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THE SECRETS
How to pass job interviews | Peter Milmer
Forward
I have coached hundreds of people to successfully pass upcoming job interviews. They have
ranged in age from 17 to 63 and, in terms of abilities, from a labourer to a £400k banker. The
amazing thing is that everyone faces the same set of challenges and, because of this
publication, can now apply the same solutions.
This resource is aimed at everyone. Public, Private and Third (not for profit) Sectors; every
industry, segment and seniority. I have coached astrophysicists, professional footballers,
accountants, head teachers, Armed Forces people and commercial jet pilots. I have worked
with very senior County Council officials and young, bright graduates of every discipline.
You need to trust my advice. I have been able to coach people closely and personally before
an interview and often debrief them to ascertain what happened. I have also been engaged
by a number of recruiting firms to make sure their candidates beat those of rival firms and,
on average, achieve greater success.
If people are not successful in job interviews, we need to understand that sometimes the
internal political climate or public posturing of the organisation means that they were NEVER
going to get the job. This happens and I’m afraid we just have to live with it. However, the
upside is that I have had some people who interviewed really well and were hired by the
company in another role – so impressed were they with the individual’s performance.
Finally, let’s talk about hard work and strategy. To achieve your potential in a job interview
you should be prepared to put in a few hours’ intense effort, following a clear, successful
strategy. We all have busy lives so the best preparation will concentrate on the game-
changing aspects and build to a successful climax.
That is why I believe this publication will be so useful. Rather than concentrate simply on ‘The
Top Ten Questions Interviewers Ask’ (how can anyone know what the top ten questions are?)
or any other such shallowness, you will be able to follow a method that is very well proven, is
complete and is the best preparation you could make.
They believe you can do the job. This is often a given – you would hardly be invited to
an interview if the decision-makers thought you could not do the job. This is rarely the
problem. It is more often a case of how you will do the job. Read on…
They believe you can solve their problems and/or service their plans
They believe you will fit in. This means they believe you are on their or their
organisation’s/their team’s wavelength and you understand what they really need
from you.
They like you. Yes, they like you.
The last three points above are the areas in which you can substantially improve your chances.
And, as a bonus, by working on these three, the first one will take care of itself.
What you can offer in an interview / What you have that you can
give
You only have two things you can offer. Just two things on which every opinion formed about
you will rest. These are, quite simply:
Your past. Everything that you have done or been that has contributed to the person
they see before them. Let’s call this your experience but the word is not adequate to
describe the full picture. It includes qualifications, history, etc but most importantly,
an assessment of how capable you will be going forward. This is the judgment they
make. If they don’t ‘get you’ and cannot imagine you working within their
organisation and don’t feel excited, then you have missed a trick. Because they will
not employ you otherwise.
The way you come over. This means the impression you make. The, ‘cut of your jib’.
How they feel when they meet you and spend time with you.
The amazing thing is that if you can improve in just one of these two areas, it will enhance the
other area in tandem. For instance, get the first bullet right - your past – and this will
automatically make you more physically impressive. You will ‘come over’ so much better in
I have rarely met anyone (and I’ve coached 100s of people in these methods) who found this
easy. It isn’t, but it is critically important and you will never have to do it twice.
Everyone, at every level, suffers from the problem that they did not achieve anything on their
own. Of course you didn’t. There were teams, colleagues, advisors, mentors, etc, from whom
you received vast amounts of help. It’s always the same. However, remember that they are
not being interviewed. It is only you who is being judged so you must be able to ring fence
your achievements.
To help you ‘ring fence’ your achievements learn this incredibly useful and effective tip. We
know that people do not work alone; we know that there is no ‘I’ in ‘team’ and so on. We
have been programmed to use the ‘We’ word all the time. Well, in an interview, don’t so
much. When you are recounting a story, use the ‘I’ pronoun more liberally. This will have a
very powerful effect on the listener. So use ‘I’ for the past and ‘We’ for the present and the
future. Of course, don’t overdo either!
The evidence you compile must be a series of stories that create a picture in the mind of the
listener. This is so important I’m going to repeat those words. The evidence you compile must
be a series of stories that create a picture in the mind of the listener. A PICTURE. If you follow
the instructions, this will happen naturally.
Keep the stories BRIEF and HIGH LEVEL. What is brief? You must be flexible but anywhere
from 10 seconds to a minute or so. No more. I will return to why this is so later.
Be clear in your own mind what strength, talent or characteristic you are aiming to convey
with this story. These stories are like golden bullets that you can deploy at a moment’s notice
and rely on to carry the correct, powerful messages. For instance, if you are a middle manager,
say, you will have a story or two that illustrates your ability to solve problems creatively. Every
If, as is so often needed, you must show evidence of management skills, budget control,
problem solving, relationship management, influencing, etc, you must differentiate between
levels. For example, we could visit a Cub Scout meeting and the Cub Scout Leader will, no
doubt, be managing a budget, managing relationships, displaying keen customer service skills,
etc. So what’s the difference between them and you? The answer is SCALE and BRANDING (or
context, or background). So, you must be careful to calibrate (pitch) your stories so that the
scale (£5 million, 10 days, 40%, 25 people, etc) is clear to the listener. The branding (context
or background) is achieved using brands that people would recognise or trust (Audi, Rolls
Royce, IBM, Coca Cola, Qantas, etc). Make sure the listener understands this. Where you can’t
achieve instant brand recognition, make sure that you explain that this or that company is the
third largest in its sector, or turns over $xx million, or whose customers are Tesco, Asda and
M&S or whatever. You must establish a plausible link between the places where you achieved
success and the trust perceived by the listener. They will likely believe that if it’s good enough
for Toyota or MacDonald’s, it’s good enough for them.
Be prepared to apply a good degree of elasticity to these stories both in length and content.
They should be like a joke you would tell and you adjust the content and length to suit the
occasion, atmosphere or audience. But the punch line doesn’t change. What’s funny about
the joke does not change and neither do the WAYPOINTS the joke that set up the punch line
and ensure it is understood and laughed-at by anyone you tell. If you are familiar with the
basic direction of travel of your stories, adjusting them as you go is relatively easy. Changing
the emphasis or altering the detail is easy if you are secure in your knowledge of how the
story works and delivers its effect. So you need to be familiar with these stories to the point
that they won’t let you down under any circumstances, particularly during the stress of an
interview.
Give each story a nickname (example, ‘Leaking Bucket’, ‘Ptarmigan’ or Sweden Project’. This
will help you later by ensuring one doesn’t merge with, or morph into, another. It also is a
great memory aid and priceless when you prepare for the interview. I’ll show you how that is
later.
These stories take some doing. When you get them onto the page and you start to understand
how you can deploy them confidently to illustrate particular strengths (or job requirements),
that’s great, but it isn’t enough. This is where people go wrong. I need you to take this a stage
further and learn to articulate or verbalise these stories which is another challenge again. This
evidence is of little value sitting on the page if you cannot put it into words. Here I can promise
you some really good news. You persevere in saying these 10 (or so) items out loud, you learn
Your Achievements
It is not enough for YOU to know what you can do. Neither is it enough to just tell someone
else you can do it. Our task here is to make sure a decision maker sees and understands that
you have already achieved significant success in the areas on which the interview will focus.
As I have already said, the development of your achievement statements (stories) from an
examination of your work history is critically important.
These statements explain and enlarge upon tasks you performed in your job(s) and the
responsibilities you fulfilled. By using statements like this at interviews you significantly
increase your credibility in the eyes of the listeners and show your ability to get the job done.
This delivery of a measureable, successful outcome is very important in nearly all job
interviews.
You must aim to give the impression that, broken down into its key components, you have
successfully delivered all (or nearly all) aspects of the desired job before, and can prove it!
Just think of the jobs you held in the past and consider what PROBLEMS or CHALLANGES you
faced (what was the SITUATION), what ACTIONS you carried out to achieve a solution and
how you measured that SUCCESS or RESULT. The more ‘official’ or ‘auditable’ the result, the
more convincing it is but even evidence like, ‘the Chairman congratulated me on a great
result’ or, ‘the customers were very happy with the new service level’ is still very powerful.
Then follow the format below to write what are really short stories.
State a problem or challenge you encountered in one of the tasks or areas of responsibility
listed on the following page.
State what action you took to solve the problem or overcome the challenge.
State how the company or organisation benefited and the evidence to support the quality
of the result.
Keep the results as ‘hard-nosed’ as you can. All businesses (and therefore interviewers) have
the bottom line in mind. This is what drives them whether it is Oxfam, Boeing or a
Government Department. In keeping with my previous golden rule of selling, consider the
benefits from the employer’s point of view, not your own. State the problem in language and
Situation/
Challenge/ Action (YOUR’S) Result
Problem
The first box is where you paint the word picture of the big situation using (remember my
comments earlier) scale and branding. Do not move onto the middle stage until you are
certain the listener will totally understand what you were up against. And yet, keep it brief.
This is why you have to practise and prepare. It won’t come to you under pressure. In order
to remember this sequence, particularly under the pressure of an interview, you could choose
Search and Rescue (SAR) which stands for Situation – Action – Result or you could remember
going to the interview by CAR which stands for Challenge – Action – Result.
If you worry that your story will sound rehearsed or robotic, don’t. It never seems to. This is
because every time you say it there are differences of emphasis or detail. The key points (the
‘way points’ through the story) are fixed allowing you to relax and deploy a wonderful
spontaneity and relevance in some of the detail based on the actual conversation you have.
Any area of the golden triangle: Orders, Shipments, Margin (always of interest to employers)
Profits (including EBIT, EBITDA, Revenue, Turnover, etc)
Quality
Productivity
Leadership and motivation of staff
Thought leadership
Technical competence
Ability to see the bigger picture
Strategy or strategic vision
Commercial acumen
Negotiating
Add one or two others if it helps…but remember, always think from the boss’s point of view,
never your own!
Also remember, keep it brief (10 to 60 seconds) and keep to a high (the boss’s) level – more
of that later.
Because quantifying results is so important, these comments may help you in your ‘stories’.
What you did (the action taken) pretty much always accomplishes one of the following:
Now write your 10 stories constantly reminding yourself of my advice and the reasons why
you are doing this. Remember, this is not easy for anyone, especially when it comes to the
proof but you must try.
For example:
You say, ‘My actions raised morale among my team.’
I say ‘So what?’
You say, ‘So my team felt better and performed better.’
I say ‘So what?’
You say, ‘Which meant productivity rose and there were fewer customer complaints.’
I say ‘So what?’
You say ‘Which meant that we did not have to recruit new people, saving the company at
least £10k and revenue from customer services rose by an average of 5% per employee.’
I cannot justifiably say ‘So what’ again as your action has demonstrably benefited the
company’s bottom line which is good enough for anyone.
This lesson is very important. If, during an interview, you want people to understand your
likely effect on their business going forward you must tie that result into something they can
afford to care about. It is no good raising morale among the members of a team if the only
result is happier people. This will not cut much ice.
This test also forces us to consider the consequences of our actions and research, quantify
and make clear the benefits. It also has the effect of making us sound more capable and to
possess a more strategic mind set. These are things that every employer wants from their
staff.
Action I took:
Restructured UK Sales Management team to improve credibility and calibre of Sales
Managers. Established PDCA culture with sales of regular review and governance of
performance and tracking of improvement. Coaching and mentoring of key staff. Transferred
telesales from internal to a new external lead generation agency. Refreshed 70% of the field
sales force of 30 in 12 months. Performance managed most but redeployed / promoted to
key accounts others. Created new investment in sales training and competence development
program. Put in place career development pathways for sales organisation to aid retention of
key staff.
Result:
New business sales productivity per salesman up 120% yoy.
Growth achieved in all key sales channels, reversing the 5 year decline.
Machine placements up 62% yoy.
Annual clients losses reduced from 15% to <10%
Action I took:
Rationalised all the warehousing and distribution within the UK and moved to third
party contractors to cut fixed overheads
Shut the wholly owned distribution facility in Ireland with the loss of significant jobs
many of whom had worked there for a large part of their working lives
Shut the Italian manufacturing facility and moved it to direct sourcing in the Far East
Challenge: I was asked to develop a tool for busy clinical staff at the University Hospital
xxxxxxxxxxx NHS Foundation Trust to collaborate on bid production and reduce the impact of
tendering on their frontline duties.
Action I took: I worked with the IM&T Director to source appropriate software and negotiated
funding from the Commercial Development director and separate funds for a consultant
programmer to work with me on designing a bespoke programme for the Trust. The system
was designed to capture, store and report bid documents in an intuitive way while providing
excellent version control. I was given moderate administration privileges to authorise access
for specific teams to their bid documentation.
Result: The programme was successful and teams were able to collaborate on bids. By saving
staff time at meetings, production costs reduced by an estimated £1,000 per bid.
Now try your own…
Story 1 (Nickname: )
Challenge:
Action YOU took:
Result:
Story 2 (Nickname: )
Challenge:
Action YOU took:
Result:
Story 3 (Nickname: )
Candidate A
Candidate C
No buy-in
No buy-in
This second most important question is always thought to be an easy ice-breaker. It isn’t any
such thing. It is a deadly trap. You will lose the momentum of the interview within 30 seconds
if you don’t handle this well. Don’t forget, I am talking about you competing with very
competent candidates not ‘getting by’ or ‘fielding questions’ as though that was all that
matters. If you have understood my messages so far, you will know that if you do not race up
that line in a nearly vertical climb, someone else will and they will pip you at the post. Look
back at my first paragraph on Page 3 and remember those words.
This question can take many forms so I give the most common ones below. I want you to think
of them all as THE SAME or VERY SIMILAR questions that require the SAME or VERY SIMILAR
answers:
Tell us what interest has brought you here today?
Take us briefly through your CV.
Tell us something about yourself.
Tell us about yourself.
Tell me about yourself (‘TMAY’)
Take us briefly through your career to date
Tell us why you want this job
Give us a brief account of your life to date
Why should we choose you?
Let’s call this generic opening statement TMAY (Tell Me About Yourself). Remember it is
generic in the sense that the question can emerge in a hundred different guises but it requires
the same sort of answer each time. This TMAY statement is the only thing I will ever ask you
to learn by heart. It is so important when the pressure is on and first impressions are being
formed, that you perform confidently, sound good, look good and enjoy the experience
secure in your answer. If you doubt this (and I don’t think you will) keep looking at that
diagram on Page 22.
You need these follow-up questions. The reason is that when people are asking
questions they tend to be buying-in. The body language changes, they lean towards
you and there is the feeling that YOU ARE ON THEIR WAVELENGTH. This is essential.
Absolutely ESSENTIAL. Also, when they ask questions, it tends to resemble a drilling-
down into the detail. This is great because they have chosen the topic therefore are
probably talking about the THINGS THAT INTEREST THEM. If you have successfully
Let’s return to the Audi Showroom for a moment. The marketing and branding have done
their work. The customer believes in these cars and feels well-disposed to owning one. The
questions preceding a sale will be relatively minor. If the buyer, kicking the tyres, asks for the
second time, ‘Tell me again, how many A5 models does Audi import into the UK every year?’
the customer is not buying. If they ask ‘You mentioned 3 shades of blue. Could you show me
those please?’ they are buying. The detail is minor because the big decision is made.
It is the same in an interview. Paint the big picture, skilfully and full of benefits, wait for the
questions to follow and enjoy answering at the working level. Keep all answers succinct and
brief to keep the questions flowing. Are you getting this? Such is the power of the TMAY and
the stories you have diligently prepared.
I will explain the TMAY template very shortly but I need to make quite sure that you
understand all the thinking behind it. If you do, you will be more motivated to put the effort
in to making your TMAY special.
When I was in the police and I used to arrest people in the UK, it is impossible to do so
effectively without knowing the Caution. Imagine, it’s Saturday night and there are a crowd
of drunken people causing trouble in the centre of town. You move into make an arrest and
you have a lot to think about. The arrest has to be quick and effective otherwise it might turn
into a public spectacle which a Police Officer always tries to avoid. So, with the drunk flailing
arms and legs and you trying to attach the kwik cuffs, double locking with the key and making
sure they – and you – are safe, this is no time to reach into your pocket, extract a plastic
memory aid and read out the Caution: ‘I am arresting you on suspicion of being Drunk and
Disorderly. You do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not
mention now something you later rely on in court. Anything you do say may be given in
evidence.’
The first few moments of an interview is NOT the time to mumble and bumble about yourself,
have no idea where the whole thing is going and go on for ever about stuff that doesn’t matter
and won’t get you the job.
It was the same when I was in the British Army. When the SLR 7.62mm rifle stopped firing,
the Immediate Action was always, ’Cock, Lock and Look’, a very effective, necessary drill.
When I ran an Aerospace company, Bids and Tenders were often formalised. Why? Because
it’s stupid not to free your mind up for the creative, vital stuff rather than get bogged down
in the method or the script. Worse, starting from scratch every time. So it is with TMAY (and
your stories). You will know your TMAY so well it will free you up to do your job – that is to
Write out what you want to say. You’ll probably find when you read it out loud that it doesn’t
sound natural. Go through it sentence by sentence. Say the sentence as you naturally would,
then rewrite it exactly as you have said it.
What you’ll end up with is a script. Exactly what the best ‘off the cuff’ comedians or speakers
use to make sure their performance has the impact they want.
Notes:
1. Warmth? – yes. Humour? - be careful. Keep the humour to a minimum. Actually, none
is needed. However, maintain plenty of warm engagement with good eye contact. This
is far easier when you feel secure about what you are saying.
2. Keep to time limit so impact is high and you encourage a question or questions to
follow. You need to stimulate more of a conversation. Don’t rant, preach or go beyond
the time limit.
3. Only when you know this TMAY well can you adapt ‘on the hoof’ to meet the
circumstances of any given situation.
Part 1 best left for interviews with recruiters only. Can be inappropriate in a formal interview.
Start at Part 2 for most ordinary interviews with prospective employers.
I’m widely recognized as a strong, natural leader, able to persuade, motivate and drive teams
to achieve business transformations and profit growth in very demanding circumstances.
Most recently, I’ve led a highly successful cross-functional business turnaround team at
XXXXXXX. Leading 850 field based employees, I delivered a 30% reduction in operating and
OH costs and achieved a 5% rise in EBITDA, whilst at the same time improving customer net
promoter scores from 20 to >25%.
Prior to that, I had total P&L accountability for a £50m UK division of XXXXXX XXXXXX, where
I led the transformation of the Sales and Customer Service capabilities, increasing the new
business sales productivity by 120% in less than a year and reversing 5 years of revenue
decline.
My key skills are Leadership and Cross functional Team Building – where I’m widely
recognized as a natural leader with an open, inclusive management style - able to recruit,
mentor and motivate individuals and create highly performing teams.
I also have focus, tenacity and enthusiasm which consistently delivers results.
I’m an experienced ‘leader of change’ in culture and performance, business turnarounds and
the delivery of operational excellence.
___________________________________________________________________________
I’ve got a deep understanding of Lean Business Principles and have significant experience in
leading strategy developments, new geography and factory start-ups and organizational
transformations.
Here is another…
My most recent project management role has been with XXXXXXX XXXXXXX where I
introduced a project management ethos and culture to the business. I achieved this by
establishing a cross departmental project blueprint which aligned and contributed to their
strategic plans for future growth. I also led business wide product innovation and
implementation including the introduction of a new product division.
In a previous role I managed multiple revenue and capital projects totalling over a million
pounds for XXXXX XXXXX. I led a partnership team to develop and commission appropriate
services for a cluster of twenty schools within a geographical locality. I did this by establishing
a partnership board which I was accountable to.
My strengths include relationship management where I am able to build the credibility and
belief by motivating stakeholders to work together. An example of this was when I matrix
managed department wide projects and was required to influence and persuade senior
management through to clients to move projects along against the agreed timeframes and
quality expectations.
In my personal time I enjoy playing the flute, swimming and spend time with my friends and
family.
Career highlights:
My last engineering management role was on board HMS XXXXXXXXX where I successfully
project managed test firings of the primary weapon system on two separate occasions
ensuring optimal use of resources.
Also I deputised for senior managers whilst retaining my own engineering role and maintained
full service in both roles.
Skills:
On previous ships I successfully led the project team that rectified over 150 defects on the
flight deck and hangar services in a short time window enabling the ship to conduct flying
operations.
I have project managed many test firings of my ships medium range gun including a time when
I diagnosed and led the repair team to successfully rectify a defect on the gun to ensure that
a practice target was sunk before it drifted into shallow waters.
Background:
I have gained a HND in Electrical & Electronic engineering whilst in the navy and as part of my
development to start a new career I have completed the PRINCE2 practitioner course.
I am also heavily involved in the Sea Cadet Corps, which is a youth organisation that gives me
opportunities to teach skills to youngsters that wouldn’t normally be taught in schools and it
also gives me the chance to take part in boating activities.
Final words…
My final words on TMAY are to really enjoy this sublimely satisfying moment when you feel
yourself ‘bonding’ with people as they quickly ‘get you’ and understand ‘what makes you tick’.
It can be deeply satisfying and rewarding for all concerned.
2. When you look at this role, do you see what we see? Do you
understand what is critically important? Are you on our
wavelength? All this surfaces as: What do you see are the key
challenges of this role?)
What kind of question is that you might ask! Well, from the decision-maker’s point of view,
they are all very hung up on the success of their business or the alleviation of their problems.
They all think their circumstances are unique, particularly challenging, etc and will need to
know that you see things the same or you have the same vision. Technical or transactional
knowledge is fine but never enough. You must see the role through the eyes of the decision
maker. Here we have to turn to our only sources of information:
Read the JD and look at the items near the top of the list. I have never seen a JD where the
most important items, the drivers, are near the bottom. What you find is that 80% of the job
lies within the top 20% of the JD. The show-stoppers are always at or near the top of the list.
The top items are where the money is and often the remainder, whilst all important, are not
mission critical. You will also probably find that the critical items near the top (and the
judgments about who is selected lie) are wide-ranging, perhaps vague or difficult to quantify
easily. This is the point. The key drivers of a role can be easy to state in a few words, for
example, ‘Take the Company to the next level’, or, ‘Act as the public face of the whole
organisation’. When you read the JD, especially items of critical importance, you come the
Building, managing, leading and inspiring the development and technical operations
teams including mentoring teams and individuals;
Promoting coding conventions, documentation standards, QA standards and
development process, such as Agile methodologies;
Working with project managers, business analysts and others in the company to ensure
work is delivered into development in an appropriate form and that high quality product is
delivered from the technology teams in a timely manner.
Keep abreast of developments in technology to ensure that the organisation is always
using the right solutions and providing the best services to clients, whilst identifying
opportunities for growth and mitigating areas of risk.
Maintain CNL’s reputation as a market leader in the design, development, testing and
delivery of the company’s products, including implementation of high quality
IPSecurityCenter™ solutions
P&L Responsibility for all technical departments
Ensure the accurate and timely billing of all chargeable work
Manage the resolution of any escalated internal or external issues
Define and implement an agreed strategy that supports the future plans of the business
Work with fellow members of the Management Team to deliver against the overall
business Strategy
Provide a clear technology roadmap for the organisation for the multiple business
segments for 1-5 years, by distilling ideas and developments from internal and external
data sources
Implement an effective and dynamic technology innovation pipeline process for ‘step out’
advancement to augment the supporting ‘incremental’ transitions as well as disruptive
technology opportunities
Developing and delivering the technology roadmap and developing technology strategy
across all areas from development practice to hosting solutions.
Put in place clear evaluation protocol and systems for assessment
Work closely with the senior management to ensure the company operates as one fluid
organisation
Engage with key suppliers to determine new advancement opportunities
Attend trade shows/ exhibitions and deliver technical papers to enhance CNL’s position
in the marketplace
Provide expertise at key customer accounts and installations, including troubleshooting
support
Holistic approach to excellence within the company’s technical capability through
understanding of: the industries we serve; key evolving dynamics, competitive
environment, global movements in PSIM technology and the gap analysis for our the
organisation
Technical benchmarking of our technology in relation to performance, speed, yield and fit
for purpose to link into the marketing positioning strategy
Provide best practice documentation to the field sales to enable smooth and timely
commercialisation of new products/processes, which would include training programmes.
High degree of drive and enthusiasm for the role and the company.
Professional Services
o Support and help grow the Channel model
o Recruit, appraise, and discipline (where necessary) personnel within the Department
o Maintain training plans to ensure all members of the team have the necessary skills
to perform their jobs
o Responsible for all bids, including collateral to promote all Client offerings of product
and service deliverables
o Manage P&L for client accounts including some responsibility for unpaid invoices
Consultancy
o Maintain an updated implementation methodology
o Identify solutions/templates to reduce the implementation timescales
Training
o Implement a training programme that meets the needs of our internal staff,
customers and partners
o Ensure training material is up-to-date and structured to meet the target audience
o Provide different training techniques and delivery mechanisms to enable cost
effective training across all regions
Project Management
o Monitor the success of all implementations against the success criteria as
documented within the SOW using Customer Assignment Reports and Post-
Implementation Reviews
o Monitor the success of all development and testing against the company’s agreed
road map for development and testing
o Introduce and adopt appropriate test plans
o Ensure all necessary pre-requisite information has been provided prior to
commencement of a project
o Achieve project sign-off with customers as quickly as possible
o Ensure all work is invoiced according to agreement with client
o Maintain high usage rates for internal PSG resources
o Manage fiscal control over the accounts for delivery of services
Pre-Sales/Sales
o Provide assistance to the Sales team during sales cycles as and when required
o Responsible for quality and accuracy of complete tenders, RFI, ITT responses
o Assist the delivery of POCs to win new business
Support
o Manage the resolution of all internal and external tickets in accordance with agreed
SLAs
Other
o Assist Development with the testing of new releases
o Health & Safety representative for the Company
o Be the main liaison between Client Services and Product Management (and Product
Marketing) in order to ensure the customer driven aspect of internal developments
o Assist and share resources with our North American operations to manage best
usage of our combined resources
This is very detailed, you’ll agree. Have a look at the top item, reproduced below:
Building, managing, leading and inspiring the development and technical operations
teams including mentoring teams and individuals;
What you will find is that the judgment about the job lies largely in these words. If the
interviewee does not ‘get’ this, if the candidate cannot gain credibility in this respect, if the
size of this challenge is ducked in our preparation, the interview will likely go badly.
Contrast that with most of the statements or requirements on the list and little comes close.
So, THIS STATEMENT IS WHY YOU WANT THIS ROLE AND THIS STATEMENT IS WHAT YOU SEE
AS THE KEY CHALLENGES OF THE ROLE. You CANNOT discuss all these other points one by
one, so don’t try. Make your mark with that big statement (there are several others – you
have to find them) and support your successful selection with evidence that you have done
that very thing, or something like it, before and preferably recently. Spend the preparation
time mapping your experience, which is never, for anyone, a perfect match, constructing your
case for these biggest most important requirements (that you judge, instinctively – and will
be right) to be show-stoppers.
Building, managing, leading and inspiring the development and technical operations teams
including mentoring teams and individuals;
You bring:
Notice these are all based on soft skills (acquired through experience, for example) rather
than hard skills (learnt on the bench or in the lecture room). The money always rests with the
soft skills. The example above centres on leadership, a soft skill. Soft skills take the
transactional activity (accounting, surgery, project management) and turn that skill into
transformational results (improved bottom line, more funding for the hospital from
Government, higher margins or happier customers).
I would go so far as to say that 90% of the judgement in an interview is about your soft skills.
That is, judging how you take a technical knowledge base and turn it into money, customer
fulfilment, etc. So concentrate on the soft skills (the list earlier in the book) because that is
where you need to shine to beat the competition.
Look back at your stories and the list of key competencies. Think of stories that deal with
these topics (there will always be some) and adapt them to the requirements of the role.
Learn to press the right buttons and you’re on your way to a good result.
So, we have seen that even the toughest questions, the ones that underpin the whole result,
the transformational ones rather than the transactional ones, can be prepared in a very
effective way. Stories, stories, stories. Remember, FEATURES (FACTS) TELL but STORIES
(BENEFITS) SELL.
Job Description
xxxxxxx is looking for exceptional graduates / recent graduates who want to work within a
tech start up. Joining the pre-sales team, the right candidates should possess high business
acumen, strong technical aptitude and natural sales instincts. Candidates applying should
currently be located in UK.
Responsibilities:
Work strategically with the Worldwide Sales team in a business development capacity
Respond to all inbound queries
Prospect in the field rep's account set
Generate new qualified business opportunities to fuel the sales pipeline
Create and prioritize strategic target account lists within a defined territory
Leverage our extensive resources and unique methodology to research and build 'cold
accounts' (i.e.: adding contacts, sending emails, cold calling)
Conduct high level conversations with Senior Executives in prospect accounts
Advocate for xxxxx and the xxxxxx movement
Hand the field reps well qualified leads
Bachelor's Degree
Fantastic understanding of enterprise social media space
Prior sales prospecting experience a strong plus but not required
Ability to work in a fast paced, team environment
Must be highly motivated, tenacious, and self starters
Must be willing to work odd hours
To be considered for this role, you must be highly motivated, talented, have a great passion
for social media, understand cloud technology and have the determination to succeed.
Now look at how the candidate might have prepared for interview…
JD
Soft skills needed for the role
Your CV
Your cover letter (where appropriate)
Knowledge of the company or organisation
Unpredictable off the wall questions
Technical knowledge
JD
We have dealt with this. The JD will usually provide the richest source of questions.
Your CV
We have hardly mentioned this document but it will be one of the main reasons why you got
the interview. It has acted as a door opener. People think that many of the questions will be
‘about your CV’. I have found this not to be true. I think the reason is that the decision makers
have you in front of them and we quickly tire of discussing the past and really want to establish
your suitability for the role going forward. In any event, you are now too skilled and aware to
Technical Knowledge
A doctor (GP) is being interviewed by senior partners with a view to becoming a junior partner
in the Practice. I cannot believe that just because they cannot remember 5 symptoms
associated with meningitis in children below the age of 12, they will not select him/her. A
serial lack of knowledge would be a deep worry but no one example is likely to cause serious
problems. No, we can rely on our technical knowledge in our field not to let us down. In any
case, it is usually impossible to revise all one’s technical knowledge. So, the issues rarely lie
there. They lie with the people skills, the soft skills, the ability to fit in, the ability to change
and improve things with innovation and energy. That’s what people want in a worker at every
level.
What will be your first steps/actions in your new post? (We need you to, ‘Hit the ground
running’ scenario):
In order to become as effective and efficient as possible in the shortest time, you will explain
that you are going to attend to the following priorities. Let’s call this the ‘Five P’s’.
Plans - always first. Your personal ‘mission’ and how this relates to the organisation’s ‘mission’
is the most important thing to understand. It also sends a subliminal message to the decision
maker that your priorities are driven by their priorities.
People (Who you are working for or with, customers suppliers, third parties. Important
relationships across the organisation).
Products (The true nature of what the company is selling, delivering, re-engineering, etc).
Processes (How we complete our work and create beneficial impacts).
Problems (Important, urgent, must-do’s in our in-trays/inboxes. This should really read
‘immediate challenges’ but that is not a ‘P’).
Job Interviews
Candidate A
TNever
Time
60 to 90 Minutes?
Candidate C
No buy-in
No buy-in
The cleverness of this question is easy to miss. What you will be doing when you ask
this question is exploring the whole area of what they EXPECTED of you and what you
DELIVERED. Like any successful sales meeting, the more insights you can gain about
the customer’s needs the stronger you can appeal. Be careful with any follow-up
discussion. Don’t be pushy or obvious or too needy. Simply discuss the revelations and
understand what gap you might have to fill. If there is a gap, do everything you can to
close it or mitigate the risk.
People going for interview tend to think that the interviewers know exactly what they
want in advance and know exactly the sort of person they want to hire. They don’t. If
they did they would be billionaires because their recruitment and selection processes
would be so good their organisations would be full of the most perfect fit people. Their
teams would be unassailable. What happens in practice is that you, walking in the door
and discussing important issues in a certain way, will influence their own thinking and
move their own internal goalposts. But you must ascertain what they expect and want.
This question helps you do that.
2. Is there anything about the discussion we’ve just had that you would
like me to clarify?
Choose your own words but ask this, or a version of this, question every time. This
question is very, very clever. It gently exposes any delta or gap between what you
could have/should have delivered and what you did deliver. It seeks to tease out any
objections that are in the back of people’s minds. If you don’t show some initiative or
bravery in the closing moments, how else will you ever know what could have been
put right so easily. Because everyone is human, what issue was allowed to linger and
perhaps subsequently adversely affect your chances? I know of no other way, other
than an Act of God or some unpredictable event, which will more surely allow you to
further improve your standing during the closing minutes of an interview. It is this
question, more than any other, which will give you a true ‘second bite of the cherry’.
But the question is even cleverer than that. Can you see, given that you could easily
have had one or two flat spots in the interview, how this question not only potentially
opens up a discussion of the interviewer’s misgivings but ALSO ALLOWS YOU TO TALK
ABOUT THE THINGS YOU WANT TO CORRECT, IMPROVE OR EMPHASISE. A priceless
opportunity and infinitely better than asking some lame question and heading for the
3 London Road
Wokingham
Berkshire RG22 3DR
Dear Mr Smith/Alan
Thank you for taking the time to meet me earlier today. I enjoyed our discussion and felt there was a
lot of common ground between what you were looking for and what I can provide. I believe my
experience in managing events around the world will go a long way towards meeting your
requirements and my proven ability to engage stakeholders across the organisation and successfully
include them in the event management process is a key element of the Global Event Manager position.
With respect to the concern you mentioned relating to my lack of experience of working in the
financial services sector, I would like you to consider the fact that I have a transferable set of skills and
my work history shows that I have been able to deliver events for a wide range of organisations who
operate in different industry sectors. I believe that being able to adapt to challenges presented by
different markets is one of my strengths, and industry knowledge can be gleaned quickly when
working in a specific sector.
My record of achievement shows that I have been successful at organising events in different sectors,
and I have even won awards for my efforts, so I strongly believe that I have an excellent skill set which
can adapt to different markets and make a positive contribution to your business.
Once again thank you very much for your time.
Yours sincerely
Paul Jones
One final thing, ask reception for the interviewers’ email addresses before you go into the
interview. Tell them you want to write to them, thank them for their time and for giving you
the opportunity to meet them. This will go down very well with the staff. Of course it will
because it’s genuine, thoughtful and unusual.
I will never forget coaching an ex Royal Marine who folded his arms, legs apart, looked at me
face-on and said that he did not believe in body language. However worthy an individual he
You can wear what you like when you are successful and you join the company or
organisation but in the meantime we have a serious game to play.
Social Media
I’m guessing that there cannot be many people left who are not aware that recruiters and
future employers will possibly Google you and look at as much of you on Facebook, Twitter
and Linkedin as they can. This is especially so if you have an unusual name (like mine) that is
easy to trace. So what’s the advice? Censor and clear out anything from a misspent youth or
misspent middle age that you worry might have an adverse effect on your reputation.
Obviously there is no need to go overboard but a hard look at your online profile is a must.
There is a similar effect in interviews. On average, there is a slight difference between the
successes of those that are interviewed first (first of, say, five) and those who are interviewed
last or second to last (fourth or fifth out of five).
Earlier I said that interviewers and business owners do not necessarily know what they want
or even how to solve their problems, never mind know what their problems necessarily are.
It is a total myth that bosses have all the answers at interview. We know this simply isn’t the
case. My own view is that interviewers learn a great deal about what they want and feel about
a new role, particularly if they really are the BOSS. When free of internal political shenanigans,
we learn much from listening to and discussing our issues with prospective employees (job
interview candidates). Furthermore, as decision makers and interviewers, it is not until we
really engage with the process and the problems that we truly begin to THINK about where
the solutions might lie.
I believe, therefore, that interviewer’s mind-sets change as a result of interviewing good
people and what they thought they wanted at the beginning of the process is not exactly the
same as what they want at the end. So the impact of this on us is that, given the option in
discussions with recruiters or HR departments, we should aim to be interviewed towards the
end of the process. My feeling is second from the end is ideal rather than be the very last to
be interviewed as this somehow seems risky.
Ageism
Finally…
Do all the above. Put the work into your preparation and allocate the majority of your
precious time to research on YOURSELF. Few people see how crucial this is.
Good luck in all your future interviews. If you have prepared in the way I have described, you
can be certain that you have done everything possible to ensure the best result.
Get ready to take that call…you have been offered the role!