Visualizing Success in Job Interviews

Some interviewers do a good job and make sureblabbing about how great you are, find out what the
they ask you pertinent questions. However, mostcustomer needs first. Recruiters often describe jobs
interviewers are not good at interviewing andin terms of skills and education required. These are
therefore will not ask you questions that will let youreally just symptoms of a person who could be
provide information showing how you're qualified andcapable of doing the job but don't explain what is
can do the job. A study by psychology professorsactually involved. You need to dig deeper and find
Hunter & Schmidt in "Psychology Today" foundout from the recruiter the specific tasks that need to
a typical employment interview is only 7 percentbe accomplished. Here are some examples of specific
more accurate than flipping a coin. This is becausetasks:
the typical interviewer doesn't know the right- Migrate the office from Windows 2000 to Windows
questions to ask and makes a decision based on their2003
"gut feeling" about a candidate.- Install the SAP enterprise software system in all
Unless you're dealing with an exceptional interviewer,offices nationwide
which you can usually determine rather quickly, you- Increase sales of our photocopiers to the
should take it upon yourself to insure you find outpharmaceutical industry by 25% over the next 9
what the employer is looking for and convey howmonths
you can do the job. There are two important thingsThese are examples of deliverables - specific tasks
you need to accomplish in interviews: one is providingthat need to be accomplished. Ask follow-up
the interviewer with factual information supportingquestions to be sure you understand. Take notes
the idea that you are a good fit for the job; thewhen the interviewer is talking if you like. One caveat
other is for the interviewer to connect with that logicif you take notes: Just make sure you're coming
on an emotional level. Trial attorneys face a similaracross as being sincerely interested in the position
challenge when presenting their case to a jury. Theyand not coming across as a salesman or manipulator.
need to provide them with both factual informationPitching Your Background & Visualizing Success:
and with an emotional connection to their version of- Once you understand what the job entails and
the story.what needs to be done, you should mentally match
The most powerful way of creating an emotionalthe tasks with things you've done in the past.
connection is through visualization. Just as a jury- Start off talking about your strongest
needs to visualize an attorney's version of a storycompetencies, tying one of the tasks to be
for them to have an emotional connection with it, anaccomplished with something you've done
interviewer needs to be able to visualize you in thesuccessfully.
role they're hiring for, doing the tasks of the job. The- You could start off talking about the task they
interviewer needs to see you doing those things andneed done, then talk about how you did something
needs to be able to visualize the outcomes. Helpingsimilar before, then paint a picture of how you would
someone visualize your story can be done by usingdo it for them, including action words to help them
detailed descriptions of actions and throughvisualize you actually doing it.
appropriate use of hand gestures and body language.- Talk about symptoms of the success your efforts
To illustrate, instead of saying the person burglarizedwill create. Could talk about a more productive
the house, which is an abstract idea, a trial attorneyworkforce with people spending more time talking to
would describe the actions: John walked up the brickclients instead of doing paperwork. This will help
walkway at 8:00 pm on a moonlit evening, shatteredcreate visual images in the mind of the interviewer
the side window and climbed into the house. The firstthat will help them remember you and make it easier
way of explaining what happened just gives anfor them to see you as being successful in the
abstract idea which creates either no image in theposition.
listener's mind, or just a vague image that they won'tFor example, if the employer needs to migrate their
remember. The second way provides a vivid imagesystems from Windows 2000 to Windows 2003, you
they can easily recall and connect to. The attorneycould first talk about how you migrated a similar-sized
might even use some gestures and body languagecompany a couple years ago from Windows NT to
when talking about walking up the steps or shatteringWindows 2000. You could talk about how you
the window, which further reinforces the visualplanned the project, how many people were
imagery.involved, and how the end-users' productivity
"Lead with Need"changed at the end (hopefully for the better). Then
One of the most common mantras in the sales worldtalk about the steps you would go through to do it
is "Lead with Need." This means before you startfor them, being as descriptive and visual as possible.