It takes all kinds…

I definitely intimidate interviewers because I’m smarter, more sophisticated, more talented, and have more experience than they. No wonder they don’t want to hire me, they’re afraid I’ll take their jobs away from them.

With that, the job seeker smiles and raises his hands as though it’s settled, as if there is no point attempting to look for a job, the deck is stacked and the house wins. The smartest guy in the room says he’s penalized for his brilliance. What is a star to do?

Despite my best effort to control my reaction, here’s how he looks and sounds to me:  Arrogant, inflexible, defensive, lacking self awareness. That’s not good. I want to be on his side; his advocate; his advisor; his consultant.  Instead, I’m thinking no wonder his job search is in a ditch, his interviews are dead-ends, and his contacts aren’t returning his calls.

There’s bound to be more to his story than he’s so far let on. So I do the right thing and ask him some questions…

You mentioned that you’re a threat to people interviewing you.  Let’s set that aside for the moment and  talk about what you bring to the table that would benefit any company lucky enough to have you. How would you describe your strengths?

I have advanced degrees from the best schools and a track record of excellence.

I can see from your resume that you’re well educated. Looking at your track record, I’m not clear what or how your strengths impacted top or bottom line.

If you were reasonably intelligent you could figure that out.

Bottom line, the company’s hiring authority needs to know how your abilities meet or exceed the company’s needs. If you want that job you have to clearly, succinctly, and verbally communicate that information.

That’s my problem. I’m a talker.  If I say too much I might reveal too much, if you know what I mean.

Tell me what you mean.

I can’t keep a job. Because I talk a good game, I start out fine, everyone is impressed. But the longer I’m there, 3 months or so, everything starts to unravel. Talk doesn’t do it because I have to show results and that’s my problem.  I don’t have any results to show.

If you could do it all again, what would you do differently the next time around?

Well, I don’t have a degree, much less the three degrees I listed. And I haven’t worked at the companies I put on my resume.  In fact, this isn’t my real name.  I got my hands on someone else’s information and pretty much copied it. I’m a phony. And I think I could have played it all the way out but for this economy.  Someone like me, with a made up title, made up education, made up track record, and a made up six figure salary, can’t seem to catch a break.  I’ve priced myself out of the market. I’m better off telling the truth than telling a lie.