Page 63 - Oscar Adler - Sell Yourself in Any Interview_ Use Proven Sales Techniques to Land Your Dream Job (2008)

LISTEN BETTER TO LEARN WHAT’S IMPORTANT

among employees. With little training to help them make
these expensive decisions, many interviewers hide behind a
battery of questions because they don’t know what else to do.
Good interviewers have already figured out how to be
good listeners. They have honed their listening skills and
developed their questions to get the most information they
can about a candidate. They listen with their eyes as well as
their ears. They pay attention to body language, pauses, eye
contact, and subtle language choices.
It’s easy to see why listening is important for the inter-
viewer, but why is it important for you as a job candidate?
What do your listening skills have to do with how the inter-
viewer feels about you?

WHAT IS A GOOD LISTENER?

A good listener makes the speaker feel important. A good lis-
tener makes a connection with the speaker. That connection
produces positive feelings in the speaker about you. By giv-
ing the interviewer your undivided attention—by really lis-
tening—you create an atmosphere of mutual respect and
interest. As you listen, the interviewer feels good about him-
self or herself, feels good about you, and feels good about the
process. The goal is to create a rapport so that real communi-
cation can begin.
Listening is a major factor in achieving success—espe-
cially during an interview. It allows you to discover valuable
information about the interviewer and what is important to
him or her. When you create a positive listening environment,
the interviewer feels good about talking to you, revealing
information that you can use to talk about benefits that will
meet his or her specific needs.

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