Our success in interviews is no longer about our preparation of our resume or reporting of our achievements. In fact, the resume is now more unimportant than ever. It used to be that a job required specific skills, and so we summarized our skills, successes, and accomplishments in preparation for the interview. In the past, we were so focused on selling ourselves, that we begin listing all the great things we can do. Haven’t we learned that successfully selling ourselves, begins with defining our needs, asking questions, and getting other people to think. We need to encourage truth and honesty, and these traits are liked by all leaders during an interview process.

Encouragement: “Help other people think and feel valued, and they will like you very much”  ~ Lord Chesterfield

Today, no single skill gets any complex problem solved. Our connectivity to resources, intellect, and perspectives is what becomes our new resume. If an interviewer has similar candidates – one with 400 social media followers and another candidate with 10,000 followers – the question becomes who brings more value to achieving results?

The questions we ask are more insightful to an interviewer than most people realize. I have hired both great and not-so-great managers, and I found myself more excited to hire the manager making me think in the interview rather than the one stroking my ego.

Ever try asking these questions during your interview?

1. Please share with me how my efforts in this job would be tied to your compensation?
2. Who are my key customers and what are their expectations of me?
3. What has been your career path in this organization?
4. What do you believe is the fun part of the job for which I am interviewing?
5. What new skills do you believe will be required to succeed in this job 5 years from now?
6. Are there aspects of my profile you believe may benefit your boss in solving his/her business concerns?
7. What aspects of our customer profile you enjoy most ? i.e. their intellect, business savvy,     community value, etc.
8. Please describe for me key characteristics of last years employee of the year? What made them successful?
9. In measuring success in this role, what is the balance you expect of individual results vs. team collaboration?
10. What would the person in this role prior to me tell me the most challenging part of this job was?

Anyone use better questions? I’d love to hear them!

Ask better questions : Gain greater results.

Jim