Questions

Typical scenario:

Job interview. In business clothes with binder of resumes. Sitting in office with interviewer.

They ask questions. They pause and read notes on your resume. Look up and ask questions.

You sit politely and answer. You practiced your answers. You are trying hard not to fidget and think about the electric bill which is due today. Or whether or not your turned off the iron at home.

You say nothing other than answer the questions posed to you.

Wow - one dimensional at best.

Try this: Go to your next interview. Dress correctly, be on time, the usuals.

When the interviewer comes in let them lead with a few questions. Then start asking more questions as part of your answers.

For instance:

Interviewer: You have here at your last job that you brought in and maintained several key accounts. Who for instance?

You: From my network I came in with Pepsi, John Deere and Pacific Gas and Electric, all of whom I successfully transferred over to our system and services. How do you work that here? If I bring to the table certain accounts of that type, will I continue to maintain them? Will they be my accounts or will they be handed over to a more senior member of the staff? Will they become house accounts? Is there any consideration for the caliber and depth of an account with your company?

Keep it up. Ask lots of questions. Ask about the company. Ask anything. You may go to work for this company for five years. Why aren't you asking the real question "Will I be able to do my work the way I need too?".

Finally, never, ever, ever end an interview without asking the interviewer - "What do you like about working here and what excites you about coming to work every day?". If the interviewer cannot answer the question, politely excuse yourself and leave.

Me 101

Remember, you are selling yourself.

It does not matter if you have a job selling or marketing things right now. You still have to sell yourself.

Sell yourself to customers (essential), to co-workers (difficult), to competitors (fun), to prospective employers (nearly everyone).

What did you do when you met with a customer today (you do meet with your customers don't you?)? Did you monologue endlessly about your company and products? Did you recite facts and figures about features, warranties and customer support?

Or did you ask 100 questions about your customer and their needs? Did you sell your personal service as part of the sale of your product? Did you treat a sales call or meeting as a job interview rather than a sale?

You will always have work. You will always have something to do which earns money. But you can only be successful, truly successful if you are able to sell yourself in every situation.

What do you want to do?

What do you want to do?

I can't believe how many people I meet who cannot answer this simple question when it comes to their career.

They can answer questions about the "symptoms" of work - nice people, close commute, good health plan, an understanding boss, free pizza, etc. But they have the hardest time defining exactly what they WANT to do.

Before you write that resume, ask yourself "What do I really want to do?".

Write it down. Write three versions - the long, rambling-talk-as-much-as-you-want version, the top of the resume version and the "elevator pitch" version (this one shoule be the length of an elevator ride between two floors, about 8-10 seconds).

Practice it. Say it out loud in front of a mirror. Now go live it. Fine tune your message as you go.

Just make up your mind - what do you want to do?

BTW - Leader of sales force for a cutting edge technology company. See. It's easy.