Know Your Interviewer!!

How would you like to be a Psychic?!? By reading into your interviewer's mind, you can make an impression that no other candidate has!

Early last year, I was in the process of switching jobs. So, I was entrusted with the responsibility of interviewing my replacement. While paring the number of potential interviewees down, I used an unorthodox method to eliminate a candidate......by visiting their Facebook page! She had made the mistake of making her page 'public' and I noticed that she was planning on "touring the world" within the next year. Why hire someone who'll be taking a long leave of absence?

That got me thinking.....couldn't I flip the script and grab the upper hand on an interviewer?

I've used Google, LinkedIn and Facebook to get to know the individual interviewing me. You don't need a whole lot of information. Even one little tidbit can create that lasting memory!

I had an interview last week (a product of my Tim Horton's tactic!) and used Facebook to research my interviewer. Her profile was mostly private, except for one line which indicated she was a fan of international soccer star, Cristiano Ronaldo! BINGO! There's my ticket. During the interview, she mentioned how sore her feet were. Noticing the opportunity, I replied, "Can you imagine how sore the best soccer player in world, Cristiano Ronaldo's feet feel after each match?"

Yes, I know it was cheesy (even by my own standards), but it struck a chord with her. "How did you know he was my favourite player?" She now has the following impressions:
- i've done my homework
- i've got some sort of research skills
- i'm a quick thinker, to have thrown that into the interview
- most importantly, i've connected with her and created that memory!!!

That last point is especially critical and elaborated further in this blog: http://www.jimpagiamtzis.blogspot.com/

Ideally, you want to make the connection work-related. If you're able to locate the interviewer's LinkedIn page, you can try to create a connection with a previous employer of theirs or the school they attended.

Did you think this post was informative? I thought so! No, I'm not Psychic....I've just done my research!!

Would You Pay For An Interview?

Let's get the introductions out of the way quickly, shall we? Yes, this is my first blog. Yes, I'm an aspiring (read: unemployed) business professional, hoping to break through the clutter. NO, this will not be a waste of either of our time!!

Now that that's been cleared up, back to the subject of this inaugural post.

Would you pay for an interview?

Let me rephrase that. How much are you willing to do, to land the perfect job with the perfect company? As we all know, it's a much larger job market out there. You may be the ideal candidate, but HR professionals are sifting through hundreds of resumes per day. How do we break through the clutter?

I recently attended a Job Fair. Tens of thousands of job-seekers handed in their resumes to any and every employer's booth that would accept them. In an attempt to differentiate myself, I would submit my resume PLUS a $5 Tim Horton's card to whomever I felt a "connection" with. (Who couldn't use a Timmie's coffee?!?) A couple of interviews later, it appears to be quite safe to presume that the tactic was a rousing success!!

It's kind of funny that we spend hundreds of dollars on business attire that everyone else has, or editing our resume over countless hours only to have it look identical to thousands of others, yet, it may be as simple as spending $50 on gift cards to land that $50K position at your ideal company.

So, would you pay for an interview?