Have you ever wondered what was going on in the mind of the person on the other side of the interviewing desk? In today’s column, I’m going to fill you in on how the interviewer views the process, and perhaps make you more comfortable that it’s a system you can navigate. You’ll still have some stress, but the fact that you realize what both parties need to get out of the conversation will provide comfort and a guide to staying on the right track.

The impetus for this column? Last week I was most of the way through a great interview when suddenly it took a turn and died an ugly death. After answering many of my questions well, the fellow I was interviewing killed his chances in one 10-second period when, for some reason, he left his brain behind. I’ll tell you more about that one later in my column. First, let me provide you with some insight as to how I conduct an interview, and it will apply to many others as well and not just headhunter interviews.

A Balancing Act

In most interviews, both sides of the process really want it to work. As the conversation progresses, your interviewer gets more and more excited. If I’ve got someone in front of me (or in front of a computer camera) who has the perfect CV for the job, it can feel a bit like watching an Olympic sporting event. You’ve watched figure skating, right? If your skater has had a good routine so far, and you feel excited, you’ll keep hoping the athlete manages to stay upright until the end. I feel the same when I’m doing a difficult search and a good candidate comes along.

Let’s say I’m looking for a Business Development Director where the candidate must have a very specific kind of technical skill as well as solid business expertise. As the first-line interviewer, I’ve got a checklist in front of me, items that originated with my client and that must be rated. I am also conscious of the organization’s culture, so I am watching/listening for clues as to whether the candidate will be “our kind of employee” as my client company might say. These two things are uppermost on my mind…the checklist, and his or her likely cultural and personal fit.

Interviewers often let their gut feeling and emotions influence their decisions.  I’m sure you know what I mean… sometimes you just like someone, and you want them to win. At these times, you can’t help being swayed by factors that aren’t objective. This is what I call the “analytical/emotional balancing act” that interviewers go through as they ask questions and then gauge the responses with as little emotion as possible (ideally).

But in the end, it’s like buying a car. You want that new vehicle to have all the necessary features, but it’s that thrill you feel when you test-drive it that closes the deal. And there are ways that you can answer your interview questions to help facilitate this closure.

Effective Answers

Like many (probably most) interviewers, I go into each interview assuming that the person I’m sitting down with is a prospective fit. I wouldn’t have taken their time if that weren’t the case. I don’t mean to suggest that to get hired all you have to do is avoid screwing up—usually I’ll be interviewing several candidates for the position—but your interviewer considers every interviewee a real prospect until he or she proves unworthy. An interviewee’s goal should be to subtly inspire that little thrill even as they help the interviewer check off those boxes one after the other.

The substance of your answers does matter, of course—it matters a great deal. Still, it’s not always whether you’ve had the exact technical experiences noted in the job advertisement. Instead, it is often enthusiasm and positive energy that makes the difference. The problem here is that enthusiasm and positivity are so easy to fake. I’ve always felt that the best interviews are those where the candidate is being real and not spouting off some kind of scripted rah-rah response. That’s why I don’t provide interview scripts in my columns, as when you answer questions about yourself and your accomplishments, a sense of moderation is in order. You want to show by your responses that you are enthusiastic about the opportunity in front of you, but the best interviewees do that by being well-prepared.

The first step, then, is to provide answers that satisfy the check boxes. The interviewer may start with questions about the technical aspects of the job:

“What thoughts do you have about building bridges between two companies with sometimes competing interests?”

or,

“Please tell me about the requirements of a CRADA (Cooperative Research and Development Agreement) with a government laboratory, and how we might use it to advance our agenda.”

The best answers to those job-related questions will be those that allow the interviewer to check off the first boxes with confidence that you have the basic skills required. If you’ve answered conservatively, always careful not to oversell yourself, you’ll be providing answers that get you past the first stage of your interview and set the stage on the emotional side as well. You’ve begun to win the interviewer’s confidence, to make him feel good about you as a candidate. Now, when the interview continues into the key aspects of your interpersonal relationships and experience beyond the job basics, you’ll need to continue this confidence building by framing your responses with good stories.

Frame Your Answers

People love mini-stories about your exploits, as long as they don’t come off as self-indulgent digressions. It’s not a good idea to turn every 30-second response into a 2-3 minute story, and any story you tell must be directly relevant to the question you’re answering. But stories are a powerful way to get emotional buy-in.

Let’s say you’re answering that first job-related question. If you were asked, “What are two lab techniques you use in your daily work?” the only possible response is a brief reply and this is all that is expected. But if the way that question is posed begins with something like “Tell me about your experience…” then it’s clear that this is an opening for a story. Make it a brief one. First, describe the environment you were in or the problem you faced. Secondly, move to what your approach was (the key job-related elements) and finally describe how your actions affected the project. Make it upbeat and ensure you aren’t just self-promoting by including your team as well in the story.

Requests for short stories always start with words like “Tell me about…” or “Please describe…” Be sure that your story talks about a problem that was solved. That’s because everyone wants to hire a problem solver.

Preparation Counts

It’s harder to prepare for soft questions dealing with interpersonal experiences because there are so many variations, and because they get at things you may not have thought about. All of those deserve a good story. Therefore, I recommend that, prior to the interview, you review four categories of information that employers need to know about you:

• How you approach your work,
• How you think through problems,
• How you arrive at decisions, and
• How you deal with people.

Examine your experience base for examples you can use—little stories—to elucidate each of these points. Sometimes it helps to write them down. With two or three examples in each of these categories at your disposal, you’ll be more prepared than 90% of the competition.

What happened in that interview which opened this column? Our client was obsessed with what they call “a sense of urgency.” In that company, every promise you make and every project you take on must be done now and with a spirit of the utmost urgency. In this organization, that culture had risen to the level of religion.

Me: “John, it was great meeting you today. Now we need to advance this to an introduction to the company’s vice president of R&D. Luckily, she’s in town for the next few days, so let’s schedule an introductory meeting over lunch. How does your schedule look for Thursday, Friday, or early next week?”

John: “I’m going on a long weekend the day after tomorrow for my wife’s birthday, and then next week we have a number of meetings taking place with clients. Can I meet with her perhaps the week after?”

What a letdown.

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David G. Jensen
Founder and Managing Director of CTI Executive Search
[email protected]
928-274-2266
www.careertrax.com
 
David Jensen is the founder and managing director of CTI Executive Search, a unit of CareerTrax Inc, a leading search firm working in the life sciences. Previously, he had been a managing director at Kincannon & Reed, a 30-year retained executive search firm where his company, CareerTrax, had been a contractor. In 1985, Jensen founded and was CEO at Search Masters International (SMI), a top executive search practice working with biotechnology companies, which was sold in 2001 to a $4.4B human resources service firm. Prior to 1985, Jensen had established a life sciences practice for Govig and Associates (Phoenix, AZ).