Be Just a Little Bit Better

We have an opening in our firm and so I have been conducting interviews over the past several weeks and I have interviewed some very interesting people.  There are some really big gaps that have stood out in those interviews that I wanted to talk about today.

We often hear that it’s the little things that matter, that you don’t have to be miles ahead of the competition; you just have to be a little better in order to stand out.  It is to this point that I want to talk about those things that stand out, in this case it is the things that most candidates don’t do during an interview.

Most of the candidates I have interviewed in the past several weeks have walked into my office, empty handed, that is to say, they didn’t bring anything to take notes on, and they didn’t bring any written questions to ask.  These are both critical mistakes in the interview process and they can be the difference in getting a new position or being second-place.

So on your next interview, bring a notepad.  After your greeting and after you sit down, ask the interviewer if they mind if you take notes.  No one will ever say NO.  Then open your notepad and take out your pen.  Your notes should be just the key words that the interviewer uses.  These key words are your chance to shine later.

Second, have questions written out that you want to ask.  The worst possible outcome from an interview I am conducting is for the candidate to say, no, I don’t have any questions or no, you answered all my questions.  NOTE TO FILE- If you did this in my interview, you just lost!  Always have questions to ask.  Even if I answered all of your pre-determined questions, ask them anyway.  Simply say, one of the questions I wanted answered, you already covered but please expand on your answer, tell me more.  Back to those key words you wrote down, now turn them into questions; you mentioned _____ tell me more about that.

The horse that wins the Kentucky Derby but a nose makes $ millions more than the second place horse.  Is the winner a million times better?  No, it’s just a little bit better but worth a lot more.  A little more effort on your part will make a difference.  It just might set you on a new career path.

David (Mac) McElhaney

Managing Partner
Global Recruiters of Huntsville

Phone: 256-533-1444 Ext 201

Fax: 256-418-4485

Mobile: 407-341-4462

dmcelhaney@grnhuntsville.com

www.grnhuntsville.com