The Best Job Interview Hack

12/17/20 • 4 min

The Me-Suite host, Donna Peters, talks about job interviewing--both as an interviewer and interviewee. The quality of your questions is the key.
"I have had the pleasure of interviewing hundreds, maybe even 1000s of people for jobs. I have filtered on education, work experience, perseverance, achievements, character I have probed for how interested is that candidate really in this job. I have administered the airport test to see if we would survive being trapped together at Newark Airport in a snowstorm for five hours. Some of my hires have been iconic success stories, and then there are the hires where I bang my head with the palm of my hand and marvel, Donna, what were you thinking.
So I started thinking deeply about what it really truly takes to identify the best candidate for the job. And I also wondered if the move to virtual screenings and video interviews was changing success factors for hiring. And after much debate with myself and a clustering exercise with sticky notes that made my office look a little bit like John Nash has shed from A Beautiful Mind. I've identified a single common denominator for hiring successm and it's so elegant in its simplicity and applies for in personal or virtual drumroll...
Does the candidate ask good questions?
So why are good questions so important? And that itself is a good question. A good question is so important because it demonstrates research and preparation. It reveals critical thinking and curiosity. It shows comfort with ambiguity and confidence in not knowing. And it challenges the status quo and sparks new ideas. Today, the typical interviewer asks all the questions leaving a smidgen of time at the end for the candidate to slip in a battle question like what has kept you at the company all this time? The future of interviewing is where the candidates are doing the asking to showcase their leadership experience and ideas.
In case you're wondering, there actually is such a thing as a dumb question. It's a question that wasn't informed by preparation that didn't demonstrate intellectual curiosity that wasn't backed by confidence that didn't push the thinking forward. Every job interview should begin with, "What questions do you have for me today?" Your resume is your past. The quality of your questions is your future promise."
www.the-me-suite.comFB: @mesuite
LinkedIn: Donna Peters
Twitter: @DonnaPetersCMeO
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Previous Episode

How To Go After That Promotion

The Me-Suite host, Donna Peters, shares practical advice on getting that promotion you want.
We all know the phrase, "if a tree falls in the forest, and no one was there to hear it, does it make a sound?" There's a similar concept when it comes to getting a promotion. People often grouse that they were passed over for promotion because they didn't know the right people. They weren't in the club. I am absolutely sure this does happen and encourage a different mindset, a proactive mindset of what are you going to do about it.
Back to the forest analogy: be the canopy in the sun, not the understory down in the shade on the forest floor. I challenge us to think that getting promoted is not a popularity contest. It's a sunshine contest. If you're all that, then there should be light on you. People should be aware of you and people should be able to tell your story. Having people versed enough to tell your story takes work.
And as you move into 2021 with your own personal career goals, think about who in the forest needs to know. Who are you? What have you done, can do, want to do? And what do you expect to happen this performance year? Create a stakeholder management plan and hold yourself accountable for getting in front of the people who need to know you exist and need to know the highlights of your value story, your personal brand, what people think and feel when they hear your name. And how is that relevant to the future of the business that you're in. Teach people how to talk about you when you're not in the room.
Now, you may not be in control of being in the club. You may not even want to be in the club. You are however in control of shining a light on who you are and the value you bring and the career goals that you have for yourself. So build your stakeholder management plan to achieve your 2021 career goals, and act on that plan.
No one will care about your career more than you do. If you did amazing things in the forest, and there was no one there to see you because you were down in the understory, how amazing were you? It will feel awkward for some of you to promote yourself, to toot your horn no doubt. But is the alternative really in your best interest? There is nothing to lose here except time to promotion.
To get that promotion be in the canopy, not down in the understory. Step into the sunshine. Shine the light on yourself. And if you just got promoted, remember to nurture the next generation in the understory.
www.the-me-suite.comFB: @mesuite
LinkedIn: Donna Peters
Twitter: @DonnaPetersCMeO
The Me-Suite podcast theme song by Moshun

Next Episode

The Me-Suite 16

The Me-Suite host, Donna Peters, shares the 16 ways to differentiate yourself at work.
There comes a time in our careers when being smart is the price of admission. It used to be that you were often the smartest one in the room. You caught on the quickest. You scored the best. You could figure anything out. You were comfortably top-tier on most performance curves. Now you’re surrounded by other people just like you. So how do you differentiate yourself when you look around and see a bunch of YOUs? You’re now in that sphere of your career when characteristics around leadership qualities, emotional intelligence and creativity start to separate the ‘really goods’ from the ‘amazings.’

There are 16 attributes* that differentiate when being smart is simply the price of admission. As you go through The Me-Suite 16, make a mental note of where you might want to raise your game in 2021. And if you’re super strong already in an area, think about how to coach that in others.

You don’t have to have all the answers; you need smart questions. True leaders are constantly curious and confident that they don’t have all the answers. Which brings us to #2...
Know when to bring in the right person, and do so proudly
Always have a point of view. Your POV is the value you bring in a capsule. The right dose at the right time. Distilled and easy to swallow
Be two steps out in front of anticipating others’ needs. When you’re anticipating, you’re strategic, two steps out in front; you’re in the future
There is no such thing as an informal meeting. Don’t mistake ‘casual’ for half-a$$
Manage up, across and down
Be able to explain complicated concepts to your grandmother. If you can’t explain something complicated to your grandmother, you likely don’t truly understand it yourself
Get into personality profiles. They are reliable guides. Which brings us to #9...
Know your Achilles Heel. Everybody has one...or two
Communicate, communicate, communicate. This isn’t your birthday we’re talking about. No one in business likes surprises
People love to give advice—ask for it more often and treat it like a gift (sometimes you like it, sometimes you don’t, but you smile and say ‘thank you’ always)
Collaborate. Innovation comes from collaboration
Don’t say “I.” “We” is almost always a more accurate reflection of the way something got accomplished
Put yourself in the other person’s shoes before you send an email, give feedback, present a recommendation etc. Try to see the situation from their perspective to tailor your approach
Create a personal advisory board of mentors. Just like companies have a Board of Directors, you need a Board to pursue your own personal goals
Strike the right tech-touch balance. Do you need to pick up the phone, or write a thank-you note by hand? Or can a text emoji suffice? Be intentional in your tech-touch choices

Which one will you work on in 2021? Which one will you coach in others?

www.the-me-suite.comFB: @mesuite
LinkedIn: Donna Peters
Twitter: @DonnaPetersCMeO
The Me-Suite podcast theme song by Moshun