Job candidates need to put aside their modesty and sell their best qualities at the interview stage. In many cases, our reticence to boast is leaving us at a disadvantage compared to candidates from cultures which encourage overt self-confidence.
While certain employment sectors are tightening at present, openings are on the increase for sales people. Those roles require the candidate to be confident. Polite, yes, but primarily confident. It is possible to be both at once.
Former Dreamfedjob editors, Carla Sanchez recently launched Competitive Resources LLC, a recruitment company offering candidates career advice, training on interview techniques and resume preparation. The company also prepares employers for the interview process, human resource training for managers who may not have a designated HR department.
“It is a positive human trait to be modest,” says Carla Sanchez. “However, the more confident you are, the more you will shine in an interview. Many people are afraid to come across as boastful. I say go in and give it your best shot, that is where you will shine. You will see far greater confidence in young people coming from abroad. Is it the way they are taught in schools?
Certainly, career development is poor in schools. “Most people don’t boast about themselves enough. We are too modest. In an interview, you must be able to sell your past experiences. We can sometimes take for granted a skill that was required for one role, and fail to see it as a transferable skill for a new role. That is partly down to confidence, but also down to preparation for interview.
“The job seeking process is just like sales. The resume is the sales brochure. The market place is the jobs market. The interview is the sales meeting, and closing the sale is getting the job offer. The thing you are selling in this instance, of course, is yourself.” In fact, the most successful sales people will tell you that you continue selling yourself throughout your career. People are buying products, but their decision to reach for their wallet is hugely influenced by their short term relationship with the seller. In most cases, the latter is the more significant purchasing engine.
As well as nurturing confidence, Competitive Resources LLC also prepares the job candidate for some of the more difficult leading questions they might face. For example: How did you change the aspects which you did not like in your previous job? The response to that question is very important to the employer. In broad terms, it will show whether you are a whiner or somebody who will fit in with another orgaization. If you can change the things which annoy you, then that shows initiative. It probably also shows that you are willing to compromise and be part of a team.
“With training, you can acquire skills for any new job,” says Carla Sanchez. “But your attitude cannot be corrected very easily, and that sense of a good cultural fit is very important to the employer at the interview stage. Your rResume will get you in the door for an interview. After that, you have to know how to present and sell yourself.
“The nature of my service is to prepare individuals to launch themselves on the jobs market.
If somebody cannot get an interview, there is something wrong with their resume. If somebody is constantly getting to interview, but not getting the jobs, then that needs a different type of personal preparation. Our service is tailor made for the individual.” This kind of customized job search preparation could be vital, given the leading nature of some of the most frequent interview questions.
For example: How would you structure this job? What was wrong with your last company? What aspect of your current job do you like the most? Give me an example of your management style? What is the most difficult part of being a supervisor? What salary are you worth? At the end of most interviews, the panel will ask you if you have any questions for them. Use this as an opportunity to learn more about the position. Where does the position fit into the overall organization? What would my priorities be? What does the company consider the five most important duties of the role? To whom would I be reporting? Of course, this is not a one-size-fits-all Q+A. Nonetheless, preparation makes you more relaxed and definitely boosts your confidence. It may help also to know that you are not the only one who is nervous. That is the second of Competitive Resources Ltd’s key services, preparing the employer for interview.
Many small companies do not have a designated HR manager, so the interviewer may often be as nervous as the interviewee. Carla Sanchez and her staff will develop the employer’s interview skills to ensure that they gain maximum insight into the interviewee in what is, after all, a quite short space of time. She will also ensure that the interviewer does’t step on any legislative landlines.
Examples of discriminatory questions include: I see you are married. How would your spouse feel about the amount of traveling you would have to do if offered the job? Would you have any difficulty in working for a boss younger than you? You have a foreign sounding surname. Are you an Irish citizen? This job involves some physical activity. How would your disability limit you?
The danger in some of these questions may seem obvious, but all of them are based upon real life examples. It just goes to show how important it is to prepare.
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