St Jude Catholic Church Allen, Texas lecture -
Websites for Dirk
https://dirkspencer.com - Dirk’s recruiter experience
https://resumepsychology.com – The book preview
https://thecandymakerresume.com – The book preview
https://theoneinterviewquestion.com – The book preview
https://dirksinterviewpsychology.com – The book preview
https://resumekeywordsdecoded.com – The book preview
http://www.slideshare.net/DirkSpencer - Online presentations by Dirk
http://resumekeywordsdecoded.teachable.com - Dirk’s online resume keywords class (free)
13. Interview: The Pre-Screen III
This is how they manage their workload
They may not share much with you
They might not know much
Regardless – Act Normal
14. Pre-Screen Goal:
Be the Normal Person
…Who is qualified
…Who sounds reasonable
…Who projects self-awareness regarding:
Skills
Experience
Scale
Market Conditions
Industry Changes
Historical Context
15. The Pre-Screen is Expectation Setting
The pre-screen is designed to verify your:
Rate or salary
Availability to interview
Work authorization
When you can start if an offer is made
16. The Pre-Screen is One Sided
Them asking about your stuff
You telling them about your stuff
17. RULES FOR ANSWERS
DEVELOP ANSWERS BY WORD COUNT
THE BASIC QUESTIONS
TYPES OF INTERVIEWS
CRAZY QUESTIONS
OVER-LEARN YOUR CONTENT
Interviews
18. The Rules to Interview Answers
Rule 1 – There are no wasted questions
Rule 2 – It is always about them
Rule 2.5 – Seriously it is about them
Rule 3 – Every answer must be job related
Rule 4 – Be honest
Rule 5 – Be brief
Rule 6 – Be gone
19. Prepare Interview Answers by Word Count
Have a 15-17 word introductory answer
Have a second 20-30 word follow-up answer
Have a 15-17 word closing answer
Integrate relevant skills in every answer
Avoid timed-answers – it encourage faster talking
Become comfortable with pauses and silence
20. The 6 Basic Interview Questions
1. Tell me about yourself
2. Tell me about a time you failed
3. Tell me about a time you succeeded
4. Tell me about your greatest weakness
5. Tell me about your greatest strength
6. Tell me how you handle stress
21. Tell Me About Yourself
Doing Great – How About You?
They are gauging pessimism versus optimism
They are measuring energy
They are measuring enthusiasm
They are calibrating interpersonal norms
They are evaluating your communication style
22. Tell Me About a Time You Failed
“Let me think…”
Make this work related
23. Failure – What They Want to Know
How you handle failure?
Want you learned from failure?
Are you self-aware regarding failure?
24. Failure – All About Ownership
They want to know:
1. If you own-it
2. If you blame-others
3. IF you blame circumstances
End the example on a “Positive” outcome
25. Tell Me About a Time You Succeeded
“Working with a team allows for…”
They want to know:
Do you share the credit for success?
Do you work well with others?
Do you do the work?
Do you delegate the work?
Is there more to you than the resume?
26. Tell Me About Your Greatest Weakness
“Professionally speaking there was a
time…”
They want to know:
Are you self-aware of a short-coming?
Are you recovered from your weakness?
What adaptation did you implement?
27. Tell Me About Your Greatest Strength
“When it comes to this job…”
They want to see energy – not cheerleading
Demonstrate “relaxed confidence” about your skill
This is where you can drill down on “their” needs
This is when you can demonstrate professional
commitment
28. Tell Me How You Handle Stress
Amateur answers to avoid:
I jog 3 miles, lift weights and do yoga
I have a black belt in karate
I never get stressed out
29. Answering the “Stress” Question
Answer to the best outcome:
Give a work example
Share a business-case
Convey your experience managing
stress using skills they care about
30. Interviews – Summarizing Your Career
What you have to know & know cold:
Companies – Know the value of a brand
Job Titles – Translate the jargon
Dates – Be consistent
Have 4 or more stories “over-learned”
31. Interviews - Consulting
What you have to share & share well:
You expertise on topical matters
Products, services, methodologies
Industry best practices
32. Interviews - Behavioral
They are gauging your :
Reaction times
Reaction consistency
Comfort level in your own story telling
33. Purpose of the Behavioral Interview
Break through the professional persona
Measure candidate comfort with others
Gauge candidate’s aptitude to adapt
Preview a candidate’s authentic self
34. Behavioral Interview HR Mantra
“Past performance is
the best predictor of
future performance”
35. The Crazy Questions
Realize…
The answer is irrelevant
There is no correct answer
They are watching for “how” you answer
36. The Crazy Questions - What Matters
Consistent delivery:
“Be Cool Under Fire”
Give interesting answers:
“Participate Ethically”
Demonstrating logic:
“…One bite at a time”
37. Purpose of the Crazy Question
Determine how you handle the unexpected?
This is all they want to know…
&
Are you normal under 2 conditions:
When things are going well
When things are not so well
38. The Logic for Crazy Questions
How do you handle fake stress created by a
fake question?
If you crash here you must share
experiences showcasing victories over real-
stress
40. How to Over-learn Your Material
Stage Right!
Practice your stories like stage actors reciting scripts
Rehearse, rehearse, rehears, rehearse
Rehearse a little more
Rehears a lot more
Rehearse aloud
Rehears with others
Rehearse using audio & video technology
41. Why Rehearse?
Build, train and reinforce
Nero-pathways in the brain
Vocal and facial muscles
Why
Creates a superior level of confidence
Reduces stress hormones
42. The Goal of Over-Learning
It allows for spontaneous responses to new stimuli:
Cognitive answers to unrehearsed questions
Translation:
You are able to say something relevant and correct to
new questions even though the response was not
rehearsed
43. Over Learning is Not Memorization
Memorization Fails:
It does not allow for integration of experience
Interruptions can break concentration
Pauses can break story continuity
52. Legal Stuff
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