Don't Play Defense!

In preparing for interviews, how much energy do you put into building the case for why you should be hired, vs. why you should not be eliminated?

Candidates tend to put a lot of focus on what weaknesses they might have, and how to answer those.

• What questions have I been asked in the past that gave me trouble?
• What clues have I received as to why I was eliminated in other interviews?
• What position requirements do I not fully meet?
• In what parts of the job do I not have much experience?
• Where are other candidates stronger than me?
• Which weaknesses have tripped me up in other interviews?
• How do I answer why I left my last job?
• What else might there be in my past that I need to be prepared to explain?
• What difficult questions might I be asked?

These are all valid concerns, and deserve some attention. The problem is that when you spend too much time worrying about those, it puts you in the wrong frame of mind for success. And often you send signals (unwittingly) that make it more likely that those questions come up.

Here’s an example of how your psychology can help or hinder you.

When I started my practice two decades ago, I presented an offer of free resume assessments to my alumni network. I had 100 requests in 48 hours.

I provided lots of valuable feedback, but at the same time worried about what I had to offer beyond that. I obsessed about how to make the offer, when to make it, what to charge, and what signals I should sense from the prospect before making it. As a result, I walked away with only 3 clients (but tons of testimonials).

When I repeated the experiment at a later date, I had worked on my psychology. I came up with a clear offer and didn’t worry about whether it was the ‘best’ offer I could make. I committed that I would make an offer to each person I talked to.

This time I projected a different, more confident psychology. I found that I no longer had to worry about when to make the offer. Nearly every person I spoke to specifically asked me what the next steps might be and how much it would cost. That 3% closing rate rose to 24%.

You can’t overcome every possible objection, flaw, or gap that any interviewer could possibly focus on. There will always be some candidate who is stronger than you in some aspect of what the hiring manager MIGHT want.

But if you bring confidence and focus on why you SHOULD be hired, you will come in with a powerful psychology that helps minimize those potential flaws, and perhaps they won’t even come up. If and when they do, they will be in the context of your strong case for being hired, which frames them more as questions to be answered rather than objections to your candidacy.

Also consider the hiring manager’s point of view. While I may present a wish list of qualifications in the position description, I don’t really expect someone to meet every single aspect.

Even if someone does, that doesn’t automatically mean I will hire them. I don’t typically hire the ‘perfect’ candidate, as they are likely to quickly become bored and look to move on. I want to hire someone who feels there are some challenges in the job that will help them develop and keep them engaged, that provide some runway for them in the job.

Think of how refreshing it could be for the interviewer to have someone come in and right up front make the case for why they are the candidate who should be hired. That gives the interviewer something to react to, instead of asking a series of formulaic questions to try to unearth that case. It also shows a degree of confidence and self-awareness that they might respect, and those are likely qualities they want on their team.

This is part of why I advocate for telling your HERO Story early in every interview.

Remember also that the position description is just a guideline, so that if too much of your focus is on answering objections to how you meet it, you may be missing the chance to really sell yourself for the right aspects. The PD generally doesn’t reflect the relative priorities, and often may not even include things that keep that interviewer up at night. You want to be getting into a deep discussion about those as quickly as you can, and making your case up front can help to lead you there.

This can also help you and the interviewer avoid wasting your time on something that isn’t a good fit. That can lead to a strong possible referral partner if this is the wrong job for you.

So for your next interview, don’t focus on excuses for what you don’t have, rather on reasons for what you do. Instead of playing defense, come in armed with your strong, confident case for why you SHOULD be hired, and see where that leads!