In your quest to find the right job you’ll need to maximize every interaction and leverage every opportunity. You can do that if you know who you are, what you want, and a good match when you see one.
To know who you are requires an understanding what’s important to you and an inventory of your intrinsic beliefs and extrinsic rewards; what you do best (strengths); what you want to accomplish (potential); and how you’re going to get there (action planning).
You’ll know the viability of a match when you can align what employers value (beliefs and rewards) and need (current and anticipated challenges); where they want to go (strategic vision) and what they expect you to accomplish (near and long term), with what you value, need, and envision for your future.
You can check your interview readiness by answering these questions. Work on them until you own the content and you’re comfortable that you can articulate your responses in meaningful, yet cogent ways. Let’s take it from the top:
Who are you? What do you care about most and value so deeply that if challenged, you would not compromise? What work settings enliven you? What management styles bring out the best in you and what leadership styles engage, challenge, and encourage you to contribute beyond your current capabilities? What intrinsic rewards have greatest meaning to you and what extrinsically, do you require?
What do you do best and most easily? What do co-workers, friends and family consistently ask you to accomplish for them because they know you do it well? What have you achieved that others have acknowledged as having added value to the company’s top or bottom line?
What do you want to accomplish in your career? To what do you aspire and what is your timetable for attainment? What contributions do you want to make? What trade- offs are you willing to accept in pursuit of your goals?
What do you want to accomplish in your life? How do you want to be remembered? What legacy do you want to leave? What concessions, if any, are you willing to make for that to happen?
What’s your strategy for getting there? Are you someone who can envision your place in the future and trust intuition to get you there? Is it easier for you to identify near term objectives and achieve them, one at a time? Do you prefer to address real- time needs and solve pressing problems by taking life and opportunity as it comes? Whatever your preference, complement your strengths by consulting with your opposites, those who are adept at seeing what you miss, doing best what you do least well: Visionaries and tacticians; idea generators and pragmatists; designers and implementers, rule makers and rule breakers.
Ready? As you change focus to what the company needs, be mindful to match your strengths, skills, and potential to the company’s needs, challenges, and direction. What questions should you ask and who’s in the best position to answer them?
Begin with the company’s website and the information that highlights the leadership team’s vision, values and strategy. Check newspaper/trade paper/business journal archives for recent and substantive changes in leadership; news of acquisitions, spin-offs, product line expansions and consolidations; reorganizing, hiring, reductions in force, salary or hiring freezes.
Contact appropriate individuals in your network for information regarding the company’s financial stability, standing in the business community, and reputation among its employees as a strong, supportive place to work.
Proceed to the interview and participate proactively; articulate what you bring to the table, remain open and responsive to the questions you’re asked, and candid in the information you seek, information that enables you to make a sound personal and professional decision.
