This page is all about developing your marketing “silver bullet”, “irresistible offer”, or “offer they can’t refuse”… your super powerful marketing message that is going to underpin your whole self marketing campaign for your specific target employer.

And yes if you have a small number of target employers you should tailor them to each, as it’s rare that two employers will have exactly the same requirements.

This is a “headline” statement that will compel your reader / listener to follow closely what you have to say.

This headline will in most cases be delivered to your target employer initially in print, via a cover letter, email, CV / Resume, but will then be reformatted and repeated throughout the interviewing and assessment process.

I’ve described this as the most important singular piece within the whole puzzle, and it is; copyrighters are paid thousands of dollars to entice consumers to try their clients products, publishers recognise they turn a good book that’s not selling into a best seller by finding the right title.

Experts in sales, sell ideas and not products.

Unless you have some sort of “in” or “connection” through a mutual friend, association, or business network, the likelihood is that your first contact with your target employer will be as a complete stranger. And we’ve all had it drummed into us by our parents not to trust complete strangers (especially the ones baring sweeties and wearing a dirty old coat .

Therefore any approach you make to a target employer is as a complete stranger starting from a point of zero trust. Another reason why networking is so vital in the job finding, any relationship that you can leverage to move up from being a complete stranger is a MASSIVE advantage.

So if you left any stones unturned at the research stages, go back and see if you have any connections with your target employer, it really will be worth your while.

If approaching your target as a complete stranger with zero trust, you have a very short time to grab their attention, sell your ideas, and compel them to want to interview you. I’ve read anywhere from 7 to 30 seconds!

So your headline needs to be delivered as quickly as politeness and courtesy will allow.

Right let’s start building your headline, silver bullet, offer they can’t refuse…

The rest of the page is for Interviewing Answers members only

Right for us we return to our Target Employer Profile, we have a list of criteria that our target is looking for that we’ve gleaned from their material if they have any (job advert, specification, description), and from our detailed research.

We’ve also sown the seeds of what attributes and character types employers like best (leader, team player, problem solver, star, expert, good citizen, self developer, juggler)

Now we’ve got to populate the YOU side of the profile, with your skills, experience, qualifications, achievements, testimonials, personality attributes, everything you think may be relevant to your target employer. AND this does not have to be only work related, in fact you should definitely show balance by having a few relevant non work examples of skills, achievements, desirable personality traits.

The following example is based around a real advert that was placed on a job board, filling in the Target Employer Profile.

Insert completed target profile image

You are now looking at a form that gives you a helicopter view of what YOUR TARGET WANTS and WHAT YOU OFFER.

So you can see possible gaps that may need covering.

In our example above, Jane’s missing the cross border or multi country accounting project experience.

Don’t be put off if you don’t have everything you think your target wants, it’s perfectly normal to want to “step up” or advance into a role that will challenge you.

Though I would be wary of any role that has a high number of critical tasks that your MAPP test scores you as “unmotivated” by.

Not because you can’t do them, simply that you’ll probably hate any job that repeatedly asks you to do stuff that doesn’t motivate you.

So if your happy with the snap shot view we’ll continue; or you can decide to target another role, or employer if you’re not happy with the profile.

Before going into the build process for your silver bullet, or offer they can’t refuse. Let me again reiterate that this step does require creativity. It’s a form of copywriting, and most copywriters follow a process that starts by getting some form of rough draft before, entering a editing and polishing stage to improve it. This often takes days, if inspiration does strike early.

So don’t worry if you don’t like your initial work, simply get something down, and move on to other tasks, leaving this to come together over time.

Anyway let’s continue with an editing and polishing process as an example.

Another reminder – We know what organisations want – people who can help them save or make money…

Through the tasks they do.

Your key marketing message has to:-

SHOW them that you have successfully saved (efficiency) or made money in the past (or at least have the potential to) convey your skills / transferable skills to compensate for any lack of specific experience (especially important if you’re a career changer).

It should be written in their language, using their terminology.

For example if your responding to a advert or job description and for a manager; make sure you use the title “manager” rather than something that may mean the same such as “supervisor” in your main message and ideally through your cover letters, CV / resume.

The most common use for your silver bullet is likely to be within a cover letter or CV / Resume, specifically in the form of an objective or summary / profile statement in which case it’s will need to convey what you want in your ideal role.

The essence of this statement or headline is that it confirms that what you want and what your target employer wants as being the exact same things.

It is VITAL to take the attitude that this whole recruitment process is about giving your target employer everything THEY want. They are the ones with the power and responsibility to hire YOU. You definitely get what you want but only after satisfying your target employers needs FIRST.

I’m not suggesting selling yourself short in any way whatsoever, just the opposite; you cannot hope to claim the maximum payment or salary, until you first establish THEIR need and satisfy them that you will meet that need.

At that point they want you, and will pay a fair price!

Note for career changers-

Your objective has to persuade the reader that your generic transitional / transferable skills and personality ARE relevant to the role they are offering. People often forget the many great transferable skills they have, and for a career changer it’s these skills you need focus on.

For example being a good communicator or manager of people, are skills that are valuable in any sector, though don’t loose focus on what the reader wants (don’t mention manager of people if your target role doesn’t need it).

Moving on let’s create our Silver bullet in the form of an objective statement for use in cover letters or CV / resume, as this is the most common use, your most likely first and critical touch point with your target employer.

An Objective statement MUST be concise and no more than 4 lines, It’s a short powerful statement that tells the reader that YOU can give them what they WANT, and visa versa.

It’s a recipe of some or all of the following content ingredients. I’ve seen some great one liner headline objectives, but they are harder to create, also adding every content ingredient may make the statement too long, and less punchy.

●The exact job title used on the advert / description – be as specific as possible. This is usually mandatory. I have seen it shortened when the job title is unnecessarily long.

●Function of the role. Include the business objectives of your target role.

●Critical skills required these are your skills and transferable skills (for career changers) recorded on your sniper target career form.

●Relevant experience in tangible terms (x years, x number of projects etc).

●Personal behaviour traits appropriate to the role. This adds your unique personality.

Note: When I say tangible terms I mean use measures to convey your performance. Its not enough to say managed a team and improved sales. You MUST say how many in the team, the target, and by how much you improved sales, by amount, or percentage – HARD Facts – business language.

Mix the above ingredients, edit, polish and edit some more, and you will get your Objective.

Right.

Let’s work through the example.

“Qualified Management Accountant turned specialist SAP financial Project Manager. Prince qualified with 10 years and over 8 major SAP financial implementations under my belt, looking for my next challenge across International operations”.

Getting there, though lacking personality.

“Qualified Management Accountant turned dedicated SAP financial Project Manager. Prince qualified with 8 successful SAP implementations. A commercially savvy, positive and motivational leader now looking to deliver further SAP enabled efficiencies and savings across International Operations”.

This is better, though I feel a little too long.

Carry on fine tuning, take your time, maybe even sleep on it, to get it to a point you’re delighted with.

It really is that important.

An objective statement properly aligned with the readers requirements WILL get you the interview.

“£45 Million / 7% realised savings from latest successful SAP implementation! Ex Management Accountant Turned SAP Project Management Specialist, looking for cross border SAP project”

BINGO!

I like this one, true I’ve removed the personality wording, but it has such a strong headline, I believe a results orientated, over-achiever is communicated without saying it!

It could be better though

I have a testimonial from the previous project.

I said PROOF was everything in selling. And writing a great cover letter or CV / resume does give you’re a great chance of getting the invite to interview. But let’s face it, if you’re a good wordsmith and of dubious integrity many people can “spin” a compelling objective statement.

However if you add a verifiable testimonial, you add TRUST to your PROOF, and with it pretty much guarantee the invite to interview!

Insert image objective and testimonial.

See how much better this objective statement looks now, and though the example is based on a random job picked off a job board, Jane is based on a real person I had the pleasure of interviewing, who always uses this approach on her CV / resume.

Not surprisingly Jane takes has her pick of prime SAP Project roles – her chosen specialty.

Right lets move on to use your marketing Silver bullet in your self marketing arsenal.

This is  an armoury of marketing tools that enable you to secure any job interview you want, and under pin your offer winning job interview strategy, by enabling you to demonstrate and PROVE you can do what your target employer needs.

In a nutshell; help win you job offers.

What’s in the self marketing arsenal?

Cover letters.

CV / Resumes

Brag Book / Testimonials / Proof of Results

30 60 90 Day Plan

Job Interview Silver Bullet is a post from: Interviewing Answers

Cover letters are really important, and should be used every time you send a CV / resume to a recruiter, company HR department, or company hiring manager.

For avoidance of doubt when I say hiring manager I mean your potential future boss, or the person that owns the department or has the business problem that you solve.

Writing cover letters and CV / resumes are tasks straight from Hell as far as most people are concerned. The whole exercise often has unhappy memories, and requires us to draw upon skills we don’t have. Cover letters and CV / resumes are really all about copywriting, and not many of us are trained in copywriting!

There is always the option of hiring someone to write your CV / resume and cover letters for you. A good option if you choose your writer wisely. They really must take the time to get to understand you and the skills you offer, and the role(s) you wish to target. The best copywriter in the world won’t be effective unless they understand the product and the target market!

This site however is all about helping you to become your own copywriter; it’s an easily learnable skill. A skill that can be truly life changing if you consider that most of your adult life is spent working, and this one skill could help you gain whatever roles you desire, with the appropriate salary.

This is a skill you will use time and time again, both for internal promotions or when looking at new opportunities.

My objective here is to give you enough copywriting skills and confidence to create your own interview invitation winning cover letters, though to save you time, I have also provided a number of examples in Microsoft word that you can download and modify for your own purposes.

Key copywriting principal; people buy ideas not products, or put another way don’t sell yourself based on features, focus on the benefits.

There is a mountain of research into the psychology of buying, selling and copywriting, and it boils down to; if you can help through your written words to get your reader to “imagine” themselves benefiting form whatever it is you offer, you’re well on your way to making the sale.

The great news is that most cover letters and CV / resumes are mediocre at best, formal, dull, devoid of personality and hardly ever written with the reader’s objectives in mind.

So let’s embrace the massive opportunity this exercise offers.

In the last section we mentioned the “marketing silver bullet” or “offer they cannot refuse”, you may have started work on yours already, and well this will be its first usage.

Another copywriting principal here; copywriters never get the finished article on first writing, it usually takes even the best copywriter considerable editing and polishing to get to a point where they’re happy. So don’t worry if you struggle for words or inspiration, just write anything, it’s better to get something on paper, to get the process started than to delay, and try and get it right first time.

Let’s now consider the perfect CV / resume cover letter MUST contain

The rest of this page is for interviewing answers members only.

1. The salutation or greeting: You must find out the persons name your writing too, not simply address it to “whom it may” concern or “Manager of HR department”. The effort will be richly rewarded.
2. A headline statement, your silver bullet or a variation of; this must grab the readers attention and compel them to read on.
3. 3 to 5 bulleted examples of what you can do for them, based on previous achievements.
4. A bold hint to carry on reading the CV / resume.
5. A confirmation that you will follow up, time and dated that you MUST stick to.
6. Your name and clear contact details.
7. A Postscript or P.S – Copywriters and direct sales experts tell us that the P.S is the most read part of any sales letter, so make the most of this knowledge and add another compelling message here.

Before moving on to an example or two lets, consider point number 2 the headline statement. This not surprisingly is the most important part, and can be approached in a number of different ways.

1. A bold compelling statement that demonstrates you’ve done your homework on them, and know how you can help them achieve their objectives. “ You’ve a great product and a ripe market, I’m expert in gaining fast market share in emerging technologies, let me show you how we can dominate  this market”
2. Via a personal reference – a chance to benefit from your association with someone who already has trust and a relationship in place with your target. Obviously get permission to use this connection, and make sure they are respected by your target.
3. A question. Questions are super powerful in copywriting, as when you ask your reader a question they naturally think of the answer, they can’t avoid it it’s the way the brain works. Using Jane our expert SAP project manager as an example again, Jane may choose to open her cover letter she’s seen posted with a question like “how much in cost savings can be realised by rationalising accounting systems using SAP? Or if she wants to try the power of a scare story “why do 80% of SAP implementations run over time and over budget, and how do you prevent this happening to yours?
4. Refer to a news item or article or speech that your target may have made or may affect them. For example if you read that your target has just launched a new customer support hungry service, and you offer expertise in customer service, tie your headline statement in with this news item. Being an admirer of your company I picked up on the news of your exciting new service offering, and being an expert in reducing customer service costs whilst improving customer experience, wanted to demonstrate how I may benefit you…

Interview Winning CV / Resume Cover Letters is a post from: Interviewing Answers

Whatever way you look at it one of the only constants in the hiring process is the CV / resume. It’s the one thing that is present in every recruitment process, excluding maybe the hiring of close family members!

The objective of your CV / resume is simply to fill your diary with job interviews, alternately it maybe to get you that one interview you covert above all others. Whichever way you look at it has a job to do; it has to compel your target reader to want to interview you.

The CV / Resume should work in partnership with your cover letter, your cover letter having the remit for maybe the more creative selling work, your CV / resume then packaging your factual skills attributes and most prominently achievements in such a way as to make it impossible for your target reader not to interview you.

I don’t put it this way to let your CV / resume “off” from selling responsibility. Far from it, the likelihood is that your cover letter will get stripped away from your CV / resume in the process, so it’s vital you’re CV / resume stands on its own merits.

The main questions I get asked regarding CV / resumes are:-

• How long should my CV / resume be?
• Should I use a chronological or functional format?
• Should I have more than one CV / resume?

Let’s try and quickly work through these questions quickly. Starting last first you should definitely have more than 1 CV / resume. You must target the objective / summary statements and achievements, skills and attributes to each individual target employer. In advertising speak this is the “above the fold” the most expensive content real estate on your CV / resume. These are the opening paragraphs where your battle will be won or lost. You may also be requested to submit your CV / resume in plain text format for companies that use scanning software, this is easy to do will all word processor formats, but recognise it will strip out all the fancy Dan formatting. Which is another good reason to keep the presentation simple; black text on white background written in Microsoft word rather than Adobe pdf.

How long should my CV / resume be?  -  It only has to win you the interview, if your CV / resume intrigues your reader, compels them to meet you it’s done its job. Therefore the best CV / resumes are ONE page!

I can here the screams of anguish from here, how can I possibly condense all my life’s work into a single page, it’s impossible to sell myself in one page, and many more valid arguments. I will provide templates and examples for you to modify and use as your own. I will attempt to convince you that a 1 page CV / resume are the way to go through this process.

What I will remind you of is that the purpose of the CV / Resume is only to get you the invite to interview.

If you’ve followed the research and self evaluation process so far, you will have a great idea of what your target employer is looking for and values highest, you will have written or made progress in writing your unique selling point, or interview silver bullet, or offer they cant refuse. This short paragraph is the headline in your CV / resume message, the rest of the document then only needs to be populated with some well worded examples that go to proving your headline claims, the rest of the document is standard CV / resume content fodder, summarised chronological experience, contact details (you’ll be amazed how many CV / Resumes I get with a name and no contact details!), education, and one of a number of optional content fillers you can choose.

Finally I advise not to use a functional format CV / resume leaving out the chronological career history. People do this to hide gaps or mistakes in their careers. This is obvious to an experienced interviewer, and it will ultimately just draw attention to what you were trying to hide, it also comes across as sneaky. My advise;  record your history in terms of years not years and months, this will hide small gaps, and where you do have gaps fill them honestly. As we progress we will demonstrate how these gaps can be filled honestly and in a positive way.

CV / Resume Create Your Diary Filling One Now! is a post from: Interviewing Answers

In a nutshell; you cannot know too much about your prospective employer.

The initial research you do will give you an advantage over less diligent interview competitors.

The end game here is to build a “profile” of your target that details the skills and attributes they possess and value in their organisation, and specifically for your target role.

This target profile to cover individuals you meet in the interview process, the specifics of your target role, and more general information regarding the company and its performance, the market and key competitors.

The profile you build will arm you with great information that will form the foundation of all your marketing messages, for delivery via written and verbal through the interview processes.

Preparation is critical to success in any endeavour, and is no different for attaining interviewing success.

The tools required boil down to Internet access and people you may know (networking). The internet will give you just about everything you will need to build a solid target profile. If you don’t have easy internet access, you should be able to get it through a local library, or educational faculty you may have access to.

Finding people that may have worked for your target, or a close competitor, can be the icing on your research cake, providing you invaluable insight that simply cannot be found any other way.

Right lets now break this down into bite sized chunks.

Starting with your interviewer or interviewers: As a minimum you need to know the name(s), and position(s) of your interviewer. And ideally should find out how long they have been with the organisation, and as much of their background as possible.

Use the internet to search for your interviewer by name, adding in moderators such as the company name, location to reduce the search results.

These searches should be carried out on Google and /or Yahoo (the best search engines), but can also be extended to social networks such as Facebook and Myspace, as many people now have social profiles on the internet, which can provide both great insight to their career and personal interests.

Another must do tip is to search on Linkedin or other business networks, as most business people are represented on one or other business network. In fact if you’re not a member of a business network, I highly recommend you join one. They’re free, and a fantastic source of information and contacts. Your levels of participation are up to you, but the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

Next to research your target role. The chances are you will have a job specification or maybe a job advert that you can start from. The emphasis here is start from, as most job specifications or job adverts only paint a part of the picture. If through your research you can add in further detail, covering the challenges of the role, the personality traits that are critical to success, you will give yourself a massive leg up on your competitors that don’t make this extra effort.

A great tip is to try and speak to somebody who has done the role or one very similar. Ask them what made them successful, what skills and attributes are critical, and what they would do differently if they had their time again. It’s important that you gain this advice from somebody who was successful in the role.

You may find this person from, your personal network, or “friend of a friend”, or you may find them on a business network like Linkedin or work related forum. Most people like to talk about themselves, so if you approach them politely, explain your situation, and flatter them by asking of their expertise, you will soon find someone willing to give you helpful and insightful information.

The research now takes on a more general direction. You should now research the company, its history and performance, successes and failures, competitors and current financial performance. You may want to look at key players or directors in the business.

And finally take your company research wider to the market in general and maybe one or two specific competitors. You’re looking for the market news, the issues facing the market, what companies are doing what, and with what results.

Done correctly you will build a target profile that will underpin your marketing efforts, and provide you the knowledge and confidence to ask intelligent and pertinent questions of all that you meet through the interview process.

If you would like to build a detailed profile for your target job or career that will:-

• Provide you the hidden insight to support a job offer winning marketing strategy.
• The confidence to delivery your marketing messages with compelling honesty and enthusiasm.
• The tools and structure to maximise your efforts, using the proven techniques of successful people.

The rest of this page is for Interviewing Answers members only and will show you how to lay the groundwork for your job offer winning marketing messages. These messages will be delivered through the entire job acquisition process via the mediums that may include some or all of the following:-

• Written marketing materials Cover letters, CV / Resume, Brag Book, 30 60 90 day plan.
• You’re prepared STAR method answers to the tough interview questions coming.
• You’re prepared questions you will ask your interviewers.

How to Harvest Job Offers From Detailed Research

It pays to be organised, and so I would suggest creating a file for all this information that you can copy, cut and paste into word or text documents that you can refer back to later.

Ultimately I suggest transferring the most important information into a Job Profile Report which you can copy or download from here. As we progress we will add your skills experience and attributes, into the profile, which will give you an “at a glance” detailed view of your fit with the role.

This is invaluable in building your marketing materials, and preparing how to maximise your strengths and mitigate for any weaknesses.

Right lets crack on.

Your interviewer(s): Identify their name and title / position as a minimum.

Try to find out how long they have been with the organisation and a brief synopsis of their career if you can.

In terms of researching the Internet is the place to go.

Research your interviewer(s)

Start with a name search in Google and / or Yahoo add quotation marks (“ “) around the name to ensure your search only returns phrases where both names are used together. For example if you search for my name type “Richard Penfold” into your browser. Even though this is a very general search it does return my Linkedin and Facebook profiles, which would be helpful if you were meeting me.

If the name is a common name you may need to add a moderator such as the company name, so the search would then become “Richard Penfold” + Sentient (my company name) the + sign means you will only get returns with both terms in the document. This reduces the number of results but improves the quality.

Generally speaking you will find business network listings for senior interviewers and managers, you may also uncover articles and thought leadership materials your interviewer has published, which can be invaluable in gaining an insight to their skills and areas of expertise. For less senior interviewers earlier in their career, you may not find so much business information, but may find personal profiles on sites such as Facebook and Myspace, and these to can be very enlightening.

Your own personal network of family, friends and acquaintances may provide access to someone who works for your target company, and they may be able to provide some helpful advice.

Research your job / role

It’s most likely that you will have a job advert or job specification / description to start from. These are great but, often because they tend to be boiler plated or written by somebody outside of the role often only contain the obvious requirements, with many vital criteria not being included at all.

So a job description or advert is a good place to start your research.

Our objective here is not to reinvent the wheel, rather to learn from somebody who has been successful in the role previously. And we gain this expertise from books on the subject, articles, forums, or ideally somebody that you may be able to communicate with directly, who has done the same role or very similar within your target organisation or close competitor.

Your personal network may yield friends, acquaintances or friends of friends that you may be able to question. Failing that fire up Google again and search and look within business networks and forums. The internet is packed with helpful people who provided you approach them politely will be delighted to share some of their expertise.

I would strongly suggest joining the business network Linkedin or Ecademy, they’re free and a fantastic source of information. Recruiters tend to live on these networks so you will also get yourself noticed and maybe even headhunted.

In terms of the search strings to use quotation marks around the exact job title or suitable variations and + forum. Forums are great as most members are passionate about their subject and only to happy to help.

Example search “sap project management” + forum

You can add further moderators to narrow down your search as well “sap project management” + forum + UK

Once you have found your helpful mentor you want to ask them questions such as:-

• What are the key criteria to success in the role?
• What are the most common things that go wrong?
• How do you spot them and correct them?
• If you had your time again what would you do different?
• What are the challenges currently facing the industry?
• How do you demonstrate and prove the commercial value your actions have added?
• What personality traits are required for success in this role?
• What book or publications should I be reading?

Company Research

You definitely need to research your target company, and again the Internet and their company website is a great place to do this.

We need a quick understanding of their financial performance, current trends, products, services, their sales and marketing strategy, challenges facing them and their market.

Company annual reports give you much of what your looking for, including chairman and CEO statements which can be invaluable for identifying the future direction, problems, and the overarching company vision statement or strategy statement.

If your target company has a clearly defined vision statement, understanding this, and ensuring your marketing messages will be supporting of these ideals is critical.

Most of this will be available from the company website or from independent investment advisers.

Generally speaking all organisations are looking to increase profitability or put another way improve efficiency. These objectives may be met through increasing sales / turnover, expansion / acquisition, or by reducing costs, or a combination. Cost cutting is often the preferred route in a difficult market.

Our job is to understand the strategy of your target and ensure your marketing messages align with their strategy.

The types of questions we want to answer are as follows:-

• Is profitability up or down significantly?
• Are they expanding through acquisition or sales push or cutting costs and improving efficiency?
• How can what you do help, even if it’s only a small contribution?
• What is their market reputation?
• What do customers think of them?
• Do they have new products or services?

General Market Research

Expanding our company research: to this time take in the market in general and your targets main competitors.

If your target has one or two major competitors it’s a great idea to do the same level of research that you’ve done for your target for their closest rival. It maybe that an independent market analysis firm such as Gartner has your target as number 5 in a market place, in which case it may be more achievable for them to go after their competitors that are placed 3^rd & 4^th rather than targeting the top dog.

Gartner and other market analysis firms are a great source of information that your can easily use to add knowledge and insight into your questions and marketing messages.

A typical interview process will involve you in on average 2 to 6 hours of face to face interview time, of which most of it will be focussed on you and your abilities so don’t let the research element take over your life. But research is a fantastic investment of your time and will give you the insights that can win you the offer.

Let’s build a Target Employer Profile

This is a simple form that when complete will line up the critical requirements of your target employer, next to the skills, experience and attributes you offer them. The form is dynamic meaning that you can add further information regarding the role as you find it, through research, job specifications or adverts, and as you progress through the interview process itself.

The form itself is a simple word document with tables to allow you to fill in the information as you go. Download a Target Employer Profile here.

If you are interpreting a job advert this article will provide additional advice, as job advert never tell the whole story…

I have created a video demonstration of how I would suggest using the target employer profile form here, which I hope shows how useful the form can be.

Research For Interview Success is a post from: Interviewing Answers

One of the best  interview tips, is to first put you into your interviewers shoes. It is a  massive advantage to be able to see things from their point of view.

The first issue facing the employer is the potential risk. It is common knowledge that most hires are considered unsuccessful by differing degrees. And this is with  all the interviewing and assessment work that goes into  the modern  hiring approach. It is also  amazing to consider the  monetary value of hiring mistakes, between 10 to 28 times the annual salary; even more for C level mistakes.

Who can blame employers  for using every effort to avoid  recruitment mistakes.

When considering   how to  ace your your job interviews, another way to consider the  assessment process is as a very serious buying decision. The psychology of how  people make such big buying decisions is that  evaluate them on two factors, logical criteria and emotional criteria.  Some people give more weight to their emotional drivers other people their logical.

For  recruiting this{ all boils down to the logical; or do they  feel you have the  attributes and experience  needed to fulfill the  role; and the emotional drivers explained as , do they  think you will fit in with  the culture. This second one I like to call likability.

Demonstrate  the logical and likable attributes to the satisfaction of your interviewer and you PASS, or in the case of a final interview you have WON the job offer.

Nearly; Nearly all  companies have been  caught by the excellent candidate who it later  turns out, had rather exaggerated their ability through the  assessment process.

PROOF is the  magic ingredient that will turn your job interviews into job offers.

What do employers look for in employees? Proof of  attributes, achievements,  abilities, and experience is what potential employers are really looking for.

Sounds good, but how do I do it?

This article is in danger of getting too long so let me  put my foot on the gas. The following list of interview principals is what I consider to be your interviewing Nirvana. Do most of the following and I promise you will receive an offer from nearly every company you target with this approach.

So here goes my interview  checklist for success
1.    Reflect and research to gain a clear vision of what you are looking for.
2.     Understand really what your potential employer  requires. Clue; you will have to go much deeper .
3.    Research; to gain a crystal clear understanding of your strengths and weakness, as they apply to your TARGET employer.
4.     Plan how you will compensate for any gaps or weaknesses you may have.
5.     Compile COMPELLING marketing materials (letters, resume or CV, brag book, testimonials, articles, OBJECTIVE Statement, 30 60 90 day plan).
6.     Use the STAR method for answering those  difficult interview questions heading your way.
7.     Carefully  plan your own intelligent questions to ask.
8.    Learn positive body language (the old adage it is not what you say but how you say it definitely holds true).
9.    Do not dismiss the power of NETWORKING. The other old adage It is not what you know but WHO you know is also  true.
10.    Use a plan or strategy to harness all of the above.

Note.  Concealed in the above are  2 of the best interview tips I know, the use of a Brag Book (or, achievements portfolio) is probably the best technique I know for demonstrating PROOF.

And a 30 60 90 day plan is the secret technique that turns the  assessment process completely on its head

What Do Employers Look For In Employees? is a post from: Interviewing Answers

What is Wow You’re Hired?

Well before answering this I’m going to paraphrase (copy!) Jimmy Sweeney the author of Wow You’re Hired. Jimmy says before you enter the arena for your next job interview you MUST ask yourself the most important question of all:

“Why in the world should this company hire ME over all the other applicants?”

• Because I have a better resume?
• Because I dress in style and smell good?
• Because I show up on time?
• Because I answer questions so brilliantly?
• Because I make good eye contact?
• Because I shake hands firmly without sweaty palms?
• Because I got a terrific new haircut?
• Because I took a course on how to “ace” the job interview?

The plain fact is; if your interviewing for a good company and interesting role, there are likely to be any number of well qualified and perfectly capable people interviewing with you.

How do you stand out from this crowd?

Wow You’re Hired WILL make you stand out from the crowd

Wow You’re Hired is a system that builds your job offer generating 30 60 90 day plan.

For those new to the idea of using a 30 60 90 day plan I’ll briefly explain more…

If you’ve read any of my previous articles on using the latest marketing tools and techniques to empower your interviewing skills, you’ll know I a firm believer in making the very most of your abilities through savvy self marketing.

And am a massive fan of developing a killer “objective statement” or “irresistible offer” for your interviewer, weaving this irresistible offer throughout, your resume / CV, your planned and well prepared STAR story answers to tough questions, and nailing home your advantage with the use of a Brag book to provide unquestionable PROOF of your skills and achievements.

These tactics will never let you down…

And I’m not suggesting you ignore them, I’m simply stating that the use of a 30 60 90 day plan has the power to derail the whole interview process, hurtling the user of the 30 60 90 day plan to the top of any previous selection process.

This power comes from the fact that it redirects the interview dialogue from being an assessment of your suitability to a discussion of “how much” your ideas and actions will benefit the company.

This may not sound much, but this is a huge psychological shift in your interviewer’s mindset, this is the mindset that ALL your interviewing efforts are trying to create.

Let’s put this another way; as soon as your interviewer decides to review your 30 60 90 day plan, they HAVE to imagine you in the role, in order to evaluate the idea(s) you’ve put forward.

How many products have you actually imagined using?

And how many of those products do you now own?

It’s human psychology; it’s what all marketers strive for; if they can help you to imagine using their product their chances of selling you the product go through the roof!

And that’s exactly what you’re doing by using a 30 60 90 day plan. You’re taking your chance of being hired through the roof!

So What Is Wow Your Hired?

Wow you’re hired has been created by Jimmy Sweeney, an expert copywriter who turned his marketing superpowers  to helping job seekers over 10 years ago, and is now chairman of Career Jimmy with a range of award winning cover letter and resume generating products (Amazing Cover Letter Creator is probably the best known).

Put simply “Wow You’re Hired” is a system to build 30 60 90 day plans for you, by answering key questions into the template, until you complete your plan. Simple!

The system includes example 30 60 90 day plans, and a great audio interview with a chap named Jake who in many ways in the inspiration behind this idea.

I’ve listened to Jimmy’s interview with Jake a few times, as it’s packed with great tips, and is a good story in itself. Jake basically losing out on a role with a former employer and boss, to a chap who came in at the last minute and used this secret tactic (30 60 90 day plan) to blow Jake’s bosses socks off, and secure the offer.

Jake’s old boss told him later what happened, and the tactic this guy had used, and Jake decided to use it himself.

Jimmy found out about the secret tactic, when Jake emailed him to ask for a refund on Jimmy’s Cover Letter product which he no longer needed as he’d just used this “secret” tactic to get his dream job.

I’ve added copy of the email below.

So should you buy Wow You’re Hired?

Well that’s your decision; but you should use a 30 60 90 day plan as this is the single best job offer winning tactic I can give you.

If you want to check out Jimmy’s Wow You’re Hired; 30 60 90 day plan generator follow this link.

This will take you to Jimmy’s  job interview secret website which is the home of Wow You’re Hired, I must however apologies as the sales information refers to this super secret job interview tactic, which I’ve well and truly let out of the bag – sorry!

In summary I think the 30 60 90 day plan for turning interviews into job offers is like all great ideas, priceless, but beautifully simple. I hope it helps you gain your dream job, whether you enlist the help of Jimmy or not.

Thanks for visiting and good luck!

P.S. If you do decide to try Wow Your Hired remember you’ve got a full 60 days to try it out.

Review of Wow You’re Hired A 30 60 90 Day Plan #fb is a post from: Interviewing Answers

Use a job interview brag book because, what your interviewer wants MORE than anything else is PROOF.

A hiring decision is a buying decision.

Buying decisions are driven by human need for logical proof and emotional fulfillment.

In recruiting this boils down to can you, or could you do the job ?

and will you fit in with other staff, clients ect… likability.

When you consider that according to Dr Bradford Smart author of the excellent corporate recruitment methodology "Topgrading", the cost of getting a hiring decision wrong is at least 10 times the first year salary and 28 times at ‘C’ level.

It’s no wonder employers are cautious about making hiring decisions.

And though there is over 200 years of research into how to assess if someone will work out in a role, the job interview process is STILL far from accurate.

So image your having a great interview, your well prepared, looking good, feeling confident, you’re answering questions well…

But am I too smooth, too slick, answering the questions too easily, does the interviewer believe me, or do they think I’m just one of those people who excell at interview, but offer no real substance…

Bring on the Job Interview Brag Book… documented, verifyable, PROOF!

Enjoy seeing the little turning in the corners of the interviewers mouth, the subtle change in the interview conversation. This is what the interviewer wants more than ANYTHING!

A good candidate who can PROVE their achievements!

So what is a job interview brag book, and how do I get one?

Consisting of a smart business like (not covered in cartoon pictures, or loud colours) ring binder, containing those transparent plastic A4 document holders, that you exchange content for and tailor to each targeted interview.

The content you include will be confirmation of achievements, PROOF documentation, that you can use during your interview.

Note: Some interviewers following a strict structured interview format, may not be allowed to deviate from the questioning sequence, and therefore not allow you to use your brag book, or only at the end of the questioning sequence. For these interviews either use it at the end if invited, or create a duplicate (don’t leave your original documents) summarised version that you can leave with them.

Content to be included in your job interview brag book:

Educational certificates
Sales or other business awards.

Client or Colleague letters of recommendation / testimonials
Relevant subject matter published material articles, or books.

Email testimonials (often easier to ask for and collect from people than letters)

Out of work achievements maybe sporting or charitable that you feel support one of your key marketing messages.

It’s also a useful interview prop to buy you time if you’ve been asked a real tough question that knocks you off balance. 

To learn more on how to ace the job interview and build a strategy that wins you offers download our FREE e Guide Interview Sniper

Interview Brag Book is a post from: Interviewing Answers