So, regardless of your current status what are some of the mistakes to avoid in conducting a productive job search? Here is a list that I have compiled directly from my experience working with clients during the past year. Not all clients sought my advice from the get-go; many experiences came out of their frustration from being out of work too long, or for getting stuck in a particular stage of the hiring process—many interviews but no offer!

1. A Generalized Résumé: Many take the easy way out by creating a generalized message for various job categories that they can pursue. Each category of jobs must have a unique résumé that showcases your value in the strongest way you can articulate. Do not insert factitious words in the Keywords section of your résumé just to get past the screening. It is best to have the Keywords as a part of your narrative throughout your résumé. Also, use variants of the same words to get through this screening process: Project Management, Program Management, and Project Lead, as an example.
2. A Mundane Cover Letter: I strongly recommend writing a cover letter when applying for an “A” job or company. The most common mistake applicants make is to repeat what is in their résumé and the job description to make it easier to submit the cover letter. A cover letter must show some deep and studied insights about the job, the company, and the challenge it faces in today’s environment. This takes time and is not always easy.
3. A Shotgun Campaign: This is where you respond to any job that remotely corresponds to what you do with a generic résumé, hoping someone will call you. Your campaign must be well designed with a clear understanding of who the “A,” “B,” and “C” targets are.
4. Not Following-up: If you are responding to an “A” target with a great message (résumé and cover letter) find ways to get your message in front of the hiring manager through some clever means. Find a friend or someone (do they get a referral bonus?) who can do that for you and then get the hiring manager’s name to call for a follow-up. I have written extensively in my blogs (and YouTube postings) about how to follow-up without coming across as a stalker. Use these methods.
5. Unprepared Interviews: Most go through these interviews only occasionally in their careers. So, do not assume that you can finesse them without good practice and some coaching. Find someone to video record you doing an interview and catch your own mistakes as you watch yourself on the screen.
6. Acting Anxious/Desperate: Being out of work is difficult, so any chance to face an interview is a tempting opportunity to hurry-up the process and to get to the offer stage. Ease-up and show your confidence in how you come across. It is quite easy to sense the anxiety and desperation even though you may do your best to stifle it. Certain degree of being nervous is normal, but do not let that translate into any other behavior that will not serve you!
7. Discussing Salary/Title Prematurely: If the interview train is gathering speed, do not rush to discuss salary or title until they are ready to do so. Here again, do not throw out a number to show them your confidence or value (as you see it). Once the interview screening is coming to an end the question of salary will come up. This also means that they are ready to move to an offer stage. Here it is best to first find out what role (title) you would be playing in the new job. Then asking about the range for that job is a good start. DO NOT ever lie about your current salary, but negotiate what you want in the new job, based on the value you create.
8. Not Sending Thank-you Notes: Sending these notes (email or otherwise) allows you an opportunity to clear up any misapprehension that may come out of the interview discussion. Also, very few people know how to write impactful notes, so if you can write a good thank-you note, it is one more arrow in your quiver!
9. Abandoning Your Campaign: This is the most detrimental step to concluding your campaign successfully. The best strategy is to organize your campaign so that you have three-four targets where you are interviewing during your final stages of the campaign. With this approach you can easily parlay the advanced stage of one target into generating action with others. Without this strategy you are at the mercy of their timeline. I cannot tell you how many times clients abandoned all other efforts, once one target moved rapidly through the interview process and then nothing happened for a long time. This is where you can leverage the action you have on other fronts into where you want to get your job offer. Repeatedly calling the hiring manager/recruiter rapidly erodes your desirability as a candidate and makes you look that much more desperate.
10. Not Negotiating the Package: When you have managed your campaign well, you should have action on multiple fronts and several offers in a short window. You must learn how to negotiate to get what you want regardless of the economy. It never hurts to ask if there is any room for negotiation. Not doing so will compromise your own value in the minds of your prospect employer.

It is not easy being out and looking for a job in any job market. Even if you have a job and are looking for a better opportunity the suggestions above apply equally!

Good luck!

This blog is about overconfidence, one symptom of which can be a temptation to oversell, but also where you have an inflated sense of your abilities to manage a situation. A certain amount of swagger is good when you are selling yourself, but when done out of complacency, a sense of superiority, or ignorance, it is tantamount to overconfidence!

This is a sure way of turning others off about your ability to sell yourself and to work with them! What works, instead, is understated competence, fortified by your leadership stories carefully delivered to resonate with the interviewer’s pain or their desire to conquer their vision! If you are able to provide a narrative of your leadership accomplishments that showcase your competence then what shines through is your ability to reach the heart of the interviewer through their head. An air of overconfidence, on the other hand, can raise doubts about the interviewer’s willingness to give you the benefit of the doubt! If your record speaks for itself then do not amp it up by embellishing it or by disparaging the pain that is expressed by the interviewer.

Overconfidence can be apparent through a variety of behaviors during an interview: petulance as displayed by a know-it-all attitude or by insolence through speech; finishing the sentences of the interviewer; interruption; assuming what the interviewer is going to ask; etc. Although many of these behaviors could be a sign of insecurity, anxiety, or eagerness to please, their impact on the interviewer is quite the opposite.

What are some of the manifest behaviors when one is overconfident (real or ersatz)? Here are some sample responses (most of the Qs below are from an interviewer):

Q: Tell me about yourself.

A: What specifically do you want to know? I have already given you my résumé!

Here the appropriate response is, I am an experienced project manager, who always delivers her commitments on time and delights the customer. Try not to respond to a question with another question, especially when the icebreaker is thrown at you. Unless you want some clarification, try answering the original question.

Q: What is your current salary?

A: “That is confidential!” Or if you are unemployed, “Zero!”

Here it is best if you decide where in the interview this question is being asked. If asked very early it is best to give a range for your salary and if they further press you for the salary you are looking for, it is best to say that until the job is fully defined it would be hard for you to place a number that shows your expected salary.

Q: The job entails doing the following: Here the interviewer gives their take on what the job really entails (beyond what is described in the job description)

A: That really does not interest me. I worked at that level over 10 years ago!

Here the appropriate response is to dig deeper and see what the real job is. If you are in front of a hiring manager (or recruiter) chances are good that they have calibrated your value from how you have presented yourself to match the job at hand. This is why packaging your résumé correctly is important. The best strategy is to decline the offer if the final job turns out be a menial job, but only after going through the process.

Q: The job entails (whatever the interviewer says). Does this interest you?

A: What else do you have? Or if I do this who is going to do that (whatever that is)?

Here the appropriate response is to understand fully how the job needs to be done and how you could add even greater value by what you bring to the job. Let the interviewer salivate over your enthusiasm to do the job at hand. You can then turn it down when the offer is made or re-negotiate the level at which the job needs to be done.

Q: A car is going at 500 MPH. What is its speed in Kilometers per hour?

A: No car goes that fast!

The appropriate response is: 800 KPH! Just answer the question. Do not make a fool out of the interviewer.

It is difficult to generalize this overconfidence malaise, but the above vignettes provide some insight. It is best to relax, be yourself, and authentically lay out your leadership plan to do a great job in the open position. Even though your anxiety and eagerness to please during the interview may be temporary, the interviewer does not know that. So, be yourself; always!

Good luck!

A man was walking by. He took a few coins from his pocket and dropped them into the hat. He then took the sign, turned it around, and wrote some words. He put the sign back so that everyone who walked by would see the new words.

Soon the hat began to fill up. A lot more people were giving money to the blind boy.

That afternoon the man who had changed the sign came to see how things were. The boy recognized his footsteps and asked, “Were you the one who changed my sign this morning? What did you write?

The man said, “I only wrote the truth. I said what you said but in a different way.” I wrote: “Today is a beautiful day but I cannot see it.”

Both signs told people that the boy was blind. But the first sign simply and factually said that the sign’s holder was blind. The second sign told people that they were so lucky not to be blind.

Should we be surprised that the second sign was more effective?

The reason that it was effective and got different results because that change in message moved passers-by to act from their hearts and not from their brains. Facts merely appeal to the brain as to their veracity. Most decisions come from the heart!

Moral:

Be creative. Be innovative. Think differently and positively. Appeal to people’s hearts through their minds!

As a career coach I see the same mindset that professionals carry when they create their marketing message. It is steeped in factual data about their accomplishments and about how great they are at what they do. What they fail to see is how what they are stating as facts affects the reader, a decision maker, in how they respond to their message.

In the above story the change in the direction of the message, from “me” to “you,” made all the difference in the outcome. Not only that, it made passers-by even feel good about their generosity!

The same is true about any message you create about yourself that you want to result in some benefit to you. To achieve that goal you must first see the benefit others get from what you are offering. So, in the case of your résumé if you move the message from “me centric” to “reader centric” by finding their pain and then their gain by their engaging you, you will have a response very similar to what that blind boy experienced at the end of that fateful day!

Enjoy this beautiful day!

There are two forces at play here: One, of course, is your own assessment of your capabilities that apply to the challenges at hand, as they appear to you during the interview; the other is lack of full knowledge of the factors that define the situation where you have to deliver on that promise!

As someone so aptly said, Confidence is what you have when you really do not understand a situation! In an attempt to impress the interviewer and to move it to the next stage towards its conclusion, one is tempted to oversell their abilities. This often stems from oversimplification of what is presented and an anxiety to come across as a quick thinker! The outcome of this stance can be one of two possibilities: The interviewer spots your overreach and does not move to making you an offer; or, worse, they believe you and offer you the job! In the latter case you probably will end up looking for yet another job before your first year at the new job is over!

So, how does one avoid the temptation to oversell in an interview? Here are some suggestions:

1. Research not just the company you are going after for that job, but also find out something about the hiring manager and the open position. Why is that position open will shed much light on what is expected of you: If the incumbent was let go, what was the reason; if this is a new opening, what is expected of someone new in that position, etc.
2. During the presentation of your accomplishments make sure that you communicate the entire context of your accomplishments, not just the juicy parts. If an accomplishment is truly stellar, tamp it down by saying that many chipped in at helping you and admit to the luck factor. That shows humility, not hubris.
3. Ask what the challenge is in the area where they want your expertise. Ask also what the driving and constraining factors are. Often, political factors create such headwinds for any change initiative that it is very difficult to get organizational support to further one’s agenda. Often, too, these factors do not fully manifest until after you are ensconced in the new job; too late to do anything about what you committed to in the interview!
4. Ask the interviewer what they see as some of the factors that will militate against the success of the initiative and what can be done to deal with them.
5. Explore what would happen if the initiative failed to take root and got delayed or downright failed. This will force the interviewer to share with you some of the apprehensions they have about its success. You can then make an intelligent decision about how to proceed.
6. Ask the interviewer about the key success factors that would make the initiative take root in the organization. Their answer will tell you much about what aspects of your skill set will play a major part in that success. If those factors are not your strong suits then you are likely being set up for failure.
7. Tactfully, ask the interviewer about factors that they have NOT told you about in this discussion. This will put them on notice and force them to divulge things that they may not otherwise.
8. If the discussion goes far enough in the interview, see if you can manage the expectations so that you come across as someone who under promises and over delivers; always a safe bet. This is a good position for you, especially at the start of a new job.
9. If you take the job, sniff out all the factors that will drive the success of that initiative and present a plan of action (PoA) to your manager within the first 90 days with your realistic assessment and contingencies. More than anything else, if this is a solid plan, you may not get that ax if the plan does not succeed when your first-year review comes due! Because, now you manager had signed-off on your plan.

10. Good luck!

There are several ways we normally communicate: by speaking, through our writings, and how we project our overall message including our body language. Sometimes, we do not need to say a word, yet our body radiates volumes of what we are really thinking.

I was reminded of this when struck by one single picture of Prince Charles and Princess Dianna during their India visit, where a photographer captured them from their back, standing together watching a parade in their honor. They were standing about a foot apart from each other, but their body language, through a photo taken even from the back, was radiating a single message: we can’t stand each other; we are splitting up. It really did not matter even if at the same instant their frontal shot had shown them beaming, enjoying that parade. Soon thereafter they split up!

Although we make great efforts to focus on one particular channel of our message delivery, by our speech, we do not normally pay enough attention to other parts that collectively project the overall message that, at worst, unmistakably communicates our real intent or at best it leaves the other person confused.

The key aspect of communicating a cogent and coherent message is our authenticity; if we are authentic in our message then all aspects of what we communicate are in synch and they ally with us to project a singularly unified message that can either serve us or deny us what we are seeking. A good example of this is when you watch a baby throw a tantrum. Every part of the their body is communicating that they are unhappy and that they want something badly; the cry, the face, the tears, the flailing of limbs, the stiffness! The same holds true when that baby is happy again, when every pore of the body is now oozing out happiness. That is the power of authentic communication!

Authentic communication is critical in business–especially during job interviews, where we are constantly attempting to adjust our message to make sure that the interviewer is in agreement with what we communicate and we are communicating what the interviewer is expecting! In an attempt to conquer what we are seeking we focus on what we want more than what we are, or who we are. In the process we betray our authenticity and vitiate our efforts to get what we want.

Authentic communication requires congruence of visual, aural, and verbal faculties. Physical vocabulary–our body language–plays a major part in this, but overall, we must manage all our faculties so that they project an authentic signal to those who matter in that interchange. If we are truly authentic, we do not need to manage anything, but be ourselves. Sometimes, this is not easy to do when there is some conflict in being completely authentic.

So, what is the best way to show your authentic self without compromising your ability to be true. Here is my prescription:

1. Do not focus on what you want to say, but focus more on how the interviewer is going to interpret what you say. So, instead of saying I am leaving my current job because I cannot stand my new boss, it is better to say, In our current organization there is little opportunity for my growth, so I am looking for a change.
2. Use words carefully because they often betray your state of mind or intent. So, instead of saying I had to compromise my need to get involved in new designs with the department’s need to do maintenance work, it is better to say, I decided that I needed to balance my creative urge with the need to keep the current products supported well.
3. Before responding to a question, pause, think, smile, and then carefully deliver a measured response. Congruity is important in each response, where the verbal, aural, and the physical vocabulary match to create an authentic signal. Actors get good at this by understanding the character they are playing. Without suggesting that you should ham it up during your interview session I’d suggest that finding a good balance between what you can live with against what is going to be trouble for you later on when you get that job. No matter how badly you want that job, remember, you are also interviewing them for the same reason–mutual selection.
4. Do a congruency check by video taping your interview and by watching how you come across to yourself. Normally, we are our worst critics.
5. Whenever possible learn from the interviews or encounters, where you did not get what you went there to sell. This is how you build your authenticity platform.

Good luck!

A senior software engineer, who has been a high-level architect for several years and with nearly 20 years’ experience, came to me the other day with a frustrated look and an angry tone. He was complaining about how upstart engineers at prospect employer companies put him through a demeaning mill of interviews asking questions about syntax propriety and errors in a line Java code.

Asked why he let himself be subjected to such demeaning process, where he should been asked high-level questions about how to create customer value and how to create more user-friendly architectures, by those who deal with such issues at the employer’s place, he shook his head and said he could not help it. “They just walk in and start firing questions just glancing at my resume as it lays there on the table in front of me and them. How can I steer them away from such inane questions? How can I get them to really appreciate what I can do for them and for their customers? ”

Good question!

When I looked at his resume I could immediately see why he was positioned that way and why he was letting it happen to himself, despite his best intentions. His resume started with a Career Objective that said he wanted to be a Staff Engineer responsible of platform architectures (much like creating a new-model automobile, to steal a metaphor). Immediately following that statement he wrote, in details, about his technical skills that is an alphabet soup of different software languages, operating systems, tools, and such arcana. He then followed that with his detailed task-focused chronology of assignments, as most do in their resumes. This was yet another place where you found the alphabet soup, in full sentences, this time around.

Herein lay the problem. By positioning himself as a hands-on technical front-liner he had exposed himself to be asked questions by inexperienced engineers who did not really understand what he delivered through novel architectures and new platforms that created new and unprecedented value for those who appreciated it. He was not a programmer or a coder, (someone who can tune a car, to continue the metaphor) that can quickly get to the syntax and find a better way to write a line of code.

So, what did I advise him?

I advised him to re-write his top part of the resume (above the fold, in newspaper lexicon) that presented his high level skills: customer knowledge, user interface design, understanding how to create business value through great software platforms, and so on. Then I asked him to modify his details of professional experience and convert that from task-driven assignments to simple stories of leadership that showed how he thinks and how he executes. We completely eliminated the alphabet soup in the narratives and left that to the end of the resume under the heading of Technical Skills, at the bottom of page-two.

Viola! In the new round of interviews immediately following his resume re-do, he was positioned very differently. He was seen first by the CTO or head of engineering and then parceled off to senior architects to vet his skills with very different set of questions. Within just three weeks this client had two very good offers that not only delighted him but made him feel valuable in the way he was interviewed.

See how easy it is if you know how to position yourself from the get-go?

This article is written especially for those who operate under the belief that one should get what they deserve in the corporate world. It does not work that way: What they need to realize is that one gets what they knowingly create and manage.

So, how does one manage their image and project that all important executive message in everything that they do? Well, the good news is that if you have already mastered the art of performing functionally well in your job, managing your image, perceptions, and presence are not that hard. You have already mastered that part that only 14% know how to do well. A recent survey of nearly 90,000 US professionals by Towers Perrin, a professional services firm that helps clients improve business performance, concluded that only 14% of the employees are fully engaged in their work! This means that 86% rely on politics, influence, and skullduggery to get to where they want to go!

The following prescription is offered as way for professionals to create and build their executive image:

1. Look at your own career momentum and assess how far it will take you and how soon. Identify roadblocks within your own company and how you can overcome them, with performance, relationships, and finesse.
2. If you feel stagnant in your career, identify opportunities that are not apparent (there are always plenty of them around!) and make a case for getting them assigned to you. This shows initiative. Such an accomplishment will allow you to use one of the most compelling verbs on a resume: Initiated!
3. Always stay focused on your accomplishments and not just your performance. You may perform well, but if you are not able to deliver monetized accomplishments your impact in an organization is marginalized. People are mystified by how to monetize what you do. Make some assumptions and get agreements with your boss to develop a way to monetize what you do. It is never that hard once you come to some agreement about this with your boss.A rough rule of thumb is that each hour saved gets multiplied by the respective hourly rate and then multiplied by three to arrive at the monetized value to the company. A secretary recently spent 10 hours setting up an automated calendar, which saved a group of 40 engineers one hour per week each. So, for spending $750 of the company’s money, she freed-up one engineer for the company, saving it $450,000 annually!
4. Keep a running track of your accomplishments and publicly announce them taking credit and giving, where it is due. You must garner support of those who can help you succeed. You cannot do this alone.
5. Do not assume any thing. Ask
6. Look and act powerful. Be confident in every thing that you do.
7. Learn how to speak up at important meetings and learn how to be an effective and persuasive presenter, an all-important executive trait!
8. Surround yourself with positive and powerful people and do not engage in petty gossip.
9. In today’s virtual workplace, where many work from remote areas virtually, lacking visibility, make sure that you create a virtual presence by exchanging important memos, success stories and by emailing others about those who helped you succeed. By recognizing someone publicly you, in turn, are seen as a leader who rises about petty politics.
10. Send a message recognizing someone who did a great job. Send copies of this message to higher-ups. Recognizing someone publicly has an effect of putting yourself above them.
11. Once you cross the mid-management threshold, it is less about your technical skills and more about the relationships and alliances you build. Many with highly technical backgrounds fail to recognize this. Try to understand different agendas and see how you can collaborate to build consensus that serves the company’s customers.
12. Make a habit of communicating with higher-up that you normally do not work with to make them become aware of who you are. Participate in special projects and volunteer activities where you get to work with executives several levels above where you are.
13. Do not let the levels at which your superiors operate intimidate you and let your cower in fear because of their status. If you are seen as one who easily rubs shoulders with higher-ups your chances of being seen as one of them are greatly amplified.
14. Look at the industry trends and see if you are keeping up with those trends in your current job or if you need to move to another area of responsibility within your own company. Do not let your false sense of loyalty to your employer or boss get in the way of your own welfare.
15. If you identify an outside opportunity and find that you lack certain qualifications to jump, use your existing job to seek the assignments that get you the needed expertise and then prepare yourself for the move. Such opportunities are always out there. Write your resume in advance and seek out those assignments. In fact, your advance resume is to chart out your career track and then seek assignments to make it happen. This now puts you in the driver’s seat.
16. If your company is in turmoil, it affords unprecedented opportunities for personal development and growth. At such times many rich opportunities are there just for the asking. Seek out tough assignments and make sure that you package them on your resume appropriately. There is nothing more compelling about a candidate whose leadership story narrates how things were hopeless, how they were determined to make them otherwise, and succeeded.
17. Prepare a forward-looking resume and show your value in undeniable ways. A forward-looking resume articulates your value proposition for tomorrow based on your genius (Unique Skills) and leverages your “brand.” An unbranded resume that is backward looking (a Jurassic Resume) is not worth its salt.
18. If you are removed from dealings with customers, find a reason to initiate a dialog and discover what everyone else has missed. If asked correctly, customers love to talk about what they are missing, and if your company can deliver that you become a hero. Imagine how great this bullet will look on your résumé.
19. If you wish to seek a higher position, start behaving as if you already have attained it and influence those around you to respond to your leadership. Once you are seen as the putative candidate for that job by those around you, getting the title merely becomes a formality.
20. Seek mentorship from higher ups. Provide mentoring to those below you.
21. Most professionals do not get what they seek is because they do not clearly know what they want. Be clear about your objective and do not hesitate to publicly state them.

Good luck!

The same concept applies to individuals. We have our core competencies that allow us to confidently move ahead and to beat out competitors in our own fields of endeavor. In our professional development we focus on discovering and nurturing our core competencies throughout our life; we flaunt them to define our brand and we trumpet them to get attention. Our core competencies generate our present success.

Core incompetence[1], on the other hand, is something that gets in the way of our future success and something that interferes with our ability to properly–or even fully–deploy our core competencies for our ongoing development and growth; it conspires to limit us or even defeat us and quietly betrays us in our chance to self actualize our true potential.

This article is aimed at presenting the concept of core incompetence and at suggesting some ways on how to deal with this silent enemy within us to manage our own professional development so that we can stay competitive on an ongoing basis.

Core Competence Defined: At an individual level we possess attributes-core competencies-that come from two sources: nature and nurture. The natural attributes we possess are our gifts; our hardwired “operating system” that allows us to do some things well, right from the get-go. The nurtured attributes are best built upon our natural gifts and, together, they give us unique advantages in the way we manifest as we navigate through our everyday obligations and challenges.

Nurtured skills, developed on the foundation of our natural gifts greatly amplify our ability to manifest, giving us competitive advantage. It is like polishing a rough diamond that is good to begin with. It can only get better with proper cutting and polishing. Any other substance, no matter how hard, cannot match that unmistakable fire and brilliance of a well-processed diamond, no matter how well polished.

There are many avenues to discover one’s natural gifts, which are our aptitudes that manifest early in our life. Many assessment tools are available for those interested in discovering their aptitudes. These tools are frequently used to define one’s career paths. Pursuing a certain academic avenue and engaging in appropriate vocation that align with our innate gifts further burnish the already latent talents that we possess.

The nurtured part of our core competence emerges from our diligent application and proper channeling of our natural gifts with a specific end in mind. For example, if someone has a great gift for music, they can increase their capability by learning how to play a musical instrument that interests them. As they develop their skill by learning the technique and practice by playing the instrument they master it and become a highly skilled player. Their core competency is now playing the musical instrument they are so good at. The key attribute of someone manifesting their core competence is that whatever it is that they do appears effortless.

As one develops this skill the way it is practiced and the techniques used in the execution of how the instrument is played also become an integral part of the skill. As one increases their diligence and intensity with which they apply themselves to their craft, they develop an increasingly defined way of execution. How they play their instrument goes on to become their unique “operating system.”

Herein lies the rub.

As one becomes growingly better, even successful, at what they do, they also become less and less open to other ways of doing things. These ways can open doors for them to yet greater heights of achievement and can further improve their reach and prowess. If one is not open to continuous learning, their success often results in developing learning disabilities that eventually create a death spiral leading to their ultimate demise.

Stories of such death spirals immediately following spectacular successes abound. In one instance Henry Ford, who pioneered the assembly line for mass production in the early 1920s, was immensely successful developing the Model T Ford, which then was the most purchased mass-produced car, selling some 15 million units (nearly half of all card sold then), making Henry Ford one of the richest men alive.

Henry Ford’s spectacular success soon became his own nemesis when General Motors came up with cars that Ford refused to build, having features Henry Ford did not want to offer, such as a selection of colors (“They can have any color that they want, as long as it is black” as his insouciant response was reported), optional equipment, and a variety of models consumer so desperately wanted to be seen as individuals. Soon, the Ford Motor Company was confronting extinction until it came up with its Model-A in the early ‘30s in response to General Motor’s offerings. Even then the company continued to struggle until it was finally saved in 1946 by his grandson, who took the helm from Henry Ford, making drastic changes.

More recently, Microsoft refused to accept that its success selling software and operating systems for the exploding PC industry was blinding its ability to face the emerging reality presented by the Internet. Microsoft had to throw its considerable resources making an end run, facing ridicule and overcoming Netscape, then a puny upstart, which would have put Microsoft in dire straits if it had not been able to overcome the competitive threat quickly, albeit reactively. Originally, Microsoft had dismissed the Internet as a passing fad and a distraction. Now Google is, once again, posing similar challenges to it and giving it a run for its money.

Similar setbacks occur to individuals who rely too much on their core competencies to help them navigate through their professional crossroads. The following prescription is offered to deal with the issue of core incompetency at a personal level:

• As you develop your strengths and skills, carefully listen to your “customers and competitors” to see what you are missing out on and evaluate how you can master those attributes. Learning is often painful, but the rewards of continuous learning are undeniable: you will never be obsolete!
• Use your skills only when they create value and not at every turn. Metaphorically, this is akin to having an expensive hammer and using it as a tool for not just hammering a nail quickly, but to also for drilling a hole, shaping lumber, and for turning a screw; it cannot work. Be mindful of your limitations or learn how to be a “Swiss Army Knife” by acquiring synergistic skills and knowing when to use them appropriately.
• If you are retooling and reinventing yourself do not expect to immediately capitalize on your newly-acquired skills (still your core incompetencies). Instead, develop a connection between the new opportunity and your core competency so that you can create value in the context of what you are already good at.
• In this era of knowledge explosion, it is impossible to keep up with the expanding knowledge on any subject, let alone related subjects. The best way to stay on top is learning how to learn. Anticipating how your particular skill area is emerging to deal with the evolving flux is how one can stay on top.
• Learn how to listen non-judgmentally. When our ego is involved we find it difficult to openly listen to new ideas that threaten our ability to create value in the emerging environment.
• Constantly take calculated risks and evaluate your own ability to achieve the outcomes you set out to achieve. As Winston Churchill once said, Success consists of jumping from failure to failure without admitting defeat.
• Do not dwell on past failures but leverage the learning from those failures to improve your odds of success in your new ventures. When you take this attitude, there are no failures!

In today’s rapidly changing world, having a core competency as your selling attribute is not enough, you must learn how to manage your core incompetency as well to stay viable.

[1] This phrase was originally coined by Dr. Prasad Kaipa, a noted executive and life coach.

1. Once you enter the room where the interview will take place, take charge. When asked sit comfortably in the designated chair with confidence. Put your briefcase down and not on the table or the desk! Relax. Pull the briefcase in your lap to get things out and place them in front of you. These things may be your note pad, pen or pencil, your organizer or calendar. Do not clutter the desk or table with more than the essentials. Your résumé should be part of the stack that consists of the writing pad and other material–a small stack!
2. Look at your host and smile. Breathe easy. You are naturally anxious. Do not show it by making solicitous comments: “Gee, I am really sorry you are catching cold” if you just saw your host sniffling. He may be allergic to something you are wearing and not really catching a cold!
3. Thank your host for taking the time for the interview. Ask politely how much time is set for the interview, who else might see you and anything else that is logistically relevant: “Is Tom coming here or I am going to his office?”  So that you are clear on the course of the activities planned for your visit.
4. Let this host launch the formal part of the interview with the first question–the informal interview began when you first shook hands! Make sure you understand the question. Generally the first questions are easier. But, do not assume if you do not understand something. The interviewer is nervous, too; use that to your advantage. For example, he may assume that the person who did the phone screening took care of certain preliminaries as the company’s expansion plans, overseas contracts, etc. Politely state the facts and ask for further information. You entire line of response may hinge on this critical information.
5. There are two things critical to the interview dynamics: the person asking the questions is in charge of the interview; the person doing the talking is doing the selling. You should not automatically assume that your host is in charge of the interview after the first question. They are just in charge of the arrangements for the interview and that is why they are your host!
6. One way to take charge of the interview without overtly showing that you have now done so is to first answer the question in a leading way. Then ask back a question at the end of your response so that the interviewer has to respond with a thoughtful answer. For example, if the interviewer asks why you see yourself as a good fit for the position, the best response is not to assume what the position is, merely after having read the job posting. A good response is to first advert your response to what is already on your résumé and state what you have done in the immediate past at the company you left or leaving. This is all factual. Then at the end of about a minute or so, pause, and ask the following: “Now that you know what I have done at H-P as a product manager, and I also have read the job description for this position, what is your perspective and what do you expect the new hire to do to bring value to you?”  This is not the same as asking what the job is; you should know that having come this far in the process! But, everyone has a perspective and expectations on how this position will be filled and what the new hire is expected to deliver.
7. Once the interviewer launches into an answer, take brief notes on what is critical in their response. Watch the body language carefully. Do they betray a discord in stating what is being said or do they really believe what they’re saying? Sometimes hiring managers or other interviewers do not buy into all open positions for political reasons. Your knowledge of this is critical. Once the person stops talking or you see a natural opening into what might be a longer answer (after about 60-90 seconds), interrupt politely and say “That is very interesting, John, because that is exactly what I do well!”  And, then go on to say, “Let me explain!” Now go on to those parts of your résumé that have supporting material to what was said and then build on it. Use the very language and the words that were just used to describe their expectations! Now you cannot lose! If you do not follow this simple script you are shooting in the dark and you have no clue if you hit the mark.
8. Once you have come to this point, you have probably crossed the tipping point in who holds the control of the interview. Now you can bandy questions and answers back and forth and you both are having a dialog and not an interrogation. Remember you have to ask about half the questions–starting early–and do half the talking. This way you are both selling each other, a perfect barter!
9. Throughout this exchange carefully watch the interviewer’s body language. See following section: Understanding body language for tips on reading the body language.
10. Do not make responses to anything based on your assumptions. Do not infer anything from what you know especially if it puts the company in negative light. Let the interviewer suggest rather than your insinuating something to make a point. This can back fire quickly and is very difficult to get out of!                                                                            For example, if you have done some research about how the company deals with its            customers by actually talking to them as a part of your research before going into the interview, do not factually state what those with whom you talked think or say about the company if it is negative and needs improvement that you can provide; it may sound self-serving coming from you. Wait for the interviewer to bring it up by your leading them that way. For example, in this case, rather than saying “your customers think that your sales people do not have adequate technical understanding of the technology and often end up providing inadequate or wrong solutions as a result”, ask how the company makes sure that during a sales call that there is technical representation so that the solution is sound. Then if the response comes in the form of something less than stellar, jump in and say: “I actually talked to some of your customers and what you suspect is shared by some of them and I know one way to mitigate that ….”                                             This approach to solving a problem only when it is presented and owned by the interviewer is far more appropriate than merely assuming that the interviewer already knows what you see as a major problems and that they is looking at you for its solution.      Never provide a solution to a problem that the interviewer does not know even exists or owns!
11. If you see the interviewer disengaging from the interview as suggested by their leaning back, showing distracted gestures, or looking at their watch, quickly recognize it and back peddle what you just said and see if you can recover. It is good to recognize early a potential derailment before it is about to happen than to wait for complete derailment or even a train wreck. (See Understanding body language, in the following section)
12. One clue on how the interview is going is to check the elapsed time. This is why asking up-front how long the scheduled interview is–item # 3 above–can be critical. If the interview is going really well, you both lose sense of the time. Good interviews that are really engaging go well beyond the scheduled time. If you see anything is getting in the way of that, it is your responsibility to make sure that you bring that back on track!
13. Throughout the interview take notes, if you do not have an answer to any arcane or unexpected question, despite all your preparations, make a note of it, smile, and politely say that you would get back with an answer. In fact, this strategy will help you reconnect with the interviewer in ways not possible otherwise.  Similarly, if you find a natural opening for showing your knowledge on some related topic by having read some relevant material in a journal or publication, state that observation and say that you plan to send that article upon your return. This also gives you one more chance to connect with the interviewer after the interview.
14. If the interview has progressed to a heart-to-heart dialog then it is safe to assume that you have aced the interview. You are not out of the woods yet. You got to establish yourself as the only and ideal candidate. The following is one way to achieve that goal: During the process where you realize that you have now taken control of the interview–without the interviewer knowing it, of course!–Asking the following question can give you more insight into how you stand vis-à-vis other candidates. Your mission now is to make you the only candidate by asking:                                                                                                  “If you were to bring on board an ideal candidate what would their performance look like in the first year?”                                                                                                                                              The response to this telling question is critical. The interviewer is likely to say something like: “we expect the candidate to do this and that.”  Once you get a grasp of what that means in terms of what you can do to achieve the same outcome, your immediate but studied response is how you would deliver that performance and how you have already delivered similar performance before. In essence, you have now made it known to the interviewer that you are that ideal candidate. When presenting this argument specific examples will help even further.                                                                                                               The other advantage this question provides is that now you can leverage this information during the entire interview circuit after this first round. You will not only impress the others with this knowledge and insight, you will plant in their mind, too, that you are it!
15. Since this is the first interview do not bring up any salary or similar information into the discussion if the interviewer does not ask you. If you are asked, politely say that this is your first interview and you would like to explore more by talking to others about this job and then decide how it is scoped. If you show haste in this step you are likely to come across as too anxious!
16. As the interview is winding down, be mindful of the time and make sure to ask questions so that not only you get answers to these but also, more importantly, make the interviewer think of the import of your questions. If you have done thorough research before the interview and know what the hot buttons are you should be able to pose some trenchant questions that will differentiate you. Often the most obvious questions can stump an interviewer and show that you are not a run-of-the-mill thinker. Also learn to leverage one question in an interview into another one!
17. Throughout the interview maintain eye contact and smile in a relaxed way. Feel empowered by what is happening in front of you; your body language should project this state. You should radiate confidence, control, and calm! The interviewer may be impressed by your aplomb!
18. As the interview comes to a close and you see things are winding down– you will sense the energy–ask, at an appropriate time what the next step is. This is a telling question on how well you have done and what the interviewer thinks of you and how you did. Never ask about how interview went. These questions show insecurity and put the other person in a position of power. The unspoken word says much more here than most realize. If the interviewer says that you should know in a couple of weeks as there are other candidates, you should quickly pull out your pocket calendar–the plastic variety–and say something like: “two weeks from today would be November 21, which is a Friday. Why not I call you on Monday, November 24 if I do not hear from you? What is a good time?”  By this exchange you have ascertained that if you do not get that call on the November 21, you are free to call on Monday to follow-up. This also puts you in charge of the follow-up process. In most cases you will not get that call on the 21^st as promised! This exchange also shows that you are good at holding people accountable for actions; a good attribute if you are seeking a program manager, sales, or similar position where accountability is central to your success!
19. At the end, once again thank the interviewer for the time and express how much you learned from this exchange! Also express that you are now even more excited about this position than before and would look forward to working for this manager.
20. On the way out make sure you pick up all your trash, put all your papers away in your case and leave everything behind as you found it when you entered the room. The interviewer will probably escort you to the lobby or to the next spot for the interview.

After the Interview

After the interview you are probably back in the lobby checking out and handing over the badge to the person who greeted you upon arrival and signed you in. Thank that person and tell them that you really enjoyed the experience. Remember the discussion about making friends with this person at the beginning: use this connection to get from the person anything you might need to close the loop after the interview. If you shook hands with someone during the interview but failed to record or register the name, this person is more than likely to give that information. Simply describe the person or say the name in any way that you remember; this person will look up and give you the details you need so that you get what you came looking for.

Also get this person’s contact information so when you return and you have something that you need in your follow-up, this is now your inside contact!

Upon your return from the interview, compose your notes into a coherent information resource. Reflect on the interview, does anything stand out as having gaps or holes that needed a stronger answer? This must all be done in the first 24 hours following the interview.

Compose a thank you note for electronic transmittal. This note should be brief and should make or two points about what could have been done better. Without an apology state your afterthoughts so that the interviewer appreciates your diligence in following up with a stronger answer. This further cements your candidacy! Repeat the timeline that you agreed at the end of the interview so that who calls whom and when are clear from this note.

A sample email thank you note is shown at the end of this section.

For an important target (“Gold”) also send a short Thank-you card in the Mail. The message here is brief and personal.

Telephone Calls

Telephone calls are the mainstay of networking and interview communication. And yet, few follow the etiquettes to make this a pleasant experience! The following etiquettes are a summary of some of the key telephone etiquettes:

Incoming calls:

1. Have a businesslike greeting on your voice mail.  Identify yourself and your telephone number in the greeting.
2. With the caller ID a standard feature now do not install security screens on incoming calls. These filters can be a barrier to callers trying to reach you, including your potential employers. Use voice screening instead, available on most recorded messaging machines.
3. Have a separate line for all your Internet activity. An Internet connection on a line can block it for hours and frustrate those who are trying to reach you, including your potential employers. With broadband connections now becoming common, this is less of a problem.
4. If a call comes at a time when it is inconvenient for you to take it, explain why and ask if you can call them back at a time that is best for them.
5. If you are angry, upset, or feel that you are not in balance, let the machine take the incoming call.
6. Do not betray your emotions or state of mind to the caller. Telephone calls are notoriously sensitive to the way your tone comes across to the other party. Be very aware of this and manage your emotional state for all calls, incoming and outgoing!
7. Use your cell phone line only for urgent and brief calls. Do not conduct a telephone interview on a cell phone.

Outgoing calls:

Make outgoing calls at a time that does not impose on the called party. Typically these times are on a weekday: 9:00 AM to 10:00 PM (9:00 PM is preferred) for calls made to a home, and during regular business hours for all business calls; weekends 10 AM to 6 PM for all home calls. Avoid dinner or lunch hours even for home calling. The only exceptions may be those within your closest contacts.

1. If you are calling someone on their cell phone, ask if they can talk or politely ask where they are so that if they are driving you may want to ask them for a more convenient time to for that call.
2. When the called person answers your call, immediately identify yourself fully-and not by merely saying “Hi this is Dave-so that you can engage in a conversation without the called person having to wonder “which Dave is this?” and losing time in engaging with you right away. Also, do not assume that even though they have answered the call that they are free to talk to you then; they may be in the middle of something important.
3. When leaving a message on the voice mail, immediately announce your name and call back telephone number, leave a brief message (20 seconds) and repeat your name and call back telephone number at the end. Include best time to call so that you do not play telephone tags.
4. If you want to get the caller’s attention make sure that your voice mail is at the top of the stack in their morning voice mail retrieval routine. Leave a message late at night or very early in the morning (emails are its exact opposite in how they are queued up in the mail box.).
5. If you called someone and the line gets disconnected, no matter what the reason, caller reinitiates the call. The called person waits for the phone to ring again for a few minutes otherwise they will go about their business. This is why calling on or using cell phone for critical calls is not a good idea.
6. Do not discuss sensitive, gossipy, or personally offensive, or insinuating information on the phone. If you want to give some adverse feedback to the person over the phone ask them to meet you and do it in person. Likewise, do not leave messages of similar nature on someone’s voicemail.
7. Keep your calls brief and to the point.
8. Always be clear on what the next step is and who is accountable for it before you hang up.

Interviews

Interview etiquettes range from how you appear for the interview to what to do with your briefcase when you are ready to sit down prior to the interview, to how you leave the lobby on your way out! The following is a suggested listing of etiquette that governs these behaviors:

1. Be on time for the interview. In fact the guideline is to arrive at least 30 minutes prior to the interview and get settled. This way if the venue is changes and you have to go across the campus to another building you’ll still have time to be on schedule.
2. Dress appropriately for the interview: dress up and not down. You can always remove one or more pieces of your clothing and carry with you if you suddenly feel that you’re overdressed!
3. Dress conservatively. If you need help visit a clothing store that specializes in business attire and seek advice of floor personnel. Do not plan to make a statement with your clothes; you may not get past it. Do not let your clothes enter the door before you do!
4. Introduce yourself to the receptionist and state why you are there, whom you are going to see and when. Mention that you are early and not to announce you quite yet. Make friends with this person by holding a casual conversation. Do not demand a beverage or any other service from this person. They have job to do–typically answering phone calls, and greeting visitors.
5. Do not make any adverse comments about the parking facilities, temperature in the room, coffee (too strong!) or any thing else to the receptionist (Lobby Ambassador). You really do not know how this person is connected. In one instance a candidate made an off the cuff disparaging comment about the person who might be running the company at which he was interviewing, not realizing that the receptionist was CEO’s daughter doing a summer internship there!
6. When your time comes to have you be announced to the host or the interviewer do not assume that the receptionist would remember this. A variety of duties in which they are engaged can easily distract them from your needs. If that person is on the phone for a while, wait patiently even though your time to be calling your contact is well past and you cannot get this person’s attention. If appropriate hand the person a note politely and unobtrusively.
7. If you spill something in the lobby as you wait for your time, clean up, even if the receptionist does not see the spill. Often, these people and others who causally come in contact with you are asked to report their impressions of you for critical positions.
8. When the interviewer or their representative comes to greet you, be cordial even if they have kept you waiting. Do not suggest their lateness by looking at your wristwatch. Smile and shake hands. Let them lead you to the place where the interview is going to take place. Practice some icebreakers with this person on the way to the interview.
9. At the place of the interview, asked to be seated and then sit down comfortably where you can put your briefcase or other interview paraphernalia. Place it down on the floor and not on the desk or table in front of you!
10. Do not interrupt the interviewer. Do not argue even if you know that the interviewer is wrong!
11. Take notes on a note pad and not on a laptop or a handheld device close to your face!
12. Do not ask any questions about the company’s woes to the interviewer, the answers to which may put that person in a compromising light. You are also likely to compromise your chances of getting in. Once a client, while being interviewed by a company’s CEO asked him about the SEC investigation that was announced in the media the morning of her interview. After several rounds of successful interviews she was a shoo-in. This question put off the CEO and the process died in its tracks!
13. When the interview is over get up, organize your belongings and quickly get ready to leave the area with the person escorting you out. Do not stretch their patience as you carefully organize your many belongings if they became disheveled during the interview. Do that later on your own
14. Shake hands and thank the person for their time and ask for what the next steps are and a timeline. Do not get overly obsessive about timelines or accountability about the follow-up. Do this somewhat naturally by practicing it on your own before the interview.
15. On the way out thank the receptionist for taking good care of you and ask the person their name!

Thank-you! Notes

Thank you notes following an interview are critical to making them remember you. They can also be used to recover from something that might have gone wrong during the interview. Mailed Thank You notes are more formal and memorable than emails. You may want to do both for interviews that matter. Thank You! notes are also a good way for you to reposition yourself after the interview. If you saw an opportunity that was not apparent until your exploration during the interview, a thank you note gives you the opportunity to reframe yourself in ways that suits your new perspective about the job.

Acing an interview is a chain of events, each of which makes its own mark on the interviewer. Knowing the subtle nuances that make a difference is a competitive edge to ace an interview and to get that offer you are after.