This eBook is not a common 'how to' guide to interviewing, those have been done a million times over. This is something different. It is based on the experience of Richard Lindsey, an Australian consultant working in London, who leverages his own experience as well as those of the best consultants, managers and agencies he encountered throughout his career along with secrets from the field of sales, marketing and concepts from Neuro Linguistic Programming. Richard is Director of Perform and Change. (PDF file, 10 pages, 424 KB)

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Unformated preview of the document: 'Top 9.5 Interview mistakes and how not to make them' (Part 2):

relationship, so it pays them to do their due diligence rather than get stuck with the wrong person. So why don't applicants do the same level of due diligence? I would like to suggest that it's a good idea to do so, rather than risk being stuck in an unsatisfactory work situation. I'm not talking about gathering public information about what the company does, a little of that can help but much more can be a waste of time. A question to ask could be whether you know anyone who has worked with the company before. And are there other ways of finding out if the company suits you or not? Best find out so you can either bow out if it's a bad fit, or bring up your concerns during the interview. www.PerformandChange.com 2011 Richard Lindesay Page 6 Mistake 3 – Preparing answers to questions rather than an approach The good old fashioned interview questions still pop up from time to time. You know the ones I mean, "What is your biggest weakness?" "Do you work better by yourself or with a team?" I think that enough information about these kinds of questions is out there already, although I much prefer answering questions with questions, but we'll get to that. This mistake is more about preparing a proactive interview approach, rather than preparing what you will say if the interviewer asks a certain question. There are five typical parts to an interview. Your approach for each of these parts can make a significant difference to the following part, and to the interview as a whole. For instance, if you are spending the "about the company" section questioning and gathering a deeper level of information than what is provided on the surface, and figuring out how the interviewer is consciously and unconsciously influenced, then you will have all the right information to tune the "about you" section to have maximum impact and influence. Mistake 4 – Not being in the right state of mind I think it's fair to say that most people are nervous about interviews. It has been said that most of the time nervousness is a sign of unpreparedness. Also it's been said that the feeling of nervousness is very close to the feeling of excitement. In any case, being nervous is hardly a useful state to be in when going into an interview. What kind of a state is useful then? We seldom ask ourselves this question, and even if we do, we seldom have systematic ways of getting into that state instantly at the times that count. Spend some time figuring out the states that will be useful in an interview. Maybe one would be curiosity? Maybe another would be a state of openness? Write a list, get three or four. And then prepare for the interview process with them in mind. www.PerformandChange.com 2011 Richard Lindesay Page 7 Mistake 5 – Seeing an interview as a one sided transaction This is a big one, and it affects the process of the interview and the mind-­‐set of the people in the interview. We are no longer in a master slave society where we line up at the company doorstep to go through a process of begging for a job that we will stay in for life. Society has matured since then, and these days most people running companies realise and acknowledge that it is as important for them to get the right fit, often even more so often than the person interviewing. Try on these two scenarios in your mind. Think of going into a job interview, and think of the person who is interviewing as the master that you have to impress in order for them to give you the job, if you're lucky. What kind of feelings does that give you? What kind of motivation? Any? Now think of yourself as a professional in your field going to a business meeting with a potential long-­‐term partner, to discuss and figure out if it will suit for both parties to work together or not, and it doesn't matter either way. Feels different doesn't it? It puts you into a more abundant frame of mind and makes things flow much better. You may think that you won't have control over how the interview pans out, but my belief and experience is that even in the most stringent and old-­‐fashioned interviews, treating the person as a potential partner makes a great deal of difference. Mistake 6 – Telling, rather than showing what you can do You know the part of the interview that they say "now tell me about your past, and what you can do", or something to that effect. It's time for you to promote yourself, and how you do this makes a big difference. However, if you have already showed the client some of what you can do beforehand, it will have a much more profound impact. For instance, in the part of the interview that the interviewer tells you about the company and about the job, with the right questioning you can get relevant details of the problems they have, and what they want to do. With this information at hand, what an opportune time to show what value you can add! Build a conversation with them at this point about how you might approach

Unformated preview of the document: 'Top 9.5 Interview mistakes and how not to make them':  Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4