In Interviews Get to the Point Right Away

Good interviewers like trial attorneys are adept at asking questions that get you to open up and talk. And talk. And talk. In your well-intentioned effort to answer questions, you are increasing the odds of digging a hole you will not be able to get out of, and increasing the possibility of losing the interviewer’s interest. In interviewing, less is more. Learn to get to the point right away.

The way you do this is simple: You prepare. 

When you prepare, you know what’s important and what’s not important for that interviewer, and then you organize the information into mini-stories (60-seconds) that engage and create an opportunity to turn the fire-response interview into a conversation.

information overload

It wasn’t that long ago that the 60-second TV commercial (watch one it seems endless) was supplanted by the 30-second spot. Now advertisers tell their story in 10 or 15-second ads. Texts once reduced to abbreviations, are conducted in a series of colorful icons or stickers.

According to research, the average professional receives 304 emails per week, checks their smartphone 36 times an hour and gets interrupted every eight minutes (or 50 to 60 times per day).

We are unquestionably in an age of information overload and shrinking attention spans.

the p&g one page memo format for interviewing

A great way to think about and prepare for interviews is the P&G One Page Memo format in use since the 70′s. The way it works is every communication had to fit on one page, and follow a fixed five-step format.

P&G Fixed Five-Step Format	Fixed Five-Step for Answering Questions
Summarize the situation. Give the audience some relevant background and set the context.	Provide a quick context. Give the interviewer some relevant background to the question asked.
Introduce the idea. Describe – typically in a single sentence – what you are proposing.	Provide 2 to 3 key points you want to share to explain the action steps you took or your role.
Explain how the idea works. Explain the basic steps: how, what, who, when, where.	Explain the outcome, results, what was achieved.
Reinforce its key benefits. Give only the three most important (to your audience!) benefits.	Conclude by reinforcing the competencies the interviewer is looking for you to demonstrate in your response.
Suggest the next step. This is the call to action: who needs to do what and by when for things to move forward?	Anticipate the questions the interviewer will ask as follow up, and prepare questions you want to ask the interviewer to gain information on the company and its culture.

 Why does this work?

▪  It’s to the point

▪  Provides structure to your story

▪  It’s designed to sell your value

preparation proves you are the candidate for the position

In a job interview, if you get asked a question and you ramble on and don’t have a point, the takeaway is you’re not prepared. So prepare.

Preparation Tip #1: Know your top 3 competencies that the employer values and that you want to get across.

Your job in an interview is not simply to answer questions. It's to get your main points across. Watch the masters of this: CEOs and politicians. When interviewed, they don't always answer the question but they always get their talking points across.

You want to have 3 points and take every opportunity to hammer home these key points with stories and examples.

Preparation Tip #2: Talk the same language.

Instead of simply treating an interview like a meeting where you answer an interviewer's questions, do your homework beforehand, studying the company and setting up an informational interviews.

Know the keywords the employer uses to describe the company, the culture and the job, and develop ways to talk about your skills in the language of the company and job.

Preparation Tip #3: Anticipate job-related questions and prepare your answers.

Duh! Preparing answers allows you to focus on:

▪  What’s important

▪  The intangibles like eye contact and body language

▪  Prevents your from rambling on and digging that hole

You know you will be asked these questions so prepare your answers.

▪ Tell me about yourself.

▪ What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?

▪ Why should we hire you over all the other candidates?

▪ Where do you want to be in 5 years?

What questions can you anticipate about the specific job? Write out the questions and your answers and practice giving your response.

Preparation Tip #4: Prepare your mini-stories following the five-step approach.

Stories serve two critical purposes in your job search. First, stories are engaging and help position you, not as a job candidate, but as a person who would be great to work with. They allow you to show some personality.

Second, when you talk about yourself in the interview, you want to talk about your behavior, qualities/ competencies.For example:

Candidate 1 when asked about their leadership skills says, “I am a great leader”.

Candidate 2 when asked the same questions says, "In the last team project, I was selected by the team to be the person who had the final approval on the report and presentation. I assigned various roles to team members such as  creating the timeline, communication, research and information gathering, and writing the first draft."

Do you see the difference? Who is more credible?

Being prepared for a job interview is easy. Being concise and to the point is hard.