Page 68 - Oscar Adler - Sell Yourself in Any Interview_ Use Proven Sales Techniques to Land Your Dream Job (2008)

SELL YOURSELF IN ANY INTERVIEW

All this research will allow you to specifically target the
benefits of your own expertise during the interview. Don’t
flaunt your knowledge, but use it to gain more information
about what is important to the interviewer. For example:

“I noticed in a recent BusinessWeek article that this
company has been number one in the industry for five
years in a row. How do you manage to beat your com-
petition so consistently?”
This lets you demonstrate that you keep up with current
industry news, and it offers the interviewer a chance to give
you valuable insights into the company culture—and what
specifically interests her. “That was a great article,” she might
reply. “We rely on innovation to keep us number one. Our
department plays a key role in this area. We develop close
relationships with our customers, staying in constant com-
munication so that we can anticipate their needs.”
In this scenario, the reference to a BusinessWeek article
touched off an important response. You now know that cus-
tomer relations and innovative thinking are valuable both to the
company in general and to this interviewer in particular. You
now can pull from your own experience to demonstrate how
you can provide a specific benefit in this area. For example:
“I’ve seen firsthand that regular communication
with customers is vital. In my current position, I
developed a quick and easy monthly e-mail survey.
This allowed my customers to answer at their leisure,
instead of putting them on the spot, and it generated
a lot of constructive feedback. I know I will be able
step right in and bring the same kinds of valuable
customer responses to your department.”

In addition to giving you insight into appropriate benefits,
your advance research will allow you to demonstrate a

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