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The Simple Formula for A Successful Interview

In this blog, we’ve discussed quite a number of tips for you to succeed in an interview. Still, there’s one approach, one state of mind that can help you a step further. Since there are so many candidates who will be interviewed, how can you stand out as that one candidate whom the interviewer will remember? 

The answer to this question is to know two important things. One, you know what the company wants. Two, you know what you have to offer. Almost every candidate who comes for the interview may come expecting a Q&A session. If this is the case, then almost everyone did the same thing and answered the same way. The interviewer will not remember such candidates who sounded the same but he will remember the one candidate who was different and met their KPI targets.

The point here is to make them remember you for the right reasons.

Here are some additional points to consider in this regard.

a. What will the interviewer ask?

b. What are the interviewer’s expectations?

c. Why are they looking for someone like you?

d. What are the company’s pain points?

e. What are the specific pain points and struggles about the position you are applying for?

f.  What is the company’s background?

g. What is the company’s area of business?

h. What solutions the company is looking for.

i.  What you have to offer.

Being the candidate they can remember

Business photo created by yanalya

Go through the list above first to prepare yourself. This will give you the key confidence and preparedness that you need.

We don’t mean “confidence” in a general sense like “believing yourself” or “having the proper experience”. We are talking about “Key areas of confidence” which come because you did specific preparation like the above list. Do this specific prep-work as you need to converse and talk about things professionally in the interview.  If you have not done this before, it simply meant that you were not prepared. It also meant that you may have had nothing meaningful or worth remembering to say to your interviewer. You will not be remembered as a dynamic candidate who rocked their world in that short moment. Try to remember, how specific and targeted were the interviewer’s questions and what were the quality of your responses in your last interview?

With this in mind, you will be a candidate that they will remember. Doing all the above will prepare you to be the right candidate. An interview is so much more than a question and answer session. You are there to sell yourself and show what you have to offer. You also need to be knowledgeable about the company you’re applying to. Do the research on the company as well as read about the most likely questions employers will ask. Prepare yourself like a consultant who knows your stuff instead of just another person looking for a job.

Simplicity is what busy employers look for. Ideas and sentences that are straightforward and clear-cut. The interview is not a place where you want to beat around the bush so, what do you have to offer? What do you have in your hand? Are you going to go in “cold” into the interview or are you going to go in “hot”, armed with the research about the company, their pain points and their specific struggles that pertain to the job?

Be a Solution Master

Zero in on specific pain points and offer solutions. Research will help you identify, discuss and offer solutions to the challenges that they may have. Make a list of points that pertain to the challenges of the company and the job, and you will have a clear line of discussion.

Every job on the planet is not perfect. It’s a work in progress as new solutions are created everyday as much as the workplace evolves. For example, a call centre customer service agent needs to manage the expectations of impatient customers. It’s not the easiest job in the world for a junior staff to handle. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons we have call centre “bots” in some places, to manage angry callers. Some customers even despise dealing with “bots”. Perhaps you are passionate about that type of job. What would be your solution to a difficult situation at work?

A desirable candidate is someone who does not quit easily but is solution-driven. Be the right person by offering solutions. The wrong type of candidate is the one who is just looking for a job and leaves because he or she thinks they are not responsible to find that solution. That’s only the management’s job.

So let’s recap in closing.

  1. Be the candidate that they can remember by anticipating the interviewers’ target questions and target your answers. You can only do this by doing the company background and industry research beforehand.
  2. Be a solution provider by understanding and delivering solutions on the pain points. By targeting your responses instead of giving general ones, you stand a better chance at being the candidate of choice.