...

16. Not so easy for women!

17. 1. Professional
2. Presentable
3. Fashionable
For both sexes - build your interview wardrobe on these
priorities and you won’t go far wrong.

18. Suit is invisible
Accessories!
No clutter
Colour under your chin
For both sexes - pay attention to the details

19. Dark hair roots
Revealing clothes
Visible labels
Perfume / After-shave
Piercings?
Too much jewellery

20. 3 MINUTES
Then, you open your mouth for the first time ...

21. “
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.

22. 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.

23. CHESTNUTS

24. Nature of the role?
Weaknesses / Strengths?
Team / Leadership style?
Communication approach?
Task / Problem approach (+examples!)
Sectoral / Company issues?
Best moment? You’ll be asked these at
most interviews -
Why you? they are the
chestnut questions.
Any questions?

25. Five magic
WORDS
You need a specialised vocabulary to deal with interview questions

26. 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.

27. Five magic
NUGGETS
Condense the lists down to your NUGGETS

28. And map them out against the predictable stuff that’s
going to be discussed in the interview room.

29. More details on this (and coping with the ‘Nightmare
Interview from Hell’) is in Where’s My Oasis?

30. COMPETENCY
Cavemen rarely had to deal with competency interviews

31. Screening/HR Interview
Cascade
Line manager
Psychometric testing
Structured / CBI
Social / Informal

32. “Give me an example of a time
when you had to …”
“If you saw XXX taking place, what
would you do?” These are the
giveaway phrases
“Have you ever had to YYY?”
“How would you solve ZZZ?”

33. 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.

34. Yourself
Enemy
Terrain

35. Able?
Willing?
Fit in?
This is what all interviewers want to know - they ask
lots of variations around these three questions.

36. ‘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!

37. “
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 ...

38. It’s a form of stalking!

39. Supply chain
Widgets
Inc.
Suss out the company from all angles -
what’s really going on there?
X
Compe
Macro titors
Customer channel

40. www.widgets.com
If they are a PLC, their website will be a mine of information

41. But don’t just stop at their website ...

42. Who are the players, what are their backgrounds?

43. You may find stuff about the company, or promotions here

44. Start following the players in the company, and in the wider
sector, on Twitter - what is occupying their minds?

45. And keep digging ...

46. ... and digging ...

47. ... and digging ...

48. Yourself
Enemy
Terrain
Until you really know your enemy

49. Yourself
Enemy
Terrain
Then you need to know the ground you’ll be fighting on.

50. This really distinguishes you from the herd
Meh

51. “
The deepest principle in
human nature is the
craving to be appreciated
And taps in to the deepest need in the human psyche

52. “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”

53. “
I noticed that your company /
division / department is XXX ...
How can I help?
To something akin to this.

54. “
I noticed that your company /
division / department is XXX ...
I can help because I ....
Or this.

55. Supply chain
Show them you understand how their
company fits into the landscape.
X
Compe
Macro titors
Customer channel

56. 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.

57. SYMBIOTIC
Make these conversations symbiotic - not parasitic.

58. “
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.

59. “
I noticed that you ...
Softly ...

60. “
I understand that you ...
... softly ...

61. “
One thing that has really struck me
as I’ve researched your company is ...
... catchee ...

62. ... monkey.

63. 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)

64. EDGE
Do all that, and there’s your edge -
and it’s a big one.

65. TONE
One last thing - the tone you strike

66. 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)

67. TONE
Declarative. Emphatic. Fact-based. Unapologetic.
Unequivocal. Clear. Concise. Articulate. Logical.

68. M’ KAY?
www.RowanManahan.com

69. @Rowan_Manahan
gy ew ve rramuch
Tha