{"id":10420,"date":"2012-08-09T07:40:08","date_gmt":"2012-08-09T14:40:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=10420"},"modified":"2012-08-01T16:28:39","modified_gmt":"2012-08-01T23:28:39","slug":"how-to-be-interesting-to-hiring-managers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/?p=10420","title":{"rendered":"How To Be Interesting To Hiring Managers"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"How do you make a great impression on a hiring manager?<\/p>\n

A question I saw recently on a message board asked what to do when you are able to network effectively enough to take someone out for coffee, someone who could potentially hire you in the future for their organization.<\/p>\n

There were some great answers about how to display your knowledge, skills, and accomplishments. Those are good things that you should be prepared to be able to demonstrate to a potential employer, whether out for coffee or in an interview setting.<\/p>\n

They are necessary, but not sufficient.<\/p>\n

Trading Places<\/h1>\n

Imagine you are a hiring manager. You\u2019re on your 6th interview with candidates for a project management role today. In any process to get someone new on board, there will be a range of candidates.<\/p>\n

From my experience, some will have made it to the interview stage because they look good on paper, but you find out they don\u2019t really meet the expectations the paperwork or initial screenings set. Some will be so-so, and some will be people you think could do the job well.<\/p>\n

You are very cautious though, because you\u2019ve hired some people in the past who you thought were great hires at the time, and now you rue the day you brought them on board. I mean, you hate working with these people.<\/p>\n

Others have worked out great and become star team members.<\/p>\n

Either way, your guard is up.<\/p>\n

Tough Crowd<\/h1>\n

How do you win someone like this over?<\/p>\n

Let me tell you something. Making a great impression with a hiring manager isn\u2019t as much about accomplishments and showing how smart you are. Not as much as you think it is.
\nJust like networking, an interview is about relating to another human being<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Do you know who hiring managers want to hire yet?<\/p>\n

People They Want To Work With<\/h1>\n

That\u2019s right. If a hiring manager can\u2019t feel good about the thought of seeing you every day, trusting you with important projects that will reflect on them, they won\u2019t hire you.<\/p>\n

It won\u2019t even be conscious usually. Subconsciously, human beings start finding ways to get away from people we don\u2019t like. I don\u2019t care how many degrees and certifications you have, if you are obviously going to be painful to work with, you don\u2019t have much of a chance.<\/p>\n

If you want to give yourself the best chance of success you must realize one thing.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s Not About You<\/h1>\n

Luckily, there are some really simple things you can do to help hiring managers like you. Different lines of research show there is a critical point within 6-10 seconds and also within the first 90 seconds of meeting someone new that can help predict whether they end up having an affinity for you or not.<\/p>\n

Ask a Question<\/h2>\n

You\u2019d be surprised how many candidates don\u2019t ask a question. There\u2019s no better way to show interest in a person in the first few seconds than with a sincere question.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s more common to get a \u2018nice to meet you\u2019 which doesn\u2019t have the same impact unless it\u2019s used alongside a question.<\/p>\n

    \n
  • If it\u2019s a Monday, ask them how their weekend was.<\/li>\n
  • If\u00a0you’ve\u00a0networked like I teach, you probably know something about their interests outside of work. Ask an intelligent question about them, especially if it\u2019s a shared interest. – “So Jane told me you like to golf. Been out lately?”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    It may just be nerves, or you may not naturally do this when you meet new people. Start today, with hiring managers, people at the grocery store, everywhere you meet new people. At the very minimum you can ask “How\u2019s your day going?”<\/p>\n

    Ask More Questions<\/h2>\n

    When asked specific questions in the conversation you should of course be prepared to answer them. But you should also seek the opportunities to interject your own questions into the mix. The smartest questions to ask show your interest in them as individuals, the team and\/or department they work with, and lastly the company as a whole.<\/p>\n

    After answering a question they\u2019ve ask you, related questions should be popping into your head if you are truly interested in working for this person and this company. The candidate who asks me insightful questions, especially one that asks me about what I’m interested in, gets my attention.<\/p>\n

      \n
    • “That reminds me, I was going to ask about how projects are generally managed on the teams. Have you got some Agile or Lean going on out here?”<\/li>\n
    • “I\u2019m curious about the organizational structure. Can you tell me a little more about your role in the department?”<\/li>\n
    • “What would your ideal hire do after coming on board? What challenges would I have the opportunity to tackle?”<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      I could go on and on, but this is all situational. Don\u2019t fake it either, sincerity is a must. All of these questions have one thing in common. You are showing interest in them. You are showing an interest in solving their problems, in the work they do, in the work their teams do.<\/p>\n

      If you sit there and go on bragging about how great you are the entire conversation, what do you think is going to happen? Would you like the person on the other side of the table who can\u2019t stop talking about themselves?<\/p>\n

      How do you impress hiring managers?<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      How do you make a great impression on a hiring manager? A question I saw recently on a message board […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":116,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"give_campaign_id":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[899],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-career-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10420","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/116"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10420"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10462,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10420\/revisions\/10462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/svapm.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}