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8 Ways to Foster Effective Job Interview Conversations

8 Ways to Foster Effective Job Interview Conversations by Mark Anthony Dyson

The best jobs or contracts I’ve had came from conversations initially called a job interview. My theory is most of us dread the interrogative approach. Well, actually, all of us hate interrogations. I wish more employers made an effort to stop the madness.

Some job candidates don’t have a chance to get off the interrogation freight train, a train that has no regard for stop lights, cars, bikes, or humans. It’s a process with fury the size of a category-five tropical storm. In this Psychology Today article, job candidates often expect one of two scenarios: either having a “casual” conversation or being interrogated.

Oh yeah, you know this takes practice, right?

You, as the candidate, can turn the interview into a conversation. But like anything else, it requires preparation and strategy.

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The combination can invite a relaxed and balanced approach to solutions and contributions to the employer’s challenges attractive enough to bring conversation and intrigue from the employer using these suggestions:

1. Show you’ve done the research

If you don’t research the company you are prospectively seeking, you will never know what they need. Talk to several employees (even a recent former employee is helpful) and polish your message according to their needs at the time. Based on what you know, can you anticipate a need? If so, you can speak to solutions your job competition couldn’t.

Listen to: The Yin and Yang of Convincing Job Interviews with Thea Kelley

2. Give your hearers something to hold onto

What two or three problems do they repeat or what recurring problematic themes can you solve? Find ways to bring them up throughout the conversation through stories and examples. The CAR method (Challenge-Action-Results) helps you craft useful examples. Proper research and storytelling that demonstrate experience and skill place them (employer, interviewer, people you meet) on your career journey, and they likely will remember you.

3. Include resolution of business conflicts within your examples

People grow aware of how you will treat them through your scenarios involving other people. They’ll note how you made others feel and relate it to themselves. They’ll remember the tone and the volume, and your eagerness to take responsibility for the problems you resolved.

Read: The Audacious Follow Up Call After Your Interview

4. Reflect and be sure you answered all interview questions completely

You are juggling your precise answers and the employer’s information, and it’s possible you have unsatisfactorily answered a question(s). There is nothing wrong with stating you would like to go back and answer an earlier question.

Confusion and ambiguity never work in your favor. Don’t risk being misunderstood by the interviewer.

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5. Follow up appropriately

Letters and notes as follow-up are great ways to follow up, but find out what kind of communication is preferred. The question is not should you, but how and when is best. Establish the expectations before leaving the meeting for clarity.

6. Hear what they say, and what they won’t say

Interviews are draining. You want to state your potential contributions while attempting to understand expectations. Your work isn’t done when the conversation is over. Reflect on what wasn’t said (i.e., Why did the interviewer ask how many hours do I work a week at my current job?) and what was said. Depending on where you are in the process, you will need to follow up at the next interview or follow up with a call or email.

Read: Time for the Job Interview! Are Your Quirks Ready?

7. Use your excitement to drive the energy to synergy

A good interview is a good date. The excitement of one person infuses the energy of the other person. If you’re not the one generating the enthusiasm, why would the other person continue? The interest you bring is just as significant as your skills. Candidates do not impress employers with talent alone.

8. Let your personality come through

Your uniqueness offers value in profound ways. One of the unwritten tests of an interview is your primary response to stress (you know interviews are stressful, right?). If your personality shines during a panel or one-on-one interview, it’s likely to leave a positive impression. Although showing your character doesn’t mean a stand-up comedy routine, a little self-deprecating humor can help your likability factor.

A consultant mindset establishes an invaluable relationship with employers, but it comes through the business conversation. You won’t foster a business conversation if you don’t have clarity of your vision of a position delivering what employers want. Confusion can muddy the compensation discussion and create more of a wall than a bridge. Decision makers base their decision on skills and abilities and will hire the candidate who resonates with them the most.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

I am the "The Voice of Job Seekers!" I offer compassionate career and job search advice as I hack and re-imagine the job search process. You need to be "the prescription to an employer's job description." You must be solution-oriented and work in positions in companies where you are the remedy. Your job search must be a lifestyle, and your career must be in front of you constantly. You can no longer shed your aspirations at the change seasons. There are strengths you have that need constant use and development. Be sure you sign up to download my E-Book, "421 Modern Job Search Tips 2021!" You can find my career advice and work in media outlets such as Forbes, Inc., Fast Company, Harvard Business Review, Glassdoor, and many other outlets.

What Says I’m Clueless to An Employer

Everyone is familiar with the blank stare that says, “Clueless!” An employer intuitively sees your lack of experience. The nonverbal cues of uncertainty speak louder than a whole conversation. An employer’s doubts quell an affirmative decision, leaving you bewildered and unemployed.

There are times to think deeply about your answers; you should want to be as precise and confident as possible. The way you communicate dullness overall is a dead giveaway that you are in over your head. The body language, the eyes, the tone of voice, and the depletion of certainty in what you say serves you as the dead duck in the pond. The employer sees right through it.

Some job seekers take unnecessary risks thinking they can play the perception card by dressing up their resume and putting blue lipstick on what they’ve done without considering what it sounds like to an employer. As I’ve recently talked about bad career advice that job interviews are “about perception” is an all-time worse.

Taking Too Long to Think

A thoughtful answer is acceptable, but a slow one that inspires the wolves to howl to speak volumes. The unpreparedness is your fault, and you should rehearse interviewing with a coach. Get help anticipating questions that will help you to sharpen answers.

Unanswered Questions

If you don’t want to answer a question, be honest about why. Other than not answering inappropriate questions, your answers should reflect how your skills fit the job. When it’s your turn to ask questions in formal and informal interviews, be sure that you address the inadequate answers to questions you felt were. Leave no stone unturned when it comes to giving complete solutions.

Insufficient Proof

When all of your banter and hype about your terrific job lacks merit, such as documentation, facts, or at least quantified cost/time results, can you demonstrate the impact your performance has? The lack of preparation could be embarrassing when you answer, “I don’t know.” It is unlikely you will get NOT get a second chance.

Ummm…Uhhh

Lots of these fillers diffuse any confidence that you want to demonstrate. It is time to hit up your local chapter of Toastmasters. Sure, you qualify, but a couple of Um’s and Uh’s with pauses usually will undermine an impressive candidate.

False or Exaggerated Claims

I agree that employers will not be able to check the facts of your presentation, but if your answers and explanations lack plausibility, this can be a problem. Even worse, if there is a hunch that there is an exaggeration, you won’t get a callback.

Take preparation seriously during the job search process. You can use the lingo, sound expert, and explain the process, but who are you fooling? Coaching is a viable option for anyone that needs to brush up on interviewing or networking. Practicing and coaching equip you better. A professional impression in all phases of networking and hiring is essential to success.

About Mark Anthony Dyson

The Changes, Challenges, and Chores of Relationships and Unemployed

Life can go awry when one partner is suddenly unemployed. Everything will be scrutinized, but will the relationship survive? There are times when life needs to be right before things change in unemployment land.

Whether a job seeker has chosen to be unemployed or is a victim of downsizing, no one is perfectly prepared for the imminence of mental, emotional, and spiritual warfare. There is no way to predict the outcome of how life will continue because of the fluctuation of today’s job market.

The ambitious people will want to do many things, but not the right things. Therefore, the universe and the stars should align if the objectives are clear, and the spouse does not harass you about fifty other household chores they like done upon arrival from work.

Changes

Now that time is in your hands. Things are left undone when you are a slave to the work rhythm. It is natural to feel loss, and mourning is a natural response to being unemployed. For many job seekers, the bulk of emotional support was from coworkers.

Since access to them will diminish (especially if you are married with kids), transitioning to exclude them from daily contact is a significant change. As the infrequency of contact becomes noticeable, the realization of detachment can be heartbreaking. There are some practical steps you can take to help you move forward:

Less contact is good unless the work hooks you up with contacts, networking opportunities, or valuable job-finding information.

2. Do not let yourself be trapped by office gossip. You have better things to do with your time.

3. Share positively, be informative, and support is reciprocated.

Challenges

There will be intrinsic and extrinsic factors that will cause conflict for job seekers with families while unemployed. It is even more complicated if both partners are out of work and looking for jobs. Good communication is a work-in-progress but is difficult to forge and formulate. It takes time and honesty to share and clarify goals, needs and wants. Marrieds with children have the most difficulty deciding who will sacrifice their career and whose schooling is the priority.

One mistake couples make in communicating is each person’s perception of one conversation. Since feelings and priorities change like the direction of the wind, discussing each step often is critical to protect each other’s feelings. The challenge again is, to be honest about how you feel:

How do you feel about your partner’s efforts to look for a job? Do you trust their approach to finding employment? Are they missing opportunities because of a lack of action?
Do you feel that your partner should take the first opportunity offered? Do you want your partner to hold out until the best chance comes? Do you trust your partner’s judgment?
What is each person willing to sacrifice? Salary? Time? What should each person’s role be?

Chores

People I have coached, mentored, or trained have problems with being late and lack organization. The job-related document, or an appointment, they have contracted the “late bug.” If a person looks like an episode of “Hoarders,” there is a problem.

Hearing the tone of, “…he’s unemployed for a reason…” is unfair, but unfiltered as unfair.

A life in disarray will result in a life enslaved by chaos. Not that anyone would get there on purpose, but some signs appear if it has not already:

I AM forgetful of everything, such as car and home keys, passwords, cell phones, and phone numbers.
I find house duties and job search responsibilities hard to prioritize on the same day.
I am not handling criticism well nor inviting input.

Does your partner have a problem with your disorganization? With time on your hands (if you are out of work), this would be the best time to organize everything. Finances, job-related information, clothes, personal identifying documents, credit, and living are best cleaned and managed to help relieve the stress of unemployment and for your peace of mind.

Unemployed. This, too, will pass.