Interviews 3 | Know Yourself

Nosce Te Ipsum - Know Thyself

This phrase primarily means to know your strengths and weaknesses.

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to. Romans 12:3

This common phrase doesn’t mean to put yourself down, as some religious folks would have you believe. Rather, it asks that you know who you are and who you aren’t. 

Know the gifting(s) God has placed inside of you and also what he hasn’t called you to. By doing so you are able to narrow down the position that fit you and those that do not.

Know your strengths

You have been given strengths and giftings by God. He has enabled you to be particularly good at certain things. If you know what those strengths are then you can boldly assert what they are and be confident in your answers.

If you are not sure what your strengths and giftings are, check out another article I wrote called "Discovery | Finding Your Place In God's Plan".

Maybe you are strong at something but not as strong as you want to say you are. Don’t be tempted to overstate your strengths. If you are hired into a position for stating you are stronger at something than you are it will be found out quickly.

Know your areas of opportunity

Humility isn’t about putting yourself down. It’s about knowing what you can and can’t do, and being honest about both.

You have areas that you are growing in.

• There are things that you aren’t good at. Nobody is good at everything. 
• There are things that you are good at, but you don't enjoy. That's important to know too.
• Some areas you will be strong in at a future date, but you just aren’t there yet. 

If you know these areas of opportunity and are strategically honest about them you will either know to avoid certain positions, or you will be able to communicate how these areas are not dis-qualifiers to your new desired position.

Example: I talk a lot.

That makes me a GREAT writer and blogger. When I was given assignments to write 500 words about something, I didn’t struggle to get up to 500 words, I struggled to get back DOWN to 500 words and edit out the un-necessary. 

This meant that as a call center rep I often struggled with handle time. They wanted my average calls to come to 255 seconds or less. I was always pushing over 300-350, on a good day. After I left they actually raised the goal to 300, oh well…

Interviewers may ask what my weakness are (Areas of Opportunity). This isn't as common these days, but the question is still out there. Sell yourself by showing that you know your areas of opportunity, and you are actively working on them.

I could tell the interviewer that: I talk too much and can’t seem to figure out how to lower it… that doesn’t quite sell my opportunity.

OR

I could tell the interviewer that: I enjoy meeting new people and getting to know them. I am honestly interested in people and want their best interest. I also have a strong desire to have things done right and not half done. As a result I sometimes take longer on calls than my counterparts. I am actively working on finding ways to say less, not ask certain questions that open the conversation up or encourage long stories. I'm also working on asking more direct questions that allow me to build rapport and enjoy the interaction, without taking a long time to do it.

One highlights weakness and one highlights area of opportunity.

The important questions:

Answer these questions for yourself so that you can articulate it to the interviewer:

• How am I the BEST fit for this position? 
• How am I going to add value to this company, department, or team?

I am a great fit for this position because…

I am a great fit for this position because I have 4 years of background in banking related sales. I have sold in person and over the phone. I know my customers and ask great questions. I am not only able to meet their needs with the best products and services but I am able to uncover other needs they didn’t realize they had. 

Just the other day someone came in to order checks and I was able to uncover for her that her mortgage rate was 7% and current rates are in the low 4% range. She was hooked up with my mortgage partner and refinanced into a 4.32%. It dropped her monthly payment and will cut years off of her loan. She was ecstatic!

Homework Assignment:

• List for yourself your top 3 areas of strength and top 3 areas of opportunity. 
• Practice talking to yourself or a training partner about these 6 areas.

See Also:

• Interview Skills- An Introduction

• Interviews PT 1- Concrete and Specific

• Interviews 2 | Know the Job Description

• Interviews PT 3- Know Yourself

• Resume: God's or Yours?

• Discovery | Finding Your Place In God's Plan

• The Hedgehog & The Sweet Spot. Finding Your Unique Place In This World. 

Darrell Wolfe, Topos Consultant

Read more →

Interviews 2 | Know the Job Description

Knowing the Position, Title, and Job Description are key

You must know the position for which you are applying.

Applying for a position and then declining it can begin to look bad for you if you do it over and over with the same company. You will look like a flake. 

Many times the employers don’t make this easy. They post job descriptions but not salary levels and you are left to fend for yourself asking: “Is this a fit for me?"

Where do you start?

Narrow Your Search

If you know what you are looking for in a job, then you will be able to weed through the countless job offers on the internet and in the newspaper more easily.

You can spend your time pushing for the jobs you really want and not wasting your time on interviews for positions you won’t enjoy.

Research

Take time to research the positions you apply for, before applying.

If you are not sure that you are a great fit, find out first (or at least develop an educated guess). There are so many tools on the internet now for understanding job descriptions and fields.

Take some time to research the Job Description. Look for key words, required, preferred skills, and job duties. Try to determine if you have these skills from another job. It's always important that you had the job title previously, just the skill.

For example, you may see a Job Description that requires 2 years compliance experience. You've never worked in the that job title, but have you had any duties that required you to be exposed to, in charge of, or relating to compliance to company rules and regulations. Every team lead has had to be aware of the regulations, and ensure their teams are in compliance.

Then tailor you resume to the job description. 

Put that experience in your resume, and talk to it in the interviews.

The resume will not only help you when you meet the recruiters and interviewers; but, it will help you get past the screeners. If your resume doesn't open the screeners door, your interview skills won't have a chance to be used.


Network

Get to know people within the field (in person or through social sites like Linked In).

Ask questions, people love to talk about themselves and what they do. Do you have any friends or contacts in that field, or better yet in that company? Ask questions. Introduce yourself to the managers at the company if possible.

If it’s a large company that has multiple offices don’t be afraid to just walk into one of the branches, even if it’s not the one you are thinking of working at, and introduce yourself to the manager, ask them if you could have a few minutes of their time.

Tell them that you are thinking of coming to work for the company and that you are interested in finding out more about the inner working and what it takes.

Ask Good Questions

• What does the day in the life of an employee of XYZ look like? 
• What attributes make a great employee in your field? 
• What things do people often struggle with as they first come on board? 

Think through the places you’ve worked, what you liked and didn’t like. Ask questions that will help you understand if this is a place you want to work.

I realized recently that I prefer a company that follows a modern model for vacation, where all the hours are lumped into one box and you use them as you see fit.

I was quite put out upon working for a company that still separated personal vs vacation vs sick time and punished you for using sick time when they offered it and wouldn’t let you use it for anything else or pay you out if you didn’t use it. This felt to me very double minded. I chose to leave that company and go back to a company that had a more straight forward way of dealing with time off.

You may have things about your personality that won’t fit certain companies or departments within a company.

It would be best for you do know before you formally apply or interview that the company fits in your “Must Have’s” and “Must Not Haves‘”.


Details

After you have determined that the company and position fits you, learn details about the position. Learn the shop talk. Find out terms that are used within the industry or field.

The more you know about the position, and the more you know about how you can fit the position, the better. You should be able to personally relate the skills and personality traits you posses to the position.


See Also:

• Interview Skills- An Introduction

• Interviews PT 1- Concrete and Specific

• Interviews 2 | Know the Job Description

• Interviews PT 3- Know Yourself

• Resume: God's or Yours?

• Discovery | Finding Your Place In God's Plan

• The Hedgehog & The Sweet Spot. Finding Your Unique Place In This World. 

Darrell Wolfe, Topos Consultant

Read more →

Interviews 1 | Concrete and Specific

Concrete and Specific:

One of the key elements to mastering the interview process is knowing how to give Concrete and Specific Answers to every question that is asked.

Consider the following example:

The interviewer is asking the same questions to 15 different candidates. Marvin who is looking for a trainer asks one question that he is more interested in than all the rest: “Tell me about a time you worked with another worker who was under preforming?”

Then 14 candidates come in with answers that sound something like this:

” Once I worked with someone who was struggling in their sales stats. I gave her suggestions about how to profile for sales and ask open ended questions. She improved so dramatically within the two sessions we worked together that her supervisor emailed me a thank you note.”

Then candidate 15 comes in and is asked the same question with a very different answer:

“Last month, I worked with Rachel. She had worked four hours that day and only had one sale so far. Her position is to take incoming calls. The first thing I did was take some time to understand her struggle. I asked whether she was having more trouble identifying opportunities to sell or how to word them. She replied that both were equally troublesome to her. So I had her walk me through the call she had just gotten finished with. We reviewed the account together and I showed her the five places I always look on each call for clues. I also pointed out six sales possibilities that could have saved this customer money and time. We pulled up some previous calls and reviewed each account. I roll played with her to help her practice saying the information to me first, and help her tweak things to her style. Then we took some live calls together. The first set of calls I profiled with her and walked her through each account and what I saw and narrowed the best sale for that call. The next set of calls I had her walk me through each account. Then I sat back and let her work on her last set standing by to answer questions. Then I made a plan with her to check in at the end and see how she did. By the end of the day she had moved from a 2% sales rate, of sales per call with one sale, to a 15% sales rate with 9 sales. This was still below our goal, but much better than she had been doing. I checked in with her three times in the following 4 weeks and found she moved from a Month To Date of 12% to 19% to 23%. This is not a top performers data but well within our accepted range. I received a personal email from her supervisor thanking me for my work and letting me know that she was still preforming at the levels expected, and credited me with having provided her with the tools she needed.

Stand Out
Which of these answers would the interviewer see as identifying the candidate he is looking for? Of course the second. But the first is the type of answer that most people give. Or they will throw out five examples, all on which are at that basic surface level. 

The concrete and specific answer technique means:

• You are giving specific answers. 
• HOW did you help? 
• WHICH open ended questions? 
• WHICH employee, or if privacy is an issue give something. “I worked with someone from an my team.” 
• WHEN did you do this?
• What screens did you look at with team member? 

As much detail as you can without being a chatter box (talking too much). Stick to details that pertain to the questions. The color of Rachel’s shirt doesn’t matter, unless you specifically used that to “build rapport” with her. 

Details are important. Use details that highlight something you feel is something you did well in that situation that had a direct positive result.

You are giving concrete answers. 

• “She had a low sales rate that day”, does not cut it. 

• “She had a 2% sales rate that day with only one sale in her first four hours of her shift” is concrete. 

This approach nails down exactly what we are talking about here. It gives the interviewer, Marvin, a place to frame and understand the situation and relate it to situations either similar to ones he had, or similar to ones he might expect you’d be in.




See Also:

• Interview Skills- An Introduction

• Interviews PT 1- Concrete and Specific

• Interviews 2 | Know the Job Description

• Interviews PT 3- Know Yourself

• Resume: God's or Yours?

• Discovery | Finding Your Place In God's Plan

• The Hedgehog & The Sweet Spot. Finding Your Unique Place In This World. 

Darrell Wolfe, Topos Consultant

Read more →

Interviews | An Introduction

Interview Skills- An Introduction

Interviewing is one of the most important skills one can have in the workplace, especially if you are in a large corporation (where they've eliminated personal relationships as much as possible).

You cannot move in or up without passing the interview. Yet as important as it is, few people ever take the time to study material on the skills needed to master that process. They go in to an interview, answer the questions as best as they can and hope for the best. 

However, there IS a process. There is a technique to interviewing. It’s just as important as your resume’, skills, experience, and accomplishments.

The Right Fit

Even interviewing your very best or THE very best doesn’t mean you will get the position. You may be the very best salesman in the company and that may come out swimmingly in the interview. But the fact is the person is not JUST looking for someone who is great at their job. They will also be looking for someone who will make a good “Fit” for that particular position. 

For Example: 

Let's say the position is a supervisor working directly under a manager:

• A manager who is one of the top sales performers in a company and has been since he was an entry level employee may not be all that interested that his second in command having sales skills above average. He’s already got that nailed. Rather, maybe he would be interested in someone with the skill to help him keep the team on task, and do paperwork, and understand procedures.
• A manager who is friendly and outgoing but doesn’t know computers may need someone who has skills with Excel.
• A manager who is good with data bases and numbers may need someone who can rally the troops and lift moral.
• A manager who knows “Business” but may not know the specifics of this job because that manager was hired from outside may need someone who knows the nuts and bolts, because they've been here awhile.

There are several categories of skills required to obtain a good interview, some of the more important ones that we will explore are:

• Concrete and Specific Answers
• Knowing the Position
• Know Yourself
• Being Prepared

Great Resources for understanding the important aspects of the interview are:

• Adler Concepts, by The Adler Group
• Work Smart, EDD State of CA
• About.com
• Occupational Handbook, US Department of Labor
• Complete list of Behavioral Interview Questions

See Also:

• Interview Skills- An Introduction

• Interviews PT 1- Concrete and Specific

• Interviews 2 | Know the Job Description

• Interviews PT 3- Know Yourself

• Resume: God's or Yours?

• Discovery | Finding Your Place In God's Plan

• The Hedgehog & The Sweet Spot. Finding Your Unique Place In This World. 

Darrell Wolfe, Topos Consultant

Read more →

Resume: God's or Yours?

What a cool idea for a "Resume Infographic" | By  Bart Claeys

What if your resume was more about God than you?

Do a search for "Resume" online and you'll find things like the "10 words that ruin a resume", "6 tips for writing an effective resume", or simply "How to make a resume".

While these are all fine and good, helpful even, there seems to be a missing link. There's one big thing that's not being said by the experts about resume's that needs to be said.

What is a resume?

Recently I was talking with a close friend who is a hiring manager.During the conversation he made a point that struck home with me. He said: "What do your qualifications, or those of the other interviewees, have to do with your getting hired? It's the Favor of God that's going to promote you in due time, not your qualifications."

WOAH! What a a great reminder! It's about God, not about me!

In addition, he noted how he has so often seen a resume embellished or enhanced in an attempt to sell "how great I am". He stated, that there is a dose of pride found in many resume's that just turns him off. However, my friend pointed out that you cannot blame the person entirely, we've created a culture that teaches this self promotion. The very act of creating a summary document of your past accomplishments, in an effort to convince someone to interview you for a position, lends itself to boasting and pride.


Wiki Defines Resume'

A résumé (/ˈrɛzʊmeɪ/, rez-u-may or /rɛzʊˈmeɪ/; less frequently /ˈrɛzjʊmeɪ/ or /rɛzjʊˈmeɪ/; French: [ʁezyme]),^[1] also spelled 'resumé' or 'resume',^[2] is a document used by persons to present their backgrounds and skills. Résumés can be used for a variety of reasons, but most often they are used to secure new employment.^[3] A typical résumé contains a summary of relevant job experience and education. The résumé is usually one of the first items, along with a cover letter and sometimes an application for employment, which a potential employer sees regarding the job seeker and is typically used to screen applicants, often followed by an interview. The résumé is comparable to a curriculum vitae (CV) in many countries. However, it is substantially shorter than a CV in English Canada, the U.S. and Australia.^[4] In French, résumé means summary.

He went on to say that we get so focused on our education, experience, background, accomplishments, and all these things that are going to help us get ahead of the other guy as we compete for that one job... but what if there were another way of looking at the Job Market?

What if we turned the tables on the resume building? 

• What if the resume was not a list of YOUR past accomplishments and achievements. 
• What if it had nothing to do with how educated you are, your experience, your this, your that... 
• What if your resume had nothing to do with you at all?

If you are a believer in Jesus, you should know that God has a specific and targeted plan for your life. God promotes you, not your background. God lifts one up, and puts another down. Humble yourself before God, and HE will lift you up, in due time.

As I look back over my life, I see a trail of jobs that I found searching diligently and then asked God to give me.

In most cases, God gave me what I asked for. I've never been without work, sometimes two jobs at once. However, each position seemed empty.

So I started looking for a new way to find a job. I started praying not for what I wanted, but for what HE wanted.

It was a paradigm shift in my job search.

I have talked about before, and probably will again, about all of the things God showed me during that season (which was just the start of this revelation for me), and I wrote an article about The Sweet Spot, which is at the intersection of your greatest skill and your greatest passion. He showed me to look to Him in my search, and ask Him about what I should be looking for.

It was within two months of posting that article that God led me to the job I have now. I don't want to call it "unexpected", because frankly I was learning how to build my expectation from as early as a year before, that "something would change", God would show me what I was doing wrong and I would look to Him and He would direct me into HIS plan.

That's not to say that my expectation was perfect, mature, or without doubt. In fact, I've struggled with doubt my entire life... but I was working on trying to put my faith, belief, and expectation aside, and rely on His Grace instead. I just kept pulling myself off of the fear and back to Him. I was so ridiculed with self doubt, that I almost didn't go to the interview for the job I have now. If it wasn't for the Holy Spirit, my wife, and my wonderful new boss... I wouldn't have gone. But that's another story.

Frankly... the job was unanticipated. Out of the blue (or so it felt) I got a call, interviewed, and landed a job that is everything God had shown me I should be looking for. But it wasn't because I went hunting it down. I did apply to it (along with 100+ other positions during those months). But I didn't know what it was, I didn't understand the job (even after the interviews really). It wasn't until a few weeks into working the new job that I realized how much of a perfect fit it was, and the best part is... I DID NOT DO IT. It wasn't my planning or research. A non-believer would call it dumb luck that I submitted the application not knowing what it was, and that I got interviewed two months after applying, and that I was late to the interview and got hired anyway, and that in so many ways God's favor was on the process.

That was the lesson. FAVOR. I didn't get hired because of my talents, I got hired because of His Favor and Kindness to me.

And that brings me back around to my point (which you probably thought I'd forgotten).

What COULD a resume look like, that wasn't about ME (or you)?

What if I chose to look at my resume as a highlights reel and review of all the Favor God has had on my life. What if my resume was all about what He's done in me, for me, and through me, and not about my background, my accomplishments, and me, me, me... What if my resume was about what My God can do through me FOR YOU?

It need not sound so religious on paper, in fact, it probably shouldn't. We are in this world, and not of it. We are here to minister to them, not take from them. We are backed by the King of Kings, we are here to serve, not be served. And being too religious just turns people off. We have an enemy. That enemy is out to attack us, and prevent us from accomplishing the mission of serving others into God's Kingdom.

It may be that we need to be a bit more stealthy in our movements on this earth. Maybe even like under-cover agents in some organizations. We should be wise as serpents, and yet harmless as doves.

So maybe we write that resume, and it looks and sounds 90% the same as what others produce. Same basic content. But the attitude and Spirit behind what we write is totally different. And that scent of Favor wafts through the paper. We sow that resume as a seed, expecting a return for God's investment, not just ours.

What would that resume look like? 

I don't know... I'm going to attempt to draft one myself. I'll try to remember to let you know how it turned out. Why don't you try and post yours to your LinkedIn profile, and I'll do the same to mine (here)? When you are finished, share the link to yours in the comments on this post.


See Also:

• Interview Skills- An Introduction

• Interviews PT 1- Concrete and Specific

• Interviews 2 | Know the Job Description

• Interviews PT 3- Know Yourself

• Resume: God's or Yours?

• Discovery | Finding Your Place In God's Plan

• The Hedgehog & The Sweet Spot. Finding Your Unique Place In This World. 

Darrell Wolfe, Topos Consultant

Read more →

The Hedgehog & The Sweet Spot. Finding Your Unique Place In This World.

Have you ever been doing something so long you just do it because that's what you do?

It's like you just walk through the motions in life, trying each new thing that comes along, never really finding... traction. Your engine is running, but your tires are just spinning. You aren't going anywhere.

It's like you are busier and busier but you accomplish less and less.

What you need to do is find your inner Hedgehog!

Once upon a time, there was a hedgehog and a fox. The hedgehog was not smarter than the fox, faster than the fox, more talented than the fox or craftier than the fox. But the hedgehog did have one thing he was good at. It was that one thing that saved his life over and over and eventually led him to outlast and out perform the fox.

Read on to find out what you can learn from Little H, the Hedgehog, about success and simplicity.

Attribution: Hedgehog II by Kalle Gustafsson; With Ken Coleman Quote Added "You find your sweet spot by finding the intersection of your greatest strength and your greatest passion."

The Story Of Two Competitors: A Fox and A Hedgehog

There once was a little Hedgehog who's name was Little H. One day the Hedgehog wandered along the path to find his next meal. Out from in front of him, seemingly out of no-where, a fox jumps into the path. Foxes' teeth are glaring at him.

Fox obviously intends to make Little H his next meal.

Little H curls up into a ball, and pokes out his spines. The fox lunges and gets poked by one of Little H's spines and yelps! Fox runs away.

The next day Little H is roaming along the path and the Fox jumps out from behind Little H. Little H rolls into a ball and Fox lunges, get's poked, and runs away.

Over the next few days Fox tried to take Little H through various surprise attacks, different angles, different times of day, he tries sneaking up on him slowly. No matter what Fox tried, Little H rolled into a spiky ball.

Fox learned after the first few times that once he got into that ball he would not want to pursue. Little H continued to plod along and Fox eventually gave up in search for an easier meal.
Little H had learned to stay in his sweet spot and he found great success.

*(Story Adapted/Paraphrased from: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't (Affiliate Link), Jim Collins

Have You Found Your Sweet Spot?

Sometimes it seems like you are trying out so many ideas that you never gain traction on any of them. I have been experiencing that some with the soft launch of this blog (and my other online pursuits). That's part of the reason I gave myself all of 2014 to just write, experiment, and write... to find my voice.

In his video Ken Coleman referred to "The Sweet Spot".

"You find your sweet spot by finding the intersection of your greatest strength and your greatest passion." Tweet That

That reminded me of Jim Collins classic work: Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't (Affiliate Link). In this book, Jim talks about "The Hedgehog Concept".

The idea is that the hedgehog does just one thing, and he does that thing REALLY well. The Fox can try to adapt, change, try new things, all to subvert his competition, try out 100 new tricks and cheats and hacks, but in the end it's the Hedgehog that wins, not the Fox.

(* While searching for my blog photo for this post, I even saw someone who had totally missed the point of the analogy and reversed the lesson.)

Why? Why does Hedgehog Win?

The Hedgehog wins because he does one thing, and he does it really well. I think that's what Ken Coleman is unpacking for us here in a different way. When you find that one thing you are most gifted to do in the area you are most passionate about, you find real resonance in life!

Just like the glass in this video (Click Here) when you find the frequency you ought to be operating at the confines of your life will shatter and you will be caged no more.

Jim Collins uses this concept to show how and why businesses who found their key guiding principle find better success.

On his website Jim explains: "The Hedgehog Concept"

"You’ll know that you’re getting closer to your Hedgehog Concept when you align three intersecting circles that represent three pivotal questions:

• What can we be the best in the world at? (And equally important—what can we not be the best at?)
• What is the economic denominator that best drives our economic engine (profit or cash flow per “x”)?
• And what are our core people deeply passionate about?

Answer those three questions honestly, facing the brutal facts without blinking, and you’ll begin to see your Hedgehog Concept emerge."

As individuals then for our own lives we must find our greatest strength and greatest passion.

As I do I will get closer to the "Why am I here on earth?" type answers and I'll find that true note that resonates throughout my whole life.

So too, you must discover that thing that makes you who you are.

What does it mean to be "Best In The World?" 

It means that you are doing what you are uniquely gifted to do. Nobody does it quite the way you do it. It doesn't mean that you are better at it than everyone else in the world. It means of all the things you do, this is what you are best at! Best in YOUR world.

I like what Michael Hyatt said about this. Why should you write a book? He said that there may be 1,000's of other people who have already written about your topic. But only you have your experiences and your voice. There may be people who will resonate with you and not with those others, or will find you and wouldn't have found them.

You need to write that book, publish that art, work on that job, do that thing because only you do it the way you do it.

Sometimes in sales they call this your: "Unique Value Proposition". What makes you better or different?

Lesson to Learn:

Find your greatest passion and your greatest strength and focus on that for the rest of your life. Hone it, get closer and closer to it, get better at it, define it better. That is one key to amazing results!

This Weeks Resource:

• Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...And Others Don't (Affiliate Link), Jim Collins “Some of the key concepts discerned in the study,” comments Jim Collins, "fly in the face of our modern business culture and will, quite frankly, upset some people.”

And now I leave you with 3 questions:

• What is the one thing that either you know you are most skilled at?
• What is the one thing that you are most passionate about? 
• Where do you think those might intersect? 

To Respond: Leave a comment on this post to answer all three questions



See Also:

• Interview Skills- An Introduction

• Interviews PT 1- Concrete and Specific

• Interviews 2 | Know the Job Description

• Interviews PT 3- Know Yourself

• Resume: God's or Yours?

• Discovery | Finding Your Place In God's Plan

• The Hedgehog & The Sweet Spot. Finding Your Unique Place In This World. 

Darrell Wolfe, Topos Consultant

Read more →