So, you've made it past the gatekeeper and were called in for an interview. Now, what?
Fear not Mr. Farley, your interviewer will be hanging on your every word.
Step 1
Find out the specific pain points (what company is struggling with) that this position aims to reduce or eliminate and identify the message behind them. You can find them on the job posting. If that does not exist, request the company job description from the interviewer prior to your appointment.
Example
A Warehouse Manager description may say, "Prepares and analyzes production plans in order to maximize usage of the warehouse assets and personnel to achieve operational goals and satisfy internal and external customer expectations." This sentence is really saying that you will be expected to increase both productivity and quality with only the tools and people that already exist.
Dig deeper and figure out what it's really saying
Step 2
Once you've identified and interpreted the pain points, you must find a way to convince the interviewer that you can eliminate them for the company. What is the best predictor of future behavior? Past behavior. Demonstrate the benefits you can deliver and provide a quantified example of how you have done just this, or something similar in another field/aspect, in one of your past roles.
Example
"Mrs. Interviewer, I have demonstrated the ability to increase both productivity and quality without the need for additional labor or costly tools. I developed and implemented a plan at IBM that not only increased our department revenue by 20%, but saw a customer satisfaction survey boost from 3/5 stars to 4.5/5 stars both on the internal and external side. This displays the ability to identify the company's specific pain point, presents the benefit you can provide, and provides a concrete, quantifiable example of how you have already accomplished what they're looking for. You've just demonstrated this without any warehousing experience whatsoever.
A few more answers like this and your interviewer will be salivating
Step 3 (Advanced)
There are always pain points that are not mentioned in the posting/job description. You must sniff these out as the interviewer speaks and when you have a chance to ask your own questions. Identify them, present the related benefits you can provide, and demonstrate concrete, quantifiable examples of how you have already addressed similar pain points in past roles (as shown above).
Example
"Mr. Interviewer, I heard you mention that this hospital has struggled with adapting to the new value-based treatment model. I have demonstrated the ability to quickly adapt this value-based model to a large health system in a profitable manner. In my tenure at University of Penn Health System, I created and implemented a value-based plan that led to a 10% increase in gross margin in just 6 months."
This is that company, throwing money at you.
Did you find this helpful? That's what I'm here for. Connect/Shoot me a note on LinkedIn or email me at MichaelThomasJrConsulting@gmail.com
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