Carl Bradford

This might be your story.

You’ve sent out dozens of resumes in pursuit of that next job.  The phone call or email you’ve been waiting for suddenly comes.  You’re being invited to interview.

This might be an initial phone call or it might be an invitation to come and meet with the employer in person.  Now what about interview preparation?  How will you prepare for this interview?

What do they want?

You’re at least “in the game now”, but “what do they want – really, really want? What keeps them up at night?”  The answers to these two key questions will form the foundation for how to prepare for the the interview and get the job offer!

Every perspective sales professional knows that getting prospective buyers to meet with you is just the first step and in this case you’re the sales professional.

Want to stack the cards in your favor?

The biggest mistake made at this stage of the job search process is lack of preparation. You can find specific information in our computer based eLearning modules and online library in our Members Only Section.

This happens all to often and especially with more senior job candidates who have some experience as the interviewer.  In other words, those individuals who rely on their own experience and biases to get them through the interview.  Big, big mistake!

Rob’s Story

Here’s a brief summary of a true story about Rob Sparno discussed in the April 13, 2009 issue of Fortune magazine.

Rob emailed a former colleague who now worked at Salesforce.com letting him know he was looking for a new opportunity. Within minutes he received an email response, “call me.”

First, he read every story he could find on Salesforce.com and watched You-Tube videos of CEO Marc Beinoff being interviewed by reports – and took careful notes.

Next he organized his thoughts using five PowerPoint slides and built a presentation of exactly how he would approach the job and what he would accomplish in the first 30, 60 and 90 days.

By the time he went in for his final interview – which by-the-way was his seventh – he had his pitch down perfectly.  Halfway through that meeting, Sparno and the hiring manager started discussing how to target a client that Sparno had worked with previously.

The Manager went up to the whiteboard to throw out some ideas and Sparno leaped to his feet to join him until the two were both standing shoulder to shoulder, markers in hand, batting strategies back and forth.

Sparno got the job – his competition never had much of a chance – because on-one prepared like he did.  He wanted the job, developed his strategy and executed it extremely well.

The Lesson to be learned

There’s a lesson to be learned here and it’s an obvious one – the job most often goes to the candidate who is best prepared!  When in a close race to win the job offer, preparation is the deciding factor.