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Visualizing Success in Job Interviews

Some interviewers do a good job and make sureRecruiters often describe jobs in terms of
they ask you pertinent questions. However,skills and education required. These are
most interviewers are not good atreally just symptoms of a person who could be
interviewing and therefore will not ask youcapable of doing the job but don't explain
questions that will let you providewhat is actually involved. You need to dig
information showing how you're qualified anddeeper and find out from the recruiter the
can do the job. A study by psychologyspecific tasks that need to be accomplished.
professors Hunter & Schmidt inHere  are  some  examples  of specific tasks:
"Psychology Today" found a typical employment
interview is only 7 percent more accurate- Migrate the office from Windows 2000 to
than flipping a coin. This is because theWindows  2003
typical interviewer doesn't know the right
questions to ask and makes a decision based- Install the SAP enterprise software system
on  their  "gut  feeling"  about a candidate.in  all  offices  nationwide
Unless you're dealing with an exceptional- Increase sales of our photocopiers to the
interviewer, which you can usually determinepharmaceutical industry by 25% over the next
rather quickly, you should take it upon9  months
yourself to insure you find out what the
employer is looking for and convey how youThese are examples of deliverables - specific
can do the job. There are two importanttasks that need to be accomplished. Ask
things you need to accomplish in interviews:follow-up questions to be sure you
one is providing the interviewer with factualunderstand. Take notes when the interviewer
information supporting the idea that you areis talking if you like. One caveat if you
a good fit for the job; the other is for thetake notes: Just make sure you're coming
interviewer to connect with that logic on anacross as being sincerely interested in the
emotional level. Trial attorneys face aposition and not coming across as a salesman
similar challenge when presenting their caseor  manipulator.
to a jury. They need to provide them with
both factual information and with anPitching Your Background & Visualizing
emotional connection to their version of theSuccess:
story.
- Once you understand what the job entails
The most powerful way of creating anand what needs to be done, you should
emotional connection is throughmentally match the tasks with things you've
visualization. Just as a jury needs todone  in  the  past.
visualize an attorney's version of a story
for them to have an emotional connection with- Start off talking about your strongest
it, an interviewer needs to be able tocompetencies, tying one of the tasks to be
visualize you in the role they're hiring for,accomplished with something you've done
doing the tasks of the job. The interviewersuccessfully.
needs to see you doing those things and needs
to be able to visualize the outcomes. Helping- You could start off talking about the task
someone visualize your story can be done bythey need done, then talk about how you did
using detailed descriptions of actions andsomething similar before, then paint a
through appropriate use of hand gestures andpicture of how you would do it for them,
body  language.including action words to help them visualize
you  actually  doing  it.
To illustrate, instead of saying the person
burglarized the house, which is an abstract- Talk about symptoms of the success your
idea, a trial attorney would describe theefforts will create. Could talk about a more
actions: John walked up the brick walkway atproductive workforce with people spending
8:00 pm on a moonlit evening, shattered themore time talking to clients instead of doing
side window and climbed into the house. Thepaperwork. This will help create visual
first way of explaining what happened justimages in the mind of the interviewer that
gives an abstract idea which creates eitherwill help them remember you and make it
no image in the listener's mind, or just aeasier for them to see you as being
vague image that they won't remember. Thesuccessful  in  the  position.
second way provides a vivid image they can
easily recall and connect to. The attorneyFor example, if the employer needs to migrate
might even use some gestures and bodytheir systems from Windows 2000 to Windows
language when talking about walking up the2003, you could first talk about how you
steps or shattering the window, which furthermigrated a similar-sized company a couple
reinforces  the  visual  imagery.years ago from Windows NT to Windows 2000.
You could talk about how you planned the
"Lead  with  Need"project, how many people were involved, and
how the end-users' productivity changed at
One of the most common mantras in the salesthe end (hopefully for the better). Then talk
world is "Lead with Need." This means beforeabout the steps you would go through to do it
you start blabbing about how great you are,for them, being as descriptive and visual as
find out what the customer needs first.possible.



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