For those of us in control of our anxiety or momentary apathy, we know the answer: Yes.  And we know the many reasons why the answer is yes.  Your company’s reputation is on the line for starters.  Once the gossip mill gets rolling, a bad reputation for poor follow-up can have skilled talent turning their nose at your next job opening.

Not only is your company’s reputation on the line, but your personal reputation is as well.  You never know when or where you might run into that candidate, when you might need to reach out to them again for another opening, or if someday that candidate might be interviewing you for a job. It’s best not to burn bridges by leaving candidates in the lurch, if you can prevent it.  For those of you still left with not knowing how to handle the ‘It’s not you, it’s us’ conversation, here are a few pointers to address different stages of rejection in the interview process.

The Absent Candidate

In today’s job market you may receive too many resumes for each opening to keep up—not to mention the unsolicited resumes.  If you’re operating a small business without the help of an applicant tracking or automated system, this can be even more overwhelming.  You don’t have time to sort through every applicant that comes your way.  But you can create a simple form email (of which there are many examples online) to kindly respond to each candidate.

You can either respond to every applicant letting them know you received their resume and will be contacting only qualified candidates, or once you’ve selected your new team member, send a polite declination letter to everyone you did not consider for the position stating that you appreciated their interest but have filled the position, or both.

There are many ways to setup personalized automated mail messages. If you are working with an ATS, see if this can be automated through the system to save you even more time.  Candidate’s will begrudgingly appreciate their resumes weren’t submitted to a black hole.

The Personal Connection

When you’ve parsed through your stack of resumes to the chosen few, it’s a great step to phone screen candidates to narrow down the field.  One key to phone screening and avoiding awkward conversations later is to never promise more than you can deliver.  This means, if you are uncomfortable turning down candidates, don’t leave yourself open to excessive follow up for yourself or from them. At the end of the conversation clearly state when the decision on next steps will be made and how that will be communicated.

You can say, “We will notify you by phone or email regarding the position.”  By stating they may be notified by email, this gives you an out to write a nice personalized note to them declining their candidacy, in case you’re not up for calling them directly.  This also lets them know what to expect so they are not calling you every day to check up on the status of the position.

Remember, you have made a personal connection at this stage, so a phone call is appreciated if you’re up for it, especially when senior-level candidates are involved.  Keep the phone call brief and express the company’s decision to move forward with a candidate more qualified or suited for the position.

Some candidates will ask for feedback; if you feel inclined to provide it, this can be extremely advantageous to their success in their next interview. However, try to keep feedback general and non specific to the role they interviewed for.  You do not want to express anything that could leave your company open to a lawsuit.  Try to end the call on a positive note by offering to keep in contact regarding future openings or providing connections within your business network.

The Face to Face

Rejecting a candidate after the face to face interview is probably the most difficult.  You’ve had a chance to get to know them better, they’re excited about the opportunity, and let’s face it, there’s a different kind of connection when you finally have a face to attach to the name that used to be represented by a piece of paper.  And you’re not just a name or a voice to the applicant now, either, you’re a living, breathing, human being.

The same tips apply for the face to face interview as for applicants you phone screened. Clearly state expectations during the interview; do let them know you are seeing other candidates so they do not assume they are a shoe-in for the role.  After you’ve made your hiring decision, candidates you’ve met with in person deserve a phone call, at minimum. Graciously thank them for their time throughout the process, and follow the same steps outlined above for your outreach to them.

The Internal Candidate

Internal candidates require more finesse after the interview.  Because retaining great talent is important to an organization, it’s best to be more open with them.  Provide actionable feedback they can utilize to become stronger candidates the next go-round.  If there were other factors that affected the decision, navigate through these with care and attention to the employee’s growth.

If they’re truly motivated about moving up in the company, suggest they work with their manager to build out a plan to address any deficiencies brought up in the interview and to showcase their potential for promotion.  Help to identify future opportunities they may be a fit for.  After all, if internal candidates are not provided opportunities for growth, they will look for opportunities outside your organization.

One last tip to remember, avoid turning down any potential candidates until after you have made your hiring decision and the applicant has accepted the offer.  No one likes to be told they weren’t your first choice, and negatives feelings can adversely impact the new hire’s outlook in the company should they decide to take your offer after you turned them down.

Turning down an applicant is an art, not a science.  There is no one proven method or approach that will spare every person’s feelings.  But done thoughtfully and graciously, and by addressing the possibility of rejection upfront through each step of the process, you can save yourself time and energy and save your candidates days of needless frustration, all while building positive relationships for the future.

1. Asking Personal Questions

It is one thing to recognize from a resume that you attended the same alma mater or participated in the same fraternity as a prospective employee, it’s quite another to ask if they’re married, have children, or when they graduated high school.  Personal questions and statements that extend beyond the job description can tread a fine line (or trample it altogether) between friendliness and potential discrimination. Be sure your questions are always in line with the requirements for the position.

2. Not Understanding the Job Requirements

Understanding the necessary skills and compatibility to the position and company are crucial to a person’s success in a role.  Often we think we have a clear understanding of a job because of our daily work interactions, and that we can easily identify a good fit.  Or we may be intimidated by interviewing a superior or overly impressed by someone with an extensive work history at big name companies.  In any of these scenarios our state of mind can prevents us from properly identifying if a person is fully qualified for the role if we haven’t equated their experience to the job requirements—and we can’t do that unless we’ve identified them before the interview.

3. Lack of Preparation

For many hiring managers, interviewing may not be their primary job responsibility. Juggling daily responsibilities while fitting in candidate interviews can be stressful. Others interviewers simply undervalue the importance of the decision they’ve been tasked with and try to “wing it” in the interview.  In either scenario, you risk the candidate feeling undervalued as a potential employee, not to mention your judgment can be skewed not having prepared criteria to assess each candidate by.  Take time to mentally prep yourself prior to the interview as well as to compile and review all the necessary materials (such as the resume, application, cover letter, and job description) you need to make a sound decision.

4. Hiring on Your “Gut” Feelings Alone

Many of us think we can trust our instincts, but when it comes to making a good hire, we should only trust our gut so much—lest we upset it later. Regardless of the emotional connection, interviews are a time when we need to take a step back and identify if a person is qualified for the position.  Otherwise, later on you may be in a disappointing and uncomfortable position of having to let go of someone who didn’t meet the company’s expectations, or your own.

5. Talking Too Much

An interview should be a balance of getting to know the candidate while also allowing them an opportunity to learn more about the company and their potential role.  You may be nervous or just like to hear yourself talk, but if the interview is up and you haven’t learned any more about the candidate than when you started, you may need to re-evaluate what happened in the conversation.  Also be aware that not allowing the potential employee a chance to ask questions or have their voice heard can leave them feeling demotivated about the opportunity.

6. Straying From Difficult Questions

Most people don’t like uncomfortable situations or confrontation, but avoiding it in the interview could mean missing out on a potentially great hire or assuming the best about someone not fit for the role.  Challenge the situation by using the difficult questions to see how the candidate responds under pressure or by allowing them a chance to clarify a topic that you were uneasy addressing.

And remember, everyone is human and will make mistakes from time to time in an interview.  But, by avoiding these blunders, your interviews will result in better quality hires, saving your organization valuable time, money, and resources.

Preparing doesn’t mean rehearsing every possible question and memorizing every answer. Preparation is about getting comfortable with the material, so you have the confidence to tackle any question thrown your way. And in this case, the material is you.

Most of us know to research a potential employer and the company prior to an interview, to learn everything we can about them, but we oftentimes do not do the same for ourselves, aside from skimming and updating our resume and memorizing some basic responses.

When was the last time you sat down and really got comfortable with yourself, your work history, or even the skills you’ve developed outside of work, at school, through your hobbies, or in your daily routine?

Many of us never seriously ponder the ways in which we’ve grown or developed our skills over time. More often than not, we are so focused on what’s in front of us (the interview, finding a job, how to be successful in our careers) that we forget about our big accomplishments and what we actually did to get there. We know we can do the job we applied for, but we forget to ask ourselves why we can do the job. That’s one of the big questions the employer or recruiter is trying to find out in the interview.

Take some time to sit with your resume and not only ask yourself what you did in each position, but what you accomplished, how you affected the work environment, and what results you achieved. And don’t just stop at work; apply these same thoughts to your life. Why?—because you will rediscover facts about yourself that you had forgotten, facts that will give you renewed confidence and boost your self-esteem, facts that will make you feel more prepared than any amount of memorization can.

Don’t fret if nothing comes to you right away. Sometimes we need reminders, like thinking about our best and worst memories of our former jobs (and I include worst, because sometimes great achievement comes from adversity.) Asking a family member or trusted friend what they remember about you working at a company, their proudest memories of you, or even calling an old co-worker to reminisce can also jog your memory. When you do start to recall your experiences with more clarity, you may be surprised at just how much you have accomplished.

Now that you’re filled with a newfound confidence, don’t forget to talk through your resume, work experience, and your accomplishments with someone you trust (or even in the mirror.) Then, go one step further and draw your experience back to why you’re qualified for the job. You might even jot down a few talking points for each item or discover new bullet points to add to your resume.

Talking through your experience with someone is not about memorizing; it’s about getting comfortable with you. Sometimes we freeze up in interviews, stumble with our words, or sound unnatural when we’re nervous or unsure how to answer a question. Most of us just aren’t accustomed to speaking openly about ourselves.

The more time you take to prepare by getting in touch with you and hear yourself talk about why you’re qualified, what you can do, and what you have done, the more confident you will become, and that confidence will come through in your interview. Success!

The actual job search is the easiest part of the process. Work history aside, you will be judged on attractiveness, age, appearance, nervous habits, demeanor, whether you’ll fit the corporate culture and plus biases the interviewer may have. End your job search by enhancing your chance of being selected by NOT doing the following 10 things:

1. Not doing company research before the interview.

Many interviewers start the interview by asking candidates to tell them what they know about the company. You will look like a fool if you haven’t done your homework and can’t answer the question; or do a miserable job of faking it. Rather than being a just job seeker, you want to demonstrate wanting a career with this company and you care enough to know and understand the company.

2. Arrive late for the interview.

Showing up late for an interview is an announcement to the interviewer that if you can’t bother to show up on time for the interview you are going to be even worse about showing up on time for work.

3. Bringing someone or something with you for the interview.

This shows you aren’t an independent person who can function without clinging to someone or something even for an important meeting. In a university interview for a librarian position, a candidate brought his mother. Bringing her was bad enough, but she proceeded to question the committee. He didn’t stand a chance.

4.Dress like this is casual Friday.

Show respect for the position and prove you care enough about being hired to dress the part. You may be being considered for a position at Zappo’s Corporation, one of the most laid back companies in the U.S., but respect the process and dress accordingly.

5. Use your cell phone.

It may be important to have a cell phone, but it isn’t an umbilical cord. Leave it in the car. Nothing is more important at the moment than the interview process. Unbelievably, at a recent interview the cell phone rang and the interviewee said “Just a moment” and answered her phone during the interview. End of interview.

6. Bring up special needs while interviewing.

Don’t say: “If I accept this position I have to have the first two weeks of April off because I want to take a trip to Florida.” Or, “I have to have Friday afternoons off for a bowling league.” This signals these are more important than being hired.

7. Say too much.

It is normal to be nervous during an interview, but hold yourself back from giving too much information. You will come across as a nervous chatterer who doesn’t listen and respond appropriately.

8. Bring food or beverages to the interview.

It is rude, distracting and inappropriate. The only thing worse would be to say “I couldn’t let those jerks know I was interviewing for another job so I had to do it on my lunch hour. I hope you don’t mind if I eat my lunch.”

9.  Act like they need you more than you need them.

Your arrogance will be appalling.

10. Forget to be gracious and shake hands when the interview is over.

Old fashioned manners are never out of style and will demonstrate how well you work with others.

All you need for a teleseminar is a phone. Whether you are doing the interviewing or if someone is interviewing you. So, for the record, you just need a telephone and whatever that costs you each month, you’re in business.

Now let’s take a look at what it takes to be in more business and do more business using teleconferencing. It’s nice to have a web presence because you can get people on a teleconference very quickly. What changed my teleseminar world, and actually rocked my teleseminar, world is when the commercial web came into being. In 2000 I started doing more and more web work. Now, along with several of my colleagues, I can get a thousand people on a free teleseminar within 24 hours. So it is pretty amazing what the web can do. You can’t do that through direct mail, even fax broadcasting, but you can do it through email and through online registration.

As you move forward you can expand the operation and get webmaster services, hosting, a shopping cart, and an audio generator.

One of the things you need is a webmaster. Don’t do this work yourself, you need a webmaster. If you are a webmaster, then you’re lucky, because you get the templates for free as a part of being in the Teleseminar Secrets course. I do have webmasters I can refer you to. You just look at some of the resources in the executive summaries, as well as the approved vendor list that we have.

Now, a good webmaster will be worth somewhere between $40 to $50 an hour–I’ve paid some webmasters more, depending on how long you are hiring the person and how much you work with him or her. So figure about $50 per hour.

An Ask page to get people registered to a teleconference or a registration page shouldn’t cost any more than $50 to $100 dollars. Hey, there’s no reason to become intricate here or to create a stunning looking website. Just use the templates and you’ll be fine. Those are free.

Hosting will cost you somewhere between $9 to $12 a year. You can get a good host at GoDaddy.com. It’s a good registration service, and you can have it hosted in any number of ways. I’m actually starting a hosting company soon, because a lot of people need hosting and some additional e-business tools, but a good host will cost somewhere between $9 to $12 for basic service and then upwards of $30 – $40 dollars if you want to get a little bit more intricate. The hosting service I’m going to have will be somewhere around $20 a month.

This just goes to show you that it really is easy and inexpensive to have a teleseminar. There are a few other things that can be helpful, but I’ll discuss those in a future article. Good luck!

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Most of the time the advice you get, even from professionals, is way off course. That’s because it’s usually a rehash of old fashioned job search ideas totally out of tune with what’s happening in the sophisticated 21st Century job marketplace.

For example, I’ll bet the first piece of advice you get is what to do with your resume. Everyone seems to focus on the value of having an award-winning resume that touts your work history and other credentials. I call that advice blowing smoke.

Or other job search advisors will recommend companies where you should apply for a job. Or they’ll refer you to advertised job openings that could be right for you. I call this blowing smoke.

Still other job search advisors will tell you their secrets for conducting an interview . . . how to dodge the tough questions . . . how to upstage the interviewer and take control . . . how to be a tough negotiator, etc. Blowing smoke!

Why am I so critical of traditional job search recommendations and advice? Well, first of all, it has nothing to do with the good intentions of your advisors. They’re doing their best to be helpful. The problem is they’re disseminating misinformation. They’re advising you about strategies that are out of sync with what’s really going on in today’s job marketplace.

Just take your resume, for instance. In today’s marketplace it counts for very little. First of all, employers aren’t going to hire you on the basis of what you did for someone else. They want to know how you’re going address company issues going forward. You can’t do that in a resume.

The, there’s the misinformation about interviewing. If you think you’re going to capture an employer’s attention and beat out the competition by answering all his/her questions accurately and jumping through all the hoops with ease . . . or negotiating by making sure you get your demands are on the table right upfront . . . well, you already lost before you even got started!

You need a new plan. One that will guide you through today’s real job marketplace. One that replaces last century job search advisors with exciting, proven alternative job search strategies and innovative non-traditional career advancement advice u . . .that get results for you . . . fast!

If you follow the easy, step-by-step techniques outlined in the revolutionary alternative job search system, you can be meeting face-to-face with qualified hiring decision-makers in a matter of days without all the resume and mass-distribution and interviewing hoopla. And you can be entertaining high-paying job offers in as little as two weeks!

You’ve got to check this out!

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Here are some things you can do to lessen your anxiety:

Don’t be nervous about applying for a job. Remember, they are anxious to interview you. They obviously need to fill the position or you wouldn’t be applying for it.

Being well prepared gives you confidence and lessens your anxiety.

Find out what the company you are applying does. Does it look like a company you would like to work for? Make a career of?

Be sure you have the qualifications for the position. Interviewers do not like to take up their time interviewing people who are totally unqualified for the position offered. Or totally overqualified.

Interviewing for a job is a two way situation. They are as anxious to find the right employee as you are to find the right job.

Don’t ask about benefits and chance for advancement up front. If the interview is going well, the interviewer will probably tell you anyway. If not, there is plenty of time to find out these things if you are hired.

Take a fresh, up-to-date copy of your resume. One that you can leave with the interviewer. Make sure your phone number is on the resume in a prominent place.

Dress appropriately. An exclusive men’s shop is not loking for someone with long hair, wearing baggy jeans.

It should go without saying, BE ON TIME.
Use the interviewer’s name when you greet him/her.

Follow the interviewer’s lead as to whether it will be a strictly business interview or a chatty one.

Don’t play games. If you really want the position, let the interviewer know, but don’t beg for it.

When you are dismissed, leave. Don’t ask more questions than you need to just to string out the interview. Maybe the interviewer has a luncheon date.

If you are rejected, don’t let it erode your confidence. There are more jobs to apply for and you might have hated working for that company anyway.

There are many reasons why you could be rejected and none of them are personal. A friend of a friend got the job, They decided they didn’t need another employee, They hired a former employee back, and many more. So take what you learned from the interview and go on to the next one.

It is much better for the ego if you have applied for several jobs. If this was the only one you have applied for, the rejection is more devastating. If you have several other interviews scheduled, and a list of places to contact, one rejection is not worth even thinking about.

Every time you are interviewed, you will learn something of value in applying for a job. And your level of stress will lessen until applying for a job is no more stressful than having a conversation with your next door neighbor.

Copyright 2006 Robert T. Lewis

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One of the most common interviewing techniques, behavioral interviewing, is designed around the premise of past behaviors being some sort of an indicator of future performance. The problem with behavioral interviewing is it focuses on how someone – behaved – in a given historical situation; it doesn’t get into how someone drove an outcome.

Most all professional positions within a corporate hierarchy have a set of business objectives the position is designed to impact or achieve. That set of business objectives logically imply a certain set of capabilities and attributes the individual occupying the position had better possess if they are to have any chance at successfully executing against the business objectives the position is designed to impact or achieve.

What someone has accomplished, or been responsible for, only communicates an individual may or may not possess the requisite scope and scale of experience. It is simply a sanity check to make sure a prospective candidate is not stepping into a role over their head from a scope and scale of responsibility perspective.

Focusing on – how – someone accomplished the business results they have produced tells a hiring authority if the candidate might possess the capabilities and attributes necessary to successfully execute against the business objectives a given position is designed to impact or achieve.

Ultimately, you are hiring – how – someone produces results and – not – what results they have produced.

Example:

Hiring Authority: What – did you produce against your annual quota objective of $100M in revenue?

Candidate: I was able to drive 35% growth and produced $135M in revenue.

Hiring Authority: That is great. That is similar to the growth we believe we can drive (i.e., check in the box). Now tell me, how did you do that?

Candidate: I leveraged my knowledge of strategic sales process and ability to ensure a strategic sales process is implemented an individual contributor level. Specifically, I implemented a standardized strategic sales process, associated process metrics, and deal triage/strategic sales planning process ensuring we were deploying limited resources on opportunities we had the best chance of winning, and cutting bait earlier on those we realized we lacked significant competitive advantage. As a result, we spent more time not losing deals we knew we could win, and less time chasing deals we shouldn’t have been chasing to begin with. The outcome also reinforced the whole process with the individual contributors who became much better at assessing our critical qualifying criteria much earlier in the sales process as a result.

Another Candidate could simply have said: By firing the sales people that didn’t deliver against their forecasted numbers.

For hiring authorities, getting to – how – someone produced a result can be a challenge. Why? Because we live in a world that rewards results – not capabilities and attributes. As a result, most candidates most likely not thought about, and are not used to answering questions about, what capabilities and attributes they leveraged to produce a given business result. Unfortunately, this translates into a typical response to any question asking a candidate how they accomplished an outcome usually being prefaced with “Um, well let’s see, I uh,” with a not well thought out response following.

Candidates desiring to make a better interview impression should spend more time assessing how they actually drove the outcomes they are claiming to have driven. This will not only give a candidate more confidence going into an interview, it will also set them up to interview infinitely better. This level of awareness will also enable a candidate to better assess if an opportunity is going to maximize the leverage of their associated unique capabilities and attributes.

Hiring authorities desiring to make better hires should spend more interview time understanding how someone produced all the great results they claim to have produced. This will also blow away the smoke from candidates that really played no role in the outcomes they are claiming to have driven.

The ability to identify if a candidate possesses the capabilities and attributes necessary to successfully execute against the business objectives a given position is designed to impact will ultimately lead to better hiring decisions.

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When going in for the interview, be sure to have an up to date copy of your resume and cover letter. The letter should be brief, but should have as many specific details about the company and job as possible. Something that is too generic will look as though you aren’t as interested.

It’s important when meeting with the interviewer to keep eye contact with that person. Again, this shows your confidence level and helps to contribute to a positive first impression. Remember to show plenty of appropriate enthusiasm for the company that you want to work for.

A crucial component when going on an interview is your appearance. Dress as professional as possible. Look as though you fall into line with the company’s standard on dress. You will most likely need to wear a suit for the interview. Dressing the right way and having a well-groomed appearance will be a huge plus in your favor. It sends the message that you care enough and have respect for the company.

When answering questions, try to be as concise as possible. Don’t ramble on. Although you may be nervous, remember to keep your answers simple. You want to do this in an effort to keep your interviewer engaged. Straying too far on your answer may cause you to lose your concentration. Less is always more here.

Be sure to listen carefully to the questions being asked. If you don’t understand something, politely ask for an explanation. Try not to answer the question until you know what they are asking.

Sell yourself! Now that you have their attention, tell them why you’re the best person for the job. How have your experiences prepared you for this job? Provide them with some examples of your past work that will leave a good impression of you.

Ask questions. This will show that you are proactive and paying attention. Here’s where your knowledge of the company can come in handy. Remember, you’re interviewing them as well. You want to be sure that this is a good fit for both parties. Asking questions shows that you care about this aspect.

After your interview, send a thank you note. You should do this no more than two days after your meeting. Remember to express your interest in the job and thank them for their time. Even if you don’t get the job, this person may prove to be a great contact for you down the line.

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An informational interview is a great idea to undertake if you are just starting out and are not really sure what job suits you. Another reason to conduct an informational interview is when you are thinking of changing your career path and as such do not know much yet about the industry you want to break into. It is also a means to expand your network and talk to all kinds of people in a specific business area.

By conducting an informational interview, you are in effect preparing yourself (1) for a better job, (2) for better chances in a new field, or (3) simply improving your current ‘market worth’ by networking and learning new things.

Following are some simple steps on how to conduct a successful informational interview.

* Ask yourself what particular job or industry you are interested in. On a separate list, identify your abilities, skills, values, and expertise and see if you think you are suited for the job you have in mind.

* Prepare for the informational interview and list all the details you want to obtain about your preferred industry.

* List the people you already know that are in the field you are interested in – friends, family, relatives, former professors, and others. Afterwards, work your way up to public relations officers, organizational directors, and others.

* Arrange the interview by phone, email, letter, or though someone you know who works in the same office as the one you want to interview.

* Prior the informational interviews, take the time to read up on the job or industry you are keen on so that you do not go into the interview with absolutely no knowledge of the topic. Make a list of questions you would like to ask.

* D-day is finally here. Conduct the interview with ease and grace. Dress nicely; be punctual, polite, and professional. Follow the questions you have made but also allow some spontaneous discussion between you and the person you’re interviewing.

* After the interview, record everything you have learned in a journal or blog. Don’t forget to send a thank you note within one week of the interview.

Informational Interview Do’s and Don’ts

Consider these tips when you’re planning to conduct an informational interview.

* DO ask for a face-to-face informational interview instead of phone interviews or email interviews because this is by far the best kind and most helpful.
* DO ask your interviewee to allot at least 30 minutes of his or her time for the interview.
* DO take the time to conduct some research about the company if you are absolutely clueless about the job or field you are interested in… even small bits of information will help.
* DO prepare to bring your resume just in case the interviewee asks you for a copy.
* DO be yourself because this is the only way to know which career path is right for you. Remember, you don’t need to impress the interviewee here. You’re there to ask for good career advice.
* DON’T get the false impression that an informational interview is a job interview. You’re merely preparing to enter or change a career path, or improve your prospects in your current field.
* DON’T forget to ask for referrals.
* DON’T ask for a job! It will turn off the person you are interviewing and will feel that you have deliberately misled him/her as to the real purpose of the interview.

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