Job Interviewing

The Interview Doctor is launching a new book! Join in the fun!

October 10, 2014 By Marta Goertzen

Our third book, Tell Me About Yourself: Secrets to Strategic Interviewing” will be published in November. We are thrilled! To share our excitement, we are having a contest and you can get involved!!

Between October 10 and 24, 2014, you can participate in the drawing by subscribing to our newsletter below, and clicking on the link you will receive in an email over the next two weeks.

The prizes are awesome!

• First Prize: One hour of personal coaching with Katherine Burik or Dan Toussant ($250 value)
• Second Prize: $100 Amazon gift card
• Third Prize: A set of all three books published by The Interview Doctor, “Job Search Marketing Plan”, “Resumes 3.0”, and the new book, “Tell Me About Yourself…” ($55 value)

We will draw the winners on October 25, 2014.

Don’t sit on your hands, sign up today, so you can receive the contest email when it goes out, and take a chance on a gift from The Interview Doctor.

Register below to receive our book contest email (and future updates from our blog). You will also receive a special report, “30 Most Frequently Asked Job Interview Questions”

Story Telling: A Valuable Life Skill

June 24, 2014 By Marta Goertzen

I ran across a great question in Quora, a question and answer website apparently frequented by many technical people. What is the most valuable life skill a person can have? This one stopped me in my tracks.

The Quora readers provided some great answers: resilience, self-confidence, empathy, the ability to learn and communicate, and the ability to be happy. All wonderful insights.

My favorite response was from Jon who said, “The ability to tell a good story”.

Telling a good story makes you memorable. The ability to tell a good story makes a candidate memorable; it may even give the candidate an edge over other candidates who might be more qualified on paper.

I have written three books. In each I use stories to demonstrate the point I am trying to make. I work very hard to make the stories interesting, memorable, and teachable so I don’t preach. The story does the work.

The story does the work for candidates too. The story demonstrates the point a candidate is trying to make without having to brag.

What makes a good story?

A beginning, middle, and end. It also shares what you learned which brings the listener back to the point you are trying to reinforce with the story. The main point is not always the end.
Makes them laugh. You don’t have to be a comedian to make them laugh. A good story can be funny. You can poke fun at yourself, at your idiosyncrasies without making yourself look silly.
Comes to the point without rambling. This comes from knowing what you want to say which comes from planning and practice. Write the story down so you can see it in black and white. Then say it out loud, correcting the story until you make the point without rambling.
Know your theme. Every story has a purpose. What is yours? Do not share a story unless you are confident it supports your overall theme – the main points you want the interviewer to learn about you.
Know your characters well. Structure your story so you look good or make the point you want to make. Do not disparage your boss or other characters in your story.
Be direct. Say what you need to say then be quiet. Get to the point then stop talking. This is related to not rambling.

When I talk to candidates about interviewing I tell a story about a really bad interview I had early in my career.

(Beginning) It was a lunch interview in the big dining room at the Hyatt Regency in Chicago, the one with the stone floors and glass ceiling. It was noisy and crowded. I was very nervous. I was making small talk after we ordered when the bus boy came by with a large tray of glasses on his way to the kitchen.

(Middle) He dropped the entire tray right behind me! The glasses shattered on the stone floor. Glass shards went everywhere including my legs. Blood everywhere. The bus boy hovered, the manager came over, a dozen helpers came to clean up the mess. I was holding my napkin on my calf to stop the bleeding saying to my interviewers, “I am fine. No problem here. Everything is fine.”

(End) I wanted to sink into the floor but I held it together pretending like everything was just fine. We continued with our lunch but I was a wreck inside. I must have appeared calm on the outside. The interviewers offered me the job when we returned to the office.

(What I learned) It was a harrowing experience but I learned that being calm takes the day. My calmness under pressure earned me the job!

Stories are a great way to demonstrate what you have done, how you work, and what it is like to work with you. I could have said “I am calm under pressure” but the story demonstrated how I work so much better than just the mere statement.

The listener learns about you and can imagine you working with the team. Practice in advance so you get to the point without rambling using humor, great characters, and situations that apply to the position you want.

I have to agree with Jon. I think telling a good story is a great life skill!

What do you think? How do you tell stories? What life skills do you think are important?

Words and Music

June 6, 2014 By Marta Goertzen

“Music is what feelings sound like” – Georgia Cates, Beauty from Pain

“I shut my eyes in order to see.” – Paul Gauguin

Something happens when I close my eyes to listen to music. Sometimes the world falls away and I hear the essential core of what the musician is trying to say. I understand most people feel this way. You don’t have to be a musician to appreciate wonderful music.

What is going on that makes this strong impression outside of your basic senses? We are “seeing” differently. We are seeing meaning instead of the words or musical notes.

Let’s think about being outside at night. It is dark. If you close your eyes you can hear the insects. Maybe you can hear small animals wandering through your yard. You can hear the dog barking a few blocks away. Perhaps there is a siren a few miles away or a train whistle in the distance. If you have your eyes wide open and concentrate directly you might actually miss some of the detail. Closing your eyes opens other senses to what is really going on.

There is a real scientific principle at work here. The McGurk Effect shows that we automatically and subconsciously integrate visual information into our own perceptions.

A job interview is a choreographic exchange between two people, almost like music. Two people are talking and listening.

If you close your eyes (figuratively) or look away while talking to someone else you can almost understand what the person is really trying to say.

Do the words match the music you are hearing from your other senses? What is going on behind the scenes with the person you are talking to? Are the responses genuine or do you sense a strain or incredulity about the words you are hearing?

Try it next time during an interview. At some point look away for a few seconds. Does what you are hearing (the words) match the sense of what the speaker is trying to say? Do the words and music tell you the same thing?

If not, then ask questions to understand what the speaker is actually saying.

For hiring managers, this is a way to get insight into whether the person you are talking to is speaking genuinely. This is not a lie detector test but a way to understand whether you are hearing the real story or if you need to probe more.

For candidates, this is a way to determine if the person you are talking to is accurately describing the work situation or if you need to probe a little more.

Let me know whether the music matches the words next time you interview!!

Doing More with less is an opportunity not a curse

May 6, 2014 By Marta Goertzen

I gave up pop (soda) for Lent. Now, I love Diet Dr. Pepper in particular. It tastes great. In the middle of the afternoon when I need a lift, I looked forward to that drink. Yum. But I gave it up for Lent to see what would happen. Could I be comfortable without those bubbles, that peculiar taste?

I did this once before. That time I couldn’t get the idea of Diet Dr. Pepper out of my head. This time was much easier. Occasionally I had an urge but for the most part I went through the six weeks without a problem. This time I did not have the urge for pop (soda) that I did before. Maybe I broke the habit. I got more creative to find refreshing snacks to replace my beloved Diet Dr. Pepper. After Lent I have no desire for a Diet Dr. Pepper at all. I am pleasantly refreshed with a nice ice tea or ice water.

It got me thinking about living within restraints. When I gave up pop for Lent I created a restraint and learned to live within that constraint. It was easy. It inspired me to seek out alternate snacks for the afternoon.

Constraints come to us voluntarily or involuntarily.

Give up cigarettes. Stop eating red meat. Give up sweets for your diet. Exercising instead of being a couch potato. These are voluntary constraints we impose on ourselves. Losing your job or retiring are involuntary constraints that change the way we live. We have to adjust our spending or we run up debt.

It is possible to find these constraints refreshing or invigorating. The adjustment requires creativity.

I found this interesting article the other day that reinforces this idea of working within constraints, “The Weird Strategy Dr. Seuss used to create his greatest work (and why you should use it too)” by James Clear. Evidently Bennett Cerf, founder of the publishing firm Random House made a bet with Theo Geisel (Dr. Seuss) that he could not write an entertaining children’s book using only 50 different words. Working within that constraint, Dr. Seuss wrote the best seller, Green Eggs and Ham, which has sold more than 200 million copies. He rose to the challenge!

James Clear offers ways that setting limits for ourselves (constraints) can be invigorating. He says:

Constraints inspire creativity. If you are looking for a job or working towards a promotion you work with what you have. You make lemonade out of lemons. You find ways to reach out to people who can help you. One recent client started writing a blog to get his name out there. Another wrote a paper on a topic that interested him and pertained to his work. Then he blasted his article out to all his contacts and used it to leverage appointments. Get creative within your constraints.
Constraints force you to get something done. Set goals. One client made a personal goal to have 10 meetings per week. Do you know how many calls he has to make to have 10 meetings per week? A lot! I write 2 blogs per week. Each blog takes about an hour. That means I have time constraints if I want to get everything done. But I get it done because I have to. Set time limits and create a schedule. You will be shocked how much more you can get done.

Recognize the constraints in your life and use them to grow and become more creative. Practice doing more with less resources and see what happens?

If you liked this blog, check out this other Interview Doctor info:

Getting Something Done – How to Schedule your time during a job search

The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time

The Job Search Marketing Plan – Declare to the World how you will find your next job!

Have the Courage of your Convictions

April 22, 2014 By Marta Goertzen

Susan called today. She is applying for a director level position in radiology. She has previously been a radiology technician. She is finishing her MBA and now wants a management position. She has earned this promotion. But there is a little voice in the back of her head whispering doubt.

Have you ever heard that voice? The doubt voice?

I have. Sometimes in coaching we call them “gremlins”. These little gremlins sit on our shoulders whispering doubt and negative thoughts into our ears. My gremlins whisper about looking stupid and not having the credentials to move forward. My gremlin is about competence.

My daughter, Marissa, is an awesome, talented creature. In college she interned for an Ohio state representative. After a few years he grew to depend on her, putting her in charge of all his correspondence. One day she called me in a panic. Jay asked her to take a meeting with some citizens who wanted to talk with him about health care. This is a subject on which she was well versed. She did the state rep’s research on the topic. She demurred. She called me because she wasn’t sure what to do.

What do you think I told her?

I gave her a long lecture about having the courage of her convictions to step up. She was ready. She should turn right around, go back to the state rep and say with conviction, “Of course I will take that meeting”. When is a better time than now?

Marissa did exactly that. She took the meeting. She was very nervous but afterwards said it was not as scary as she thought it would be.

Recently I saw this play out in my own life. I was thinking about the need to do this certain kind of marketing for The Interview Doctor. I caught myself saying, “Maybe in a few years when I have more experience I can try that.” Seriously? I am in my mid-50s. When exactly will I have enough experience to tackle something new? When I am in my 70s? Granted I want to be trying new things when I am in my 70s but why can’t I start right now?

Our gremlins want us to stand still, go back, stay where we are. Your conscious mind knows you need to move forward. What should you do?

The question is not whether you have gremlins. The question is what are you going to do about them? You don’t have to listen. Step up and take a swing. You could hit a homerun!!