Job Interview Tip: Don’t Sabotage Your Interview By Making This Critical Mistake

As an interview coach, I always recommend that my clients bring a 30/60/90-day plan to their job interviews. This plan is a written outline for what they intend to do and achieve within the first 3 months on the job. It takes research and strategic thinking to put one together, and it’s a lot of work, but it produces fantastic results. It “shows” the hiring manager what life will look like with you on the job and helps him to see you in it, which gives you a big advantage over other candidates. However, some job seekers are uncomfortable with it because (1) maybe they will get some part of it wrong; (2) maybe the hiring manager won’t want to see the plan; or (3) maybe I won’t get an opportunity to show the plan—then all that work will be for nothing. To answer this, I want to present two scenarios to you: Candidate A has an interview with a hiring manager who made a mistake the last time he hired someone, and is really nervous about making the right decision this time. The manager is looking for someone who really knows his stuff, can do a good job, and will pose no risk to his own continued employment. That’s no problem for Candidate A, because he’s a strong candidate with a great background, and interviews well. Candidate B has the same job experience as Candidate A, and also answers the questions well—in fact, he answers them just like Candidate A (so there’s no difference in the quality of the candidates). The only difference is, when Candidate B is asked how he will strategically approach the job, he says, “I’m so glad you asked about that. I want to show you the plan I’ve put together for what I will do the first 3 months of my employment with you. I’ve never worked here before, so I’m sure there will be some things that need to be corrected [which takes care of objection #1], so please tell me what those are so that I can. I want to understand the position better, and I want you to understand how I think about this role so that you’ll be comfortable with hiring me. I want you to know that I can do this job, and I will do this job. “Candidate B reviews the plan, and talks with the hiring manager in detail about how he’ll execute the job, asking questions and revising when necessary. Once he’s done, he asks, “Do you think that if I were to execute this plan with the changes we’ve made, that I will be off to a successful start with this company?” The answer will always be “Yes.” Candidate B will have demonstrated better than Candidate A that he’s a better, safer bet for hiring. This will change your job search and will get you the offer. I get emails every day from candidates who’ve used this plan and told me that it changed their lives and helped them get the job of their dreams—and you can find success like this in your job search, too.