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Job seekers should emulate Salespeople in interviews
Salespeople are the best interviewers.
Because they know how to sell products, it’s cake to sell themselves.
How do Sales people prepare for a call?
They prepare (the right way)
Cameron Holmes outlined a great method of preparing for calls. I’m going to apply it to an interview in order to sell myself.
The Secret Sauce
The 3x3x3 rule sounds simple enough. Let’s go through each step
Spend 3 Minutes
When interviewing, the call should be assumed to be warm regardless if you know the interviewer.
Do your research. 99.9% of people are on google somewhere. If you have a name, company, and location you can triangulate through Google who a person is.
If not, treat them like a good friend. Be vulnerable, ask questions that allow them to show who they are:
hobbies,
interests,
what they do outside of work,
what excites them
What these do is allow you to develop that rapport in the follow up email as well as link those to your next interview when you get another.
In my personal situation, the companies I interview with usually have someone I have worked with in the past or know (networking is digging the well BEFORE you are thirsty). I was able to talk to those I knew beforehand as a reference as well as gain insight to a need in terms of the current position and any other open positions.
So my three things about the person interviewing me due to my research
extensive experience within the selected industry
Member of a local group of industry professionals which I have taken part in
Has had multiple interviews regarding his role - and is looking for diverse experience in addition to experience within the industry
And three goals in the call
Show that I am excited about being in a coordinator position - I enjoy developing people, finding solutions, managing personnel - and have proven experience in the industry
I am someone who would fit well with the current workgroup. I am a giver when it comes to providing help to others because it provides value to the group as a whole
I develop skills quickly and know the industry, therefore my onboarding time will be considerably less than those outside or with less experience
Find a need they have
This is where you need to do company research. Let’s take a personal example
I work in pipeline and integrity of pipelines.
The companies that are in this industry are looking for solutions to
managing multiple pipelines with different products
making sure these lines comply with government standards
develop and coordinate their current people as well as new hires in order to maintain quality of service
The last need is something I will focus on.
When a PM or coordinator leaves, there is a gap and stumbling of personnel. The PM/coordinator is a keystone for operations and needs that role to be filled.
Companies need a proven track record of doing the following
Developing personnel
Handling a large project workload
Communicating with technical and non-technical employees in order to get results
So how do I fulfill that need?
In my previous experience, I’ve handled multiple crews (five or more at a time) that performed repairs and commissioning/recommissioning projects. They need to meet certain technical standards while also being executable in the field.
In order to perform in the field I have worked with field operations in order to plan the work, identify roadblocks (such as modifying pipe, 3rd parties that are involved, and product coordination) and capture/resolve them early in order to save time and money
There’s much more I can go into, for the sake of brevity I’ll move on to the next step
Taking notes during the call
This is underutilized when interviewing and helps you
Stay focues on the call
allows you to draft a follow up email without sounding robotic
Don’t hesitate to ask questions that relate to the need that the interviewer/hiring manager has. You can tailor your answers and follow up in order to answer this exact need.
Keeping your promises
What can you promise at the end of the call?
A few ideas
a follow up email
a report or story you mentioned during the call
a deliverable or personal piece of content you can provide
It’s an easy way of establishing rapport and getting you a second interview/job offer
For my personal interview, it could be something like recounting the need the interviewer mentioned, having a video link to me answering the question, or offering a solution to a current problem they are having (possibly a presentation).
Summary
Be a salesperson when it comes to interviews and applications
Do your pre-work (the 3x3x3 method)
Find a need the company has
Take notes during the interview
Deliver on your follow up email
Hope this helps those in the job search and interview stage. Be open to applying the principles of other jobs to your needs.
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GJ Sequeira