A good read before interviewing

[nash55]

'Active Interviewing: Branding, Selling, and Presenting Yourself to Win Your Next Job', Eric Kramer.

Lots of repetition in this book and I didn't read the whole thing, but the theme of selling benefits instead of features and communicating interest in the work and the people you may be working with provided clear objectives to me that drove the direction I wanted to go with each response/question in my interviews.

Simplified what, to me, seemed to be a rather complex interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee.

[The Outfield]

Originally Posted by nash55

'Active Interviewing: Branding, Selling, and Presenting Yourself to Win Your Next Job', Eric Kramer.

Lots of repetition in this book and I didn't read the whole thing, but the theme of selling benefits instead of features and communicating interest in the work and the people you may be working with provided clear objectives to me that drove the direction I wanted to go with each response/question in my interviews.

Simplified what, to me, seemed to be a rather complex interaction between the interviewer and the interviewee.

Any chance that you could clarify this distinction, please?

[nash55]

This is the exact language used in the book. Here is an example:

"Developed a software application in C#" is a feature.

This might be something typically found as a bullet on a resume and, if not expanded upon, only sells a narrow capacity to program and, perhaps, design software. None of it relates to actuarial science, and would be jargon to the ear of a senior actuary interviewing you.

Here might be how you turn the above feature into a benefit, shown in boldface. It is used to make the interviewer think about the benefit of hiring you, presented in such a way that he/she can imagine that benefit as it would relate to the position you are interviewing for.

"I didn't know C#, worked individually on this project with a sharp deadline, and ultimately had to redesign many neighboring portions of our software application. When I get projects I don't know how to do, I work tirelessly on figuring out what I need to know to complete the project, learning that material, and then ensuring that the work I do is of a high quality and meets what my manager asked of me.

[Salzmann]

The best tactic I ever learned for interviewing also works on the other side of the table- think of your strengths and what you want the interviewer to know, then develop examples. I'd retell the C+ story with the same opening (didn't know C+), talk about what I did to learn it and something about how much I learned (e.g., was able to do X with it). You're not just stating the quality- you're showing concrete examples.

On the employer side, it's called "behavioral-based interviewing"-instead of asking if you get along well with difficult people they might say, "tell me about a time you developed a good working relationship with a difficult person".

In a way it's still branding- you're deciding what your strengths are then showing them concrete examples.

[Wigmeister General]

Feature: Have skills
Benefit: ... that will save Company money

[The Outfield]

Originally Posted by Wigmeister General

Feature: Have skills
Benefit: ... that will save Company money

So basically, rather than allow the interviewers to consider your abilities and decide whether they will be useful, you pitch the usefulness to them yourself in the interview.

I feel like I would need to know more about the work than I do as a prospective entry-level to be able to do this effectively, though I could try.

[BigRidge]

Outfield, your sig makes me feel as though I must hit up a few more continents before I get my ASA.

[The Outfield]

Originally Posted by BigRidge

Outfield, your sig makes me feel as though I must hit up a few more continents before I get my ASA.

The ASA is only the American States Adventurer. I'm going for my Foreign Countries Appreciation Seeker.

[nash55]

Regarding:

"I feel like I would need to know more about the work than I do as a prospective entry-level to be able to do this effectively, though I could try."

One of the things I did during the interviews was to approach this topic directly in order to have the opportunity to introduce transferable skills and the benefits that I would bring to the position. I too knew nothing of the actual work that I would be doing prior to the interviews. I listened carefully and had the things I definitely wanted to get across to my interviewers close at hand, so that when I heard something I could make a connection to, I did so at the first opportunity.