Alan Jones - Winning at Interview

WINNING

AT

INTERVIEW

A New Way To Succeed

Alan Jones

Copyright 2020 Alan Jones

This edition 2020

All rights reserved

First published in paperback by Random House Business Books 2000

Cover design: www.creative-bytes.co.uk

Cover image: iStockphoto/Palto

Other books by Alan Jones: 'How To Negotiate Your Salary' and 'Network To Get Work'

No part of this book may be reproduced, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

Contents

P reface

Introduction

Chapter One

Getting In The Zone

Building Block 1 - What Is A Job?

Building Block 2 - What Is An Interview?

Building Block 3 - Keep Your Eyes On The Prize

Building Block 4 - Be Yourself?

Building Block 5 - The Two Guiding Principles

Building Block 6 - Selling Yourself The Best

Building Block 7 - You're Already A Winner

Building Block 8 - Helping Inexperienced Buyers

Chapter Two

The Removal Of Uncertainty

So - Communicate!

Having The Conversations With Yourself

Dead Zone One

Chapter Three

42 Questions - The Answer To Everything

Weaving The Tapestry - The Subliminal Sell

Who's Got The Cheese? - A Cautionary Tale

A Word About Humility

Don't Shoot The Messenger

The End Game

Questions For You To Ask

Dead Zone Two And The 'Columbo Question'

Who's Got The Ball?

Extending The Olive Branch

Conclusion

Preface

W hen seeking work you are clearly in a strong position if you are not competing with anyone. Yet, in reality there will be many occasions when you will be up against stiff competition. 'Winning At Interview' is a fitting title, as it reflects that competitive element, and to be the winner you must raise the bar on your performance to the highest of levels within your capability. This book will help you achieve that.

There are other books on 'interview techniques' that you may find helpful, and I encourage you to read them; and yet they follow the well-trodden path. Having the courage to take 'the road less traveled' can be liberating, empowering and make all the difference. In 'Winning At Interview' I advocate a unique approach to the process of 'being interviewed for a job'. If you adopt and apply the principles and ideas I promote they will serve you well, as they have many thousands of people who have read it or attended my seminars over the years. Indeed, you may well have competed with them in the past - and lost.

So - If youre competing with others in a tough market be in no doubt you have a battle on your hands. You cant win todays battles with yesterdays weapons and just occasionally something new comes along which raises the bar and gives you the edge. Winning At Interview is a paradigm shift as it takes a fresh look at how to prevail at interviews and win that job offer even when competing against others who may be better qualified and have more experience than you. Guard it jealously and do not let it fall into the hands of your competitors.

My thanks to all those thousands of sellers and buyers who, through having the courage to think and behave differently , have given me the opportunity to produce this book for those who come after them.

-

Introduction

A ll interviewers have been trained to interview. They have carefully studied your CV, fully understand the role they are seeking to fill, have carefully thought about the questions they need to ask you and have taken care to frame those questions in the right way. They also know what information and evidence they need from you in response to those questions. Or so you would think on reading other books about interview techniques. In an ideal world this would be so, but my own experience of working closely with job seekers and recruiters, of all nationalities, across all disciplines and levels of seniority , paints a very different picture. The reality is that only 2 out of 10 interviewers have been trained to interview. Yes, 80% of the people youre going to meet have no more experience of interviewing than you have of being interviewed. We must of course be careful about the conclusions we draw from such a statistic; those 8 out of 10 may still be astute, insightful and well prepared, just as the 2 out of 10 may have become jaded and lazy, but my message to you is a simple one - don't have a high expectation of what you may encounter out there. Now, this is a double - edged sword, for these inexperienced, untrained interviewers can, if you let them, cause you real problems, but if you are prepared they can present you with real opportunities. Why? Because your competitors will be facing those same people and if they are prepared at all theyll most likely only be prepared for the 2 out of 10, and they are not the problem . Should you be fortunate enough to be in front of a trained, experienced interviewer then you are in safe hands. Yes, theyll ask some tricky questions but will also give you plenty of opportunities to sell yourself. But they are as rare as hens teeth. So, where is the value in preparing ourselves for the 'world of recruitment' as we would all like it to be? Winning At Interview prepares you for the world of recruitment as it really is - an uncertain, unscientific world, a dark mysterious market place inhabited by sellers with little idea of what they are selling or how to sell it, and buyers unsure of their needs and how to fulfil them.

In Winning At Interview I will not attempt to present you with what we might call a typical interview where cause and effect are prescribed and outcomes predictable. Theres no such thing as a typical interview - for no two are the same. Each interview is a unique performance with its own dynamics, backdrop, entrances, exits and the important bit between the two. It is perhaps above all an exercise in communication in a competitive market. Winning the prize demands that you communicate your truth in the most persuasive manner with which you are comfortable . But, as I will reveal, what you say, how you say it or whether you choose to say it at all will change from interview to interview.