Why should we hire you and not one of the other candidates?

This interview question is one of the many scripted interview questions that challenge your ability to think on the spot.

You do not know anything about the other candidates.  Therefore, you need to focus the answer on yourself.  Some people focus on the three E’s:  Experience, Enthusiasm, and Education.

This type of answer is weak if your experience and education do not qualify you to do the job.  In addition, you not only want to show that you have the experience and education for the job.  You want to show that you have a record of accomplishment and successful performance in this type of job.

Therefore, you should have a short pitch on how your experience shows that you have successfully performed the same job.

2. State that you do not know the other people the company is interviewing.
3. Say that they should hire the most qualified person for the job.
4. State the objective of the job.
5. State a list of successful things you have done to achieve and exceed this type of objective.
6. State that the reason that you are interviewing for the job is that you enjoy performing the type of tasks the job requires.
7. Close by saying that whomever the company hires, the person will be lucky to get the job.
8. Say that you hope that the company hires you.

Preparing for the question “Why should we hire you and not the other people we are interviewing “is an excellent way to prepare to interview for any job interview.  This type of question challenges you to think about your qualifications.  In your preparation, you can practice giving answers that show that you are an outstanding applicant for the job.  Answering the question with a positive enthusiastic statement about how much you want the job will help seal your opportunity in getting a job offer.

5 Interview Tips for Getting a Job Offer

Use these 5 interview tips to cross the maze to getting a job offer.  Hiring managers want to hire you when they invite you to an interview.  Make their job easy.

Say that you want the job.

This tip for getting a job offer sounds obvious.  However, I have had countless applicants fail to get a job offer, because they left the interview with the hiring manager uncertain about whether the applicants had an interest in the job.

You are not the only applicant in the interview process. If three equally qualified applicants compete for a job and only one is expressing an interest in getting the job, the hiring managers have an easy decision. They will offer the job to the person who wants the job.

Simply say that they you want the job and why you want it.

Be humble.

Don’t make the interview about you.  Have the good manners to ask hiring managers about themselves and their career.

Certainly ask questions about the company.

Say some good things about the hiring manager’s comments and about the company.  Humility is a valuable trait for getting a job offer.  Hiring managers want to hire people who fit in with other people as well as people they like.  Show the humility to show an interest in the hiring manager and the company.

Use facts about your qualifications.

Don’t use a list of adjective about yourself.  Avoid describing yourself as outstanding, motivated, organized, etc.  These words have no value.

Use the facts of your success.  You doubled the business.  You reduced costs.  You hired people who got promoted.  These facts show the hiring managers you can do a great job at their company.

Show how your skills match the job description.

Before you go to the interview, study the job description.  List your skills with each qualification the hiring company requires.

Prepare a presentation either on paper or on your laptop to show hiring managers how your skills match what their company is looking for in the person they are hiring.

Use words that are common to any company.

Every company has its jargon.  The people in the company fall into using these words as part of the workday.

If you are transitioning from the military or interviewing for a job that is in a different industry, be especially careful about using words or expression unique to the place where you are working.

5 Interview Tips for Getting a Job Offer

Good luck with your interview.  You will do a great job.  You will find that using these 5 interview tips will help you get a job offer.

10 Tips to Keep Your Job Search a Secret

If you have a job, you can protect your current job and conduct a secret job search.  This process takes time and planning.   Here are tips that will help you reach the people who can help you and avoid the people who can cost you your current job.

1. Do your homework.  Identify the type of job you want.  Make a list of your skills and qualifications.  Be specific and honest with yourself.  As you read job descriptions, think whether your skills and qualifications will get you that job.  Think about whether the job is one that you want.  Limit applications to companies where you know there is a job opening for a person with your qualifications.  Every time you apply for a job, you are letting people at a hiring company know that you are looking for a job.  No one should know about your job search except people who can help you get a job.  Therefore, be careful and selective about when and where you apply for a job.

2. Limit discussing your job search with people who need to know and who can help you.  If you have friends at your current company, be careful about telling them about your job search.  Even though you trust these people, do not discuss your job search with other people at your workplace.  People often speak without thinking.

3. Avoid posting your resume on job boards. Anyone can buy access job board resumes. There is nothing binding people to secrecy.  Someone from your company or someone who knows someone at your company can see your resume on job boards. Corporate recruiters can download your resume from a job board and broadcast your resume to other recruiters.

You can post your resume as a “confidential candidate” on a job board.  You can also hide your contact information and use general terms for the name of your company and your responsibilities.  However, as a recruiter, I never bothered following up on this type of resume on job boards.   Therefore, I do not see the reason in your putting your resume on a job board in any fashion.

4. Reduce your activity on social media. Do not mention your job search.  It is never a good idea to post social media updates on any travel. Certainly avoid posting anything about activity that creates suspicion about your job search.

5. Polish and update your online profile.   Add a current picture. However, consider adjusting your privacy settings to block people from getting emails on your updates.  This step will reduce the risk that people in your company will see the social media activity about your career.

6. Use your personal cell phone for your job search.  Put that number on your resume.  Tell recruiters and hiring companies not to call you on your company office phone.

7. Label your search “confidential.”  When you send your resume to a hiring company, include a cover letter or email that states that you are conducting a confidential search.  Put the word confidential on your resume.  When you speak with hiring managers and recruiters, ask them for their commitment to keep your search to themselves. Ask recruiters for their assurance that they will not send your resume to anyone without your permission.

8. Do your job search on your own time.  Take vacation days to interview.  Conduct phone interviews before you go to work or after work. If you have job interviews during your workweek, attend those interviews before work, during lunch, or after work.

9. Carefully select and manage references.  When you give references to a hiring company, get permission from each person who agrees to be a reference.  Only give references you know you can trust.  Ask each person to keep your search confidential.  Do not give references until the hiring company is making you a job offer.

10. Think carefully before you tell your boss.  If you can tell your boss that you are making a job change, you do not need to conduct a secret job search.  The time to tell your boss that you are looking for another job in a secret job search is after you have a written offer and you ready to resign.  Your supervisor is the last person you tell that you are leaving your job.

Before you go to a job interview, put together a 30-60-90-day plan.

You can write the presentation in Word or PowerPoint.

Some people use Excel.   If you can keep the presentation to two or three columns, you might use Excel.  From what I have seen, people load Excel with so many columns and rows that the audience has trouble understanding the presentation.

With a 30-60-90-day plan, you can do three things.

When interviewing, you can use your plan to see whether your plans fit the company and whether the company fits you as a person.

You can show the hiring company that you are right for the job.

When you start, you can begin with a head start at your new job.

In the first thirty days, you need to learn the job.

If you have experience, you might be able to assume full responsibility in 90 minutes.   If you are a trainee in an entry-level job, your first week to thirty days is training.

Even if you are able to step right into a job, you will need to learn a great deal.  Get to know the other employees.  Immerse yourself in the company culture.  You will find new systems and that the new company does things differently.  A good way to start your new job is to become a sponge.

1. Ask questions.
2. Listen to what everyone has to say.
3. Read all the company material on your responsibility.
4. Keep all the material you receive.  You may need it later.
5. Ask your supervisor how you can work together.
6. Discuss with your supervisor how the company fits together as a culture and as an organization.

A dangerous pitfall for experienced people is to do things the way they did them at their former employer.

Treat each task as though it is new. Ask yourself whether you know how to do your new job or whether you are doing what you did at your old company.  If the two are different, you can fail to do your new job well.

After the first thirty days, you should work with more freedom.

Your confidence and comfort are higher.  When you speak with your supervisor, discuss your activities and plans.  Ask your supervisor for feedback on your priorities.  If there are things that you need to have finished during your first thirty days on the job, add those things to your daily schedule to get them done as quickly as possible.  Show your supervisor how you are tracking on the things you are doing.

After sixty days on the job, you are working independently.

Your work is up-to-date.  You have successes you can show your supervisor.  You have scheduled your activities into the weeks and months ahead.

In your 30-60-90-day job interview presentation, you can show a list of things you will have completed during the first ninety days.

After ninety days, your skills and knowledge are high.  You can add a matrix to your presentation to show how you will manage your job and future projects beyond the first ninety days.

SWOT SUCCESS ANALYSIS

If plan with this amount of detail, you will learn whether the job is correct for you. You will show the hiring company that you are right for the job. When you start to work at the new company, you have a head start.

What to wear to a job interview:  this situation causes a bit of confusion.

Many companies have a casual dress code. People wear slacks, skirts, button shirts or blouses. A lot of workers wear boots, sneakers, athletic shoes, sandals, flats, loafers, or boat shoes. Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook founder, wears a t-shirt to work.

If you are interviewing with any company for an office job, dress like the women and men on ESPN SportsCenter.  Some of them wear plaid or striped shirts or blouses. You might even dress more conservatively than these broadcast professionals and wear a white shirt or blouse.

What strikes me about the broadcasting team at ESPN is that they dress up for work in a field where many of the athlete stars  dress down by wearing warm-up suits and sweats on the way to work.  The broadcast team at ESPN present themselves as professionals and authorities at a level equal to or above other professionals in broadcast news.

I have seen people go to a job interview and wear what current employees were wearing on the job.  However incongruous or unfair, I have seen these job applicants fail to the job for not wearing a suit.  I remember one instance in which an applicant interviewed at a sales meeting where everyone was in casual attire.  The meeting was over a weekend.  The applicant wore a Hawaiian shirt.  The business manager who interviewed the applicant wore suits and white shirts to work, but dressed casually the day of the meeting.  That manager passed on the applicant for wearing what the manager considered a vacation shirt to a job interview.

Once you get the job, dress like the boss. If all your coworkers are wearing jeans and the boss is wearing khakis or a skirt, dress like the boss. Always dress for the role that you want, not the role that you have. If you dress like the senior managers in the company, you will be more confident when you meet these people. Give senior managers the chance to see your potential through your performance and your appearance.

Skilled workers need to dress one level above the level of what they wear in their trade.  If their trade workers wear coveralls or  jeans, skilled workers should wear khakis to an interview.  If a skilled worker is more comfortable wearing a suit to an interview, there is certainly no harm in their wearing a suit   However,  a suit is just not necessary.  Skilled workers should dress comfortably in neatly pressed pants, skirts, shirts or blouses, and shoes.