Last week while I was at the Career Management Alliance conference in San Antonio, I tweeted highlights from Bill True of Sage Presence’s presentation on interviewing, Putting Job Hunters in the Limelight. I tweeted this comment from True, “When asked the interview question, why should we hire you? people freeze and get lost in a sea of information. Simplify to part the sea of information by using story skills.” One of my peeps wrote back to say she had no idea how to do this. She’s not alone. Most people get lost in a sea of information during the interview, adding a lot of extraneous details, getting off point, and making it hard for the listener to unearth the core message. But by creating simple stories of job success you can craft a clear, succinct, and compelling message of value. Here’s how.
Think of your response to the “Why should we hire you?” interview question like a movie trailer. We watch movie trailers to get the 40,000 foot view of an upcoming film and we often make a decision whether or not to see the movie based on our reaction to the trailer. Your interview trailer needs to engage your audience and make them want to know more about you.
To create interest in your “movie”, start by identifying your top 3 strengths or competencies as they relate to the position. For each of these competencies, be prepared to showcase a story of success using that competency. Use the CAR formula to describe your story…identify a professional challenge you faced, the action you took to address the challenge, and the corresponding result. Relate these success stories to the employer’s current situation and prove how you can be a solution to their problems. Using this structure will keep your stories crisp and on point and eliminate the clutter from your message.