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Job Interview Tactics: Little known secret to getting job offers

Today we are not going to talk about the common sense interview tactics. You don’t need me or some guru to tell you that you should research the company, dress nice, arrive early, bring a resume and thank everybody.

Here is what we are going to cover:

Taking Control of the interview process from the start

How to answer interview questions

Creating instant rapport and connection

Leading the interview and assuming the sale

Setting up the challenge and getting the job offer

FACT 1: THE MOST QUALIFIED PERSON DOES NOT LAND THE JOB

Its mind boggling that you need a completely different skill set to land the job offer then you actually need to perform the job. Recruiters go through all this trouble to source, screen and find the candidate that is most qualified yet the job offer usually goes to those who can interview well.

I don’t know how many times I have seen qualified candidates who are capable, motivated and have the experience lose over somebody who is simply more persuasive, meaning able to sell themselves better than the rest.

It’s not fair, so instead of complaining lets do something about it. Let’s get to it.

Interview Tactic 1: How to take control of the interview process from the start

Usually the first 10 minutes of the interview will make or break you.

The moment we shake hands we want to lead the conversation. Our aim here is not to blabber upon end; instead we want that recruiter to tell us practically everything we need to know about the company and the role. We are going to use the answers to our advantage when it comes to answering questions later on.

Usually recruiters want to get to the point, they will give you a little overview of the position and then start by breaking the ice with the useless question “tell me about yourself”. We don’t want this to happen

What we want to find out:

How do you like working here?

How long have you been working here?

Why is this position open; Is it a new role?

What type of problems and challenges are you hoping to solve by hiring me?

What are the future growth opportunities

Can you take me though the day to day responsibilities and challenges I would solve?

Interview Tactic 2: How to answer interview questions and create rapport at the same time

Simply by asking the questions, we will find out what type of candidate they are looking for, what the work environment is like and what goals need to be accomplished.



Hopefully at this point we have broken the ice and a conversation is unfolding. From here on out we can demonstrate value by relating all the gathered information to our previous experience.

If the recruiter is inexperienced or simply a robot they may still ask “Tell me about yourself”. At this point we want to interrupt the robot and ask

“What aspect of my experience would you like to know more about”.

They may fumble a bit and look over your resume and ask you a specific question which is good as that will keep us moving forward. By now you are hoping that I would give you some answers to common questions, however this would be very counterproductive for numerous reasons.

There is never a right or wrong answer

You would sound like a robot

Most of the articles that give you answers are written by clueless people

Recruiters usually never ask stupid questions such as what is your weakness, what are your strengths…

How to best answer interview questions is very simple; we create stories. Short little stories that demonstrate values, experience and a skill set that the employer wants. Remember the information we have gathered in Step one, we want to imbed what the employer wants in our little stories.

Here is an example:

My first job out of collage was at a furniture store a long time ago. Here is a story that I would create around this position

“When I first started I struggled immensely; I simply couldn’t understand how one person could make $2000 per week yet another person would make minimum wage. All of us had the same opportunities to sell and all of us were selling the same products. That curiosity drove me to purchase two books “Zig Ziglar’s Secrets of Closing the Sale ” and “The Ultimate Sales Machine ” by Chad Holmes. I read both books and started to implement all the techniques on a daily basis; I also networked with the top preforming sales associated. I would shadow them to see how they approached sales and then I would ask them to watch me and implemented all their advice. Within 3 months I became the top sales person in the store, not because I was amazing at sales but simply because I was proactive and willing to improve. 9 months later I was offered to manage a store in a different state but I declined mainly because I didn’t see myself selling furniture for the rest of my life and also because I wanted to apply my degree… I did learn a great deal from this position and I think this willingness to learn and improve has carried over to all of my positions”

There it is… a short little story that only took about 2 minutes to tell.

That story is memorable, it shows a huge number of traits and by imbedding qualities in our stories we can essentially brag without bragging.

Think back about the past interview you have had. Did it sound something like:”I was responsible for all … My main duty was to … I was in charge of … bla bla bla”



Here is what you should do today



Go over all of your experience

Create short stories around your previous positions

Introduce a problem

Tell what you did to solve it

Tell the results

Memorize those stories and tell them to your friends and family so it becomes very natural over time



Interview Tactic 3: Assume the sale

About half way through the interview we want to shift the focus on the future and simply assume the sale, in other words pretend that you already have the job with this company and that you have been transferred into a new department.



We want to start asking future oriented questions:

Who would I be reporting to

Who would I be working with on a daily basis

What are your expectations for the first 3 months

What do you see me doing on a daily basis from the first time that I walk through that door (You can point) but please don’t

By asking these questions the interviewer will start answering questions with you in mind, that is exactly what we want. There will be a mind shift that takes place here; It’s a simple sales technique that works wonders

Time to wrap this up

Interview Tactic 4: Close the sale but don’t make it easy for them

You don’t want to say things like: “Great I would love to work for you, what’s the next step”, please don’t sell yourself short, this only makes them go into reflex mode and they will say something like “we have a few more interviews lined up so we will let you know in a few days”



We want to display confidence and here is how we are going to do that



“In my career thus far I have worked with a variety of smaller and larger companies. I still have a few interviews lined up next week … and what I have learned thus far is that no matter how great the pay is or how prestigious the company was … what’s most important to me is that I work with people with whom I can be comfortable with. Not just professionally but also in my personal life… so even though we are having a great discussion I also need to make sure that I’m comfortable with not just you but also the people I’ll be working with. I would like to know if its OK to meet the people I’ll be working with before I am given the offer. Would that be OK?

You can tailor that as you like but most recruiters and hiring managers will be very surprised and will instinctively answer without thinking. They may say things like, we can set something up for you, or they may even call a few people or take you directly to them.

If this is a position where you work by yourself then you can apply the same tactic and simply ask for a tour of the workplace. They will be very open and interested.

I hope I have provided a little alternative to the many lame articles telling you to arrive early and dress nice. Remember if you landed the interview the person wants to hire you so go in there with all the confidence in the world.

Words of Wisdom:

If the hiring manager is rude to you, simply get up and walk out. That should be a nice indication how you will be treated in the future. Life is too short so don’t waste it on somebody who does not care about your well-being.

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