1. Acing the Interview
Catherine Morgan
Career Transition and Entrepreneur Coach
Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.
June 20, 2013

2. Welcome to Sales 101
• Wrong place? No!
– Get comfortable with selling yourself

3. It comes down to chemistry
• Once there is a baseline of skill sets that
would enable you to do the job, who do
they pick?
– The one they think would be
easiest to communicate with?
– The one they think would be
easiest to manage?
– The one they think would FIT
into the corporate culture?

4. How do you know if you fit?
• Gut feeling?
• Common background?
• Common interests?
• Similar personality traits?
• Similar work style?
• Similar personal style?

5. Be yourself
• Don’t fake it!
• Six months in your real personality will come
out and you will be miserable

6. Mirror their conversational style
• Short questions should yield short answers
– If they want more detail, they can ask for it
• More conversational questions?
– Answer with a story to back up your point

7. Smart scheduling
• Be professional when you are scheduling:
– Anticipate going long so you don’t have
to interject your personal life, e.g., have to
pick up the kids
– Most of the time recruiters will work with you
– AND know your best times

8. Interviewing with executives
• Often the higher up the food chain you go,
the easier the interview is
• They may just want to
chat as your qualifications
have already been vetted
• This is truly the “fit”
interview: Will you fit?

9. How to prepare
• Collect your metrics!
– Improved efficiency by x percent
– Boosted subscribers by x percent
– Boosted conversions by x percent
– Saved x amount of man hours
– Saved x dollars
– Generated x dollars

10. How to prepare (continued)
• Research the company
• Research who you will be interviewing with
on Google and LinkedIn to find common
experiences/interests (and to determine
level and personality traits)
• Knowledge is power!

11. Mindset
• You are interviewing THEM as much as they
are interviewing YOU
• Attitude of curiosity – be interested
and engaged
• Come in with some ideas
and suggestions, but don’t
be a know-it-all

12. Phone interview basics
• Shower and dress comfortably
but professionally
• Ensure kids and pets are elsewhere
• Have your notes ready and available
• Wear a headset so that your hands are free
– NEVER use a speakerphone

13. Phone interview basics (continued)
• Smile and breathe before you start
– It will come through in your voice!
• Have drink handy to avoid dry throat
and coughing
• Talk slower and more
deliberately than
you normally would

14. Industry jargon can hurt you
• Do not use too much industry jargon
• Often first interviews are done by junior
professionals or by outsourced companies
– They might not know much about
your industry or job function

15. First round questions
• Can you tell me a little about yourself?
(Summarize your career.)
• Can you tell me about your last position?
(What did you do and what did you like
about it?)
• Why did you leave your last position?
(Or are you leaving…)
• What are you looking for in your next
position?

16. First round questions (continued)
• What do you feel is your biggest strength?
• There are a lot of qualified candidates, why
should we pick you?
• What do you feel is your biggest weakness?
(Hint, pick something that you can show you
are working on or have overcome in some
way.)
• Can you give me an example of something
in your career that you are particularly
proud of?

17. Prepping for behavioral questions
• Stories in your back pocket
– Success story from most recent position
– Something that went south
that you turned around
– Biggest achievement/
most proud of overall
– Story showing strength
– Story showing weakness

18. Don’t do this
• Don’t badmouth a former boss/company
– If it wasn’t a fit, just say that

19. Sharing personal information
• Don’t talk about family, divorce, health
issues, work-life balance issues, etc.
• Don’t be overly honest or overly personal
– Nobody cares
– Even (or especially!)
about being fired
• Keep it professional

20. Why should they hire you?
• Why will you be able to add value
from the start?
• Why will you be a great addition
to the team?
• Why are you the ideal candidate?

21. The best interviews
• Use stories to illustrate your best qualities
• Leave no doubt that you are a highly
qualified candidate
• A great interview will:
– Go off the script
– Be conversational

22. Questions for them
• What is the near-term (6 month) and
longer-term (18 month) strategy/vision?
• What are the key skills required?
• What does a day in the life look like?
• What are your immediate challenges?
• What are your biggest priorities?

23. Run - don’t walk - to the nearest exit
• Is this a new position or will you be replacing
someone?
– Were they promoted? Did they quit? Key info!
• If you find that you are the third person in
three years – RUN!

24. In-person interviews
• Body language: You will read theirs,
and they will read yours
• Dress comfortably and don’t
wear anything that pinches
– Adjusting clothing calls attention
to nervousness
• If you find yourself rambling,
pull yourself back and say,
“Did that answer your question?”

25. Talking the talk
• Deliberately slow your speech cadence
– When you are nervous, you tend to speak
quickly and babble
• Remember to speak slowly
– It buys you time!

26. In-person interviews
• Err on the side of being professional
– in speech and dress – it’s an IQ test
• Show up early or at least on time
• For executive positions,
not wearing a suit can
get you disqualified at
some companies

27. Don’t be the one
• Not asking them questions can get you
disqualified
• Don’t ask about money or benefits – let the
recruiter volunteer that info
• When asking about the interviewing process
ask confidently
– or don’t ask at all

28. Use stories!
• Biggest problem: general statements with no
detail to back up points or skills
• Example: Do you know QuickBooks?
– If no, say that you know a
similar program (if true)
– Or use an example of how
you learned another software
program in two days

29. Interviewing insider tip
• Best candidates:
– Ask pointed questions to determine needs
– Care enough to listen at the beginning when the
interviewer describes the position, why they are
looking, what they are looking for, and what
problems they are trying to solve
– Tailor answers to point back to those needs

30. Questions?
Catherine Morgan
Career Transition and Entrepreneur Coach
Point A to Point B Transitions Inc.
877.672.5333
Catherine@PointAtoPointBTransitions.com
Twitter @PointA_PointB