Note: This is a long post and there’s quite a bit to digest. Please read it through and see if you can apply my suggestions to a recent interview. Thx… ~Steve
I mentioned on last night’s #megajobhuntchat that a “better” way to interview is to be a consultant. Everyone knows the standard regurgitation interview practiced by nearly all recruiters and hiring managers – these are the ones for which the experts have you prep for such stellar questions as “What are your strengths and weakness?” and can last for as short as five minutes. Look folks, I’m a reasonably engaging person and the last thing I want when I interview are soulless bobbleheads. Gimme some meat! Or TVP…
The inherent problem with interviews is that by playing it by the book (could be a parachute book) you’re simply one of the twelve blind men touching then describing the elephant; interviewing like a consultant allows you to be all twelve and come away with a description of an elephant.
While I might be seeking a position that is higher on the corporate totem pole than the one you’re seeking, I believe that by incorporating consultant-focused interviewing principles into your strategy you’ll see your interview “open up” into a more fruitful conversation – rather than a stress inducing, stomach grinding activity.
When a company hires a consultant, there are three overarching questions that the company uses to gate the person selling their expertise:
- Do they understand my business?
- Will they offer me a unique point of view?
- Can they demonstrate how they can deliver “economic value”?
These should sound very familiar to job seekers, recruiters, and hiring managers – sort of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit of talent acquisition.
To make an impact you’re going to have to address these three areas; no matter the position, at some level, you’re going to have to understand some element of the business, you’re going to have to offer solutions that make higher-ups say “Wow”, and above all, you’re going to have to demonstrate your impact on the balance sheet. Doesn’t matter if you’re a co-op student or the new CEO, these questions need to be answered for that offer to be extended. Incidentally, my first exposure to even the lowest person on the totem pole having an impact on the bottom-line was when I read Jack Stack’s The Great Game of Business, his story about SRC and one of the drivers of open-book management. SRC’s story and results proved that everyone in an organization has bottom-line impact; the challenge is to find the connection. Seque…
Now…what are the questions for which you require answers?
- What are the problems of the company that you hope to resolve/solve?
- What are they presently doing to resolve/solve the problems?
- What has been previously tried and why did these methods succeed or fail?
- What resources – internal and external – will be available to resolve/solve the problems?
- Do they have a vision for the work that you will perform?
- What are the time constraints to resolve/solve the problems?
- What budget has been allocated to resolve/solve the problems and what factors would cause this budget to deviate?
- What risks are you and the company willing to take in resolving/solving the problems?
- Who are the customers and how do they measure satisfaction?
Notice that I haven’t numbered these; I can’t tell you “when” these questions should be asked during the interview. Every recruiter and hiring manager has their own blueprint for how they want the interview to proceed but I can tell you that at points in every interview you’ll have the chance to ask every question. Let’s break each one down a bit more:
What are the problems of the company that you hope to solve? Easiest question to demonstrate interviewing like a consultant. Whereas the job description you read that sparked our interest in the first place was task oriented, you’re hired to solve problems – and these are only rarely on a job description. You’re going to have to fish for them… “I’m very curious about the underlying group or organizational issues that I will be asked to work on if we both agree that I should join the company. Can you describe the most pressing short-term – inside 90 days – and longer term – perhaps 12 months out – problem that I would be responsible for solving?” Whatever is given as an answer, drill down and ask questions about things that are unclear to you. Offer up mini-solutions but as you drill down, re-visit these mini-solutions and update your point of view.
What are they presently doing? This can be woven in with the first question. “My first impression is that you should consider doing [something]; where are you at this point in time in identifying and implementing a solution and what are these?” Again, another opportunity to play consultant and drill down into their response. If their path towards a solution is one that doesn’t appear obvious, ask them how and why this path was selected. Your ultimate goal here is to understand how the managers, people, and culture blend. Better to ask than to go over the waterfall in a barrel!
What has been previously tried and why did these methods succeed or fail? Fact: The company might have a mixed history of attempting to improve a problem; you need to identify and assess their successes and failures during the course of the interview. There isn’t one company on the planet that hasn’t experienced peaks and valleys so don’t believe it when someone tries to sell you that all is hunky dory; since failure teaches, be prepared to ask, “What did you learn from your failed solution?” and be ready to offer your own frank of how you might have fared.
What resources – internal and external – will be made available? Will you be an individual contributor with no one but a team of three (Me, Myself, and I) asked to build the entire social media program or will you be part of group of similar wonks and wonkettes? Will your external resources be limited to what you can Bing or Google, or will you have the tools and brainpower of an external marketing agency? Each will color how you approach a solution and engage in a conversation with the recruiting team.
Do they have a vision for the work that you will perform? Careful here folks – because if they do, then they might already have a plan of action in place and your input might not matter. Ask that this plan be described in drill down in the areas where you’re unclear of the underlying assumptions, logic tracks, tools to be used, ad nauseum. Would you be willing to work under these circumstances? You’re going to have to be honest with your core needs because if you and the company/hiring manager aren’t in agreement (perhaps agreement is too VP of me but it’s sufficient to be uncomfortable with the path to be taken), you can be sure that future roads will be very bumpy.
What are the time constraints? Based on your questioning and the paths taken during other parts of the interview, you discover that the company is convinced they can roll out a new system in a period of time that makes you queasy. “That seems to me to be quite aggressive. What are your assumptions? What if something unforeseen happens? For example, what if…” If you’re not comfortable with the critical path requirements, I’d suggest you let them know while still offering alternative points of view.
What budget has been allocated and what factors would cause this budget to deviate? Vendors will frequently sell killing-the-cockroach-with-an-atom-bomb solution when a BB gun would suffice (in recruiting, we see this with applicant tracking systems). Getting a handle on how the budget for a project was created will offer insight into how the existing team “thinks” about allocating people and product. Asking about factors would cause these allocated resources to change will provide you with roadmap of sand traps and steep embankments that were considered…or not. If a discussion of budget deviation produces “Hmmm” and “We didn’t consider that” then you have an opportunity to discuss the items or scenarios that might derail a project and impact your ability to succeed.
What risks are you and the company willing to take? This area is one that is probably based more on personal ethics than risk management. I like running up stairs; you might prefer the elevator. We get to our destination but we differ in how we do it. As you drill down into the problems and solutions you also want to begin forming your sense of how receptive the company might be to outside-the-box thinking and solutions – if that’s you. “Steve, I might approach the problem like this but I’m uncertain as to how you would react to it; would it be too over-the-edge for you or the company?” Better to ask, engage, and discuss than to be labeled an outlier in your thinking.
Who are the customers and how do they measure satisfaction? Consultants know that their performance is gauged against both a dashboard that is quantitative and subjective. Subjective satisfaction is more about alignment with goals and while good scores (smile sheets) feel good, they frankly are limited. The quantitative portion is easier to assess but more difficult to nail down; when identifying the problems (first question), the investigation naturally falls into a line of questions and answers that speaks to desired results. Face it, when you’re solving problems, you’re effectively improving performance from one state to another. If the company’s social media strategy has only generated 100 Fans of their Facebook page, they really believe the proper strategy can generate 1000, and your input helps them gain 2500 fans, well that’s a home run in any ballpark. In this case, your performance-focused questioning discovered that 1000 Fans would make the customer really happy but 1500 would make them orgasmically happy. 2500? Oh my…
In the end, consultants collect data before proffering a solution…an educated solution. How frequently have you left an interview without knowing the real parameters of the role? A consultant is not afraid to ask questions that on their face, sound simple or just plain silly. I don’t care how little experience you have – be curious, be inquisitive, be engaged.
Think about the parable of the twelve blind men touching then describing the elephant…as you’re leaving the interview, do you know it’s an elephant?
Steve:
I like the way you’ve explained this better way of interviewing!
I’ll be sending it off to some folks who definitely need to see the other side of things!
Nice parable, btw!
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Thx Hannah…it’s far easier to write about than to get into your head. Practice works but the best advice is to think like a four year old…Why? Why? Why? lol
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Great post Steve. I really liked the part about risks and out-of-the box thinking. I am that way but has never occurred to me to ask how that would be taken in an interview. Will def share with friends.
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Hi Steve, Sorry didn’t get to it last night, concert ran late, dog vomitted in her crate- The joys and stress of the holiday!…Definately like the approach- it was summed up nicely at the end with this “I don’t care how little experience you have – be curious, be inquisitive, be engaged.”..
Thank you for sharing!!!
Talk to you soon!
Steve
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Once again Mr Steve does it right, Great Article
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When Steve Levy talks, i listen.
Great content, stye and the personality that makes him an artist among an often average crowd. Do You follow him on Twitter? I do. @levyrecruits for your daily updates of the great and the irreverent and the not quite obvious.
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This is an excellent post Steve. You articulate this extremely well. I want all job seekers to read this, process it, and execute it. It will require forethought, and practice, and will be well worth their time. Way to go Steve.
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This post has great information. Obviously preparation will play a major role, as it well should. I love how the questions showcase a high-level of engagement and how this approach can make someone look focused on the company, which he/she should be, but often times is not.
I have found that folks can have tunnel vision for the position without regard for the company where they apply. IMHO, this would certainly limit the ability to come across as engaged and big-picture thinking.
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This is excellent advice. As an interviewee, you want to get to the truth of the company’s needs to demonstrate your value. With these questions, you can *sound* confident and competent and also *be* competent and confident about being able to fulfill their needs.
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Good thoughts Mr. Levy. Due to my tribe comprising mostly of engineers my mindset has without mercy been beaten into viewing things from a project management viewpoint. So, I would add questions around scope-budget-time line. It is amazing what a hiring manager or candidate will tell you about their needs and prior experiences or even give you by way of docs – but ask them about due dates and milestones… the conversation tends to “get real”.
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Steve,
Glad you pointed me this direction. So many stand-out points and lessons in this post!
My fave: “Everyone in an organization has bottom-line impact; the challenge is to find the connection.” Yes, yes, yes! From the chief cook and bottle washer to the CEO, every single individual impacts bottom line, whether supporting and enabling someone else to do something bigger and better — or personally produce revenue/profit!
Your consulting questions not only are powerful, but in-depth. What you provide is a blueprint for candidates to carry throughout their careers — not just in interviews, but throughout their employee/employer engagement contract, articulating their interest to be a proactive business partner and contributor versus simply reacting to the environment.
At all levels in an organizational matrix, employees have opportunities to assess risk, determine budget and resources, understand customer needs … and more. This requires thought, research, interaction, prodding, probing, listening, talking … as you say, being curious, inquisitive and engaged!
What a well-thought-out message – thanks for the resource!
Jacqui
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@Walter How might you ask outside-the-box questions during your Interview? Do tell…
@Steve Dog vomit? There has to be a way to weave that into an interview! It’s easy to say an interview is a two-way convo yet so many structure it like a lecture
@Bob Glad you enjoyed it; feel free to repost on ResumeBear.com
@Rage aka Howard Adamsky takes one to know one (buy and read Howard’s book)
@Margo I wrote this for all the Hire Friday fans (well, for all those looking for a new gig)
@Cyndy It sure does take prep for this approach to work; try one of the questions if you’re nervous and gauge from the response whether you can ask more. Try something different
@Jillian It’s all about asking questions, not taking anything for chance. Would you jump onto a pool knowing there’s only a 50/50 chance that it’s filled with water? Noooooo, you look into the pool-that’s what interviewing like a consultant is all about
@Jacqui You are sooo welcome and so right: Anyone can use this blueprint – heck, modify it to suit your needs and style – to have a better interview
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Excellent post, Steve!
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Great post , Well written article and very informative
Thank you! will forward!
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Steve, I realy need your advice. Please contact me via email askabcadvisor@gmail.com
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