Page 168 - Oscar Adler - Sell Yourself in Any Interview_ Use Proven Sales Techniques to Land Your Dream Job (2008)

SELL YOURSELF IN ANY INTERVIEW

AFTER THE INTERVIEW:
EVALUATE HOW WELL YOU THINK YOU DID

After an interview, you are bound to have some mixed feel-
ings. Some things went well, and others felt awkward. You
may feel like you have a real chance at a job offer or that you
completely blew it. The easy thing to do is to put the entire
interview out of your mind and move on to your next chore
or start thinking about your next interview.
But experience (good or bad) really is the best teacher. The
plain truth is that you probably will fail in an interview more
often than you will succeed. Even the best baseball players
strike out more often than they get on base. When a batter
strikes out, he will review his performance to understand
why and be better prepared to face the same pitcher the
next time.
Just like the successful ballplayer, it is important to take
time after each interview to analyze your performance in
detail. Exhibit 8-1 is an “Interview Review Form” to help you
evaluate your interview experience. Your review will be most
effective if you do it as soon as possible after each interview—
while the experience is still fresh in your mind. Ideally, you
should complete the form immediately after the interview.
The farther you get from the interview itself, the less honest
and valuable your responses will be.
Make copies of this form, and use it after every interview.
Study it, learn from it, and be better prepared to succeed in
the next interview. If you had a successful interview and sub-
sequently receive a job offer, your postinterview review will
help you to document what you did well and prepare you for
future interviews. If you interviewed poorly, your review will
help you to do better next time. As Malcolm Forbes said,
“Failure is success if we learn from it.”

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