I was conducting a workshop on interviews, where I first taught my HERO template for putting together a powerful answer to "Tell me about your background", then had everyone do a mini-role play where they would answer variations on that question.
One of the variations was "Why should I hire you?", and the respondent stumbled through an answer that didn't include any of what I had just taught the group. When I asked why she hadn't used the HERO template, she said, "Because that wasn't the question he asked."
It never occurred to me that the form of the question might trip someone up in our simple exercise, but on reflection, it should have. This is a common trap.
We are conditioned to do our best to literally answer the question we have been asked. However, there are always many ways we COULD answer, and if we devote some time and energy to thinking about the purpose of the question, we might vary our answer such that it would better meet what we would like to communicate.
For example, when you first meet a female executive at a networking event, often you will be asked "What do you do?" Do you think that executive is really excited to know about your job?
Probably not.
More likely, she is simply trying to find a way to get a conversation going, probing for an area of specialization in which she might be conversant, or a subject matter where you have something in common.
Either of these possible answers will accomplish that goal, but which is likely to generate more interest on her part?
- Telling your job title, and perhaps a few of your duties.
- Telling some specific interesting aspect of what you do.
For the rest of this article, just drop me a note at John@JHACareers.com, and you can check out the contents of past issues and selected articles at www.JHACareers.com/Newsletter.htm
Other topics I covered in this issue include:
- "End The Job Search Pain", a free webinar coming up the week of the 11th (details at http://goo.gl/WvdRr)
- Advice to a job seeker trying to overcome the fact that she was fired
John
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John West Hadley Career Search Counselor (908) 725-2437
"Land The Job And Pay You Deserve" Get 100's of Career Tips at www.JHACareers.com
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