Page 38 - John Kador - 201 Best Questions to Ask on Your Interview-McGraw-Hill (2002)

WHY YOU HAVE TO QUESTION

believe you mentioned Java as one of the hot buttons for this job.
After that, I finally got my hands on . . .

4. Getting to Yes

James Joyce, the author of Ulysses, went out of his way to end his epic
novel with a big “Yes,” the most affirming word in the English language.
He knew that ending the novel with “Yes” would let readers exit the
novel with a positive frame of mind.
Your goal in the job interview is also to end the interview on an af-
firmation. In fact, the more yes’s and statements of agreement you can
generate, the better off you will be. Why? People, including job inter-
viewers, really prefer being agreeable. Few people enjoy saying no. Who
needs arguments? The best way to avoid arguments is to say yes.
If the job interview features wave after wave of yes’s, think how much
easier it will be for the interviewer to say yes to that last question,
whether it’s asked explicitly or implicitly:

I think I’ve demonstrated I’m qualified for this job. I’d very much like
to join the team. Can we come to an agreement?

In tactical terms, that means framing your interview questions so the an-
swers you want or expect will be positive. Here’s an example of an ex-
change between a candidate and an interviewer to demonstrate the
power of yes.

CANDIDATE: I have long been impressed by Acme Widgets. It’s been the
leader in pneumatic widgets for over 50 years, right?
INTERVIEWER: (proudly) Yes!
CANDIDATE: I noticed in the current annual report that the company sets
aside $50 million, or 2.5 percent of revenues, for research and de-
velopment. That’s more than all of your competitors, isn’t it?
INTERVIEWER: Yes. We lead the industry in allocation of R&D by revenue.
CANDIDATE: As the market for widgets gets more commoditized, we
will have to differentiate the product, right? What specifically is the
company doing to preserve the market share it has gained over the
years?

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