Finding and hiring bodies to occupy desks is actually pretty simple. Filling those desk chairs with genuinely talented individuals is extraordinarily difficult.

How Hard Can It Be?
For many job seekers, this dilemma seems unbelievable. With unemployment over 9% and millions of people actively looking for jobs, how tough could it be to find the right employee? Shouldn’t the biggest problem be selecting only one of many qualified candidates?

Regrettably, the answer is No.

While job seekers focus intently on communicating their professional qualifications – their degrees, certifications, and specific technical skills – employers are looking for personal qualities like work ethic, loyalty, commitment, passion, eagerness to learn and devotion to excellence.

What Do We Want?
As the CEO commented, there are two types of people in the world: people who can’t bear to watch the ball hit the ground and people who don’t care if the ball hits the ground. She only wants to hire the former. But they’re hard to identify and harder to hire because they’re in the greatest demand.

The CIO agreed and related that her recent employee selections for a necessary layoff were determined by the employees’ personal attributes not by the lack of any specific talent. Because every manager knows that an employee’s personal qualities are extraordinarily difficult to change, while new skills are relatively easily acquired.

Both lamented the lack of any foolproof method to ensure that a new hire would possess their desired qualities and would continue to demonstrate them while employed. No personnel test has worked, behavioral interview techniques aren’t certain, references don’t necessarily reveal motivation and even a proven record of success doesn’t guarantee future accomplishment.

Finally, the Secret Revealed
So, what’s the secret to finding and hiring talent? As far as we can tell, there isn’t one. But suggestions are welcome.

I’ve received a number of questions and comments about my previous post in the Toughest Interview Questions series: Why Should I Hire You? that suggest that some more detail and explanation is in order.

The reason the question is so difficult for job seekers, and so revealing for employers, is that it requires the candidate to assess their value, not just their strengths. And there’s a big difference.

Most job candidates take the time to catalog and assess their personal strengths. The prepared candidate will focus on their three most important characteristics throughout the interview, relating professional stories that illustrate these strengths in action. But what they typically fail to do is connect these strengths with specific value that is important for the employer.

One recent email query dealing specifically with this issue came from a gentleman interviewing for a server position with an upscale restaurant. He’d determined that his key professional traits were: his positive attitude, his ability to work well with other staff members and his strong work ethic.

All of these traits are positive and likely desired by any restaurant owner, but what they fail to do is differentiate this candidate from the dozen other candidates with similar traits. After all, you can’t expect any candidate to profess their relentlessly negative attitude, disdain for those they work with and their personal sloth.

So, how do you connect your personal strengths with a distinct value statement? The key is to determine what value your strengths deliver. What is the result of your friendliness? How will a restaurant owner benefit from your work ethic? What’s the one sentence that defines your unique selling proposition?

Creating this one sentence statement of your value is much harder than it looks because of its necessary precision. You need to be able to answer Why should I  hire you? with a powerful sentence that matters to the employer.

For the restaurant server, this positioning statement could be:

I deliver a memorable dining experience to every table so they’re already anticipating their next visit before they leave.

I deliver a level of service to each diner with the same care that your chef prepares his signature dishes.

I work harder than any server to deliver a level of care that appears effortless and masterful.

Notice that these statements didn’t focus on the candidate’s strengths, they focused on the outcome. They focused on what’s important to the restaurant owner and invited follow-up questions.

How do you deliver a memorable dining experience? What’s your definition of masterful service? How do you prepare to deliver exceptional service?

Having a single, precise and intriguing personal branding statement like these also eliminate the need to memorize a lengthy response detailing your personal strengths. Instead, your branding statement will generate conversation and follow-up questions that allow you to tell stories that exemplify your personal strengths in action.

What’s my definition of masterful service? When I was working at Amelia’s, I would arrive for work a half-hour early every day so I could review that day’s specials with the chef. I learned how he made each dish, took note of any special ingredients he used and where he got them, and practiced describing these specials so colorfully that my diners had to try them. I would also talk with the sommelier to make sure that I could make appropriate wine suggestions to accompany each dish. It took more time for me to prepare each day, but each table left the restaurant feeling that they just had an exceptional meal and a great dining experience.

It’s not a secret, but it’s not easy to do. You have to focus on one specific value that you deliver and let your supporting stories illustrate your personal strengths. And by focusing on just one thing – one distinct value – you separate yourself from every other candidate who rambles on and on and never clarifies why they should be hired.

I was reminded of the frustration that job seekers face when I received a phone call this afternoon from an old acquaintance – an immensely talented and successful real estate executive whose company was acquired by an international conglomerate, resulting in his layoff. After eight months of looking for work, he confessed to me that he simply wasn’t marketable.

I don’t doubt that he may not know how to market himself – after all, he wasn’t a marketing executive, but a real estate expert – but I’m convinced that his problems don’t rest solely with the troubled real estate sector but with his approach to finding a new job in a changing marketplace that places a premium on specific networking and marketing skills.

A quick perusal of his online presence revealed that he has paid virtually no attention to his online persona. Although he has a LinkedIn profile, it’s obvious that it remained largely ignored. And a Google search reveals nothing online beyond his LinkedIn profile.

This means that his 25 years in the industry  has gone largely unnoticed. Just when he needs prospective employers to notice him.

I understand why he feels down, and why he feels that he’s not marketable, but he’s wrong. There are seven immediate steps that he can take to take control of both his job search and his attitude:

1. take ownership of your happiness. Employers take immediate notice of your attitude, whether on the phone or in person. If you’re despondent or lack energy, you’ll find yourself in a spiraling vortex of rejection. You are the only person who can determine your own happiness. There are days when it will require herculean effort to find a bright spot and exude happiness, but it’s necessary and it’s attainable. Own it.
2. be proactive and take charge of your job search. Your job is to find a new job. You are now the boss of Find Me Work, Inc. That means that you need to plan a job search strategy and execute it every day. Every task you accomplish, every person you add to your network, and every phone call that leads to a new prospect can boost your spirits and increase your chances of finding the job you want.
3. find job search partners. It’s not necessary, or even productive, to go through the job search process alone. You’ll find that working with others facing similar challenges can provide you with the emotional and professional support you need and keep you motivated. Find a local job search group, join them in their weekly meeting, connect with members and create your own support group.
4. build your network every day. You already know how you’re going to find a new job. It won’t be on a job board. It won’t be in response to one of the hundreds of resumes you sent out. It will almost certainly result from a connection that you make through your networking efforts. The one person who knows a person who’s looking for someone just like you. But it won’t happen if you don’t actively extend your network.
5. set goals. Want to build your network? Set a daily goal to add five people to your online network. Want people to know you’re still actively looking? Set a weekly goal to make 20 phone calls to your assorted contacts to stay in touch and keep them posted. Want to be remembered and recalled by prospective employers? Set a goal to send one actual letter per day to the executives in your industry who might hire you or know people who could hire you. Send them an article, a networking suggestion or anything that will interest them and simply let them know that you still exist.  Whatever you do, have a plan with concrete goals, and then meet them. You’ll be rewarded with a sense of accomplishment and know that every day you’ve made progress towards your ultimate goal.
6. stay active in volunteer work. Even if you’re not active in a professional capacity, you should keep busy through volunteer work. You’ll feel better about yourself, you’ll stay busy and you never know where your most important connection is going to come from.
7. keep in touch with your family and friends. You have a built-in support network, if you’re willing to reach out and rely on them. Remember, no one can help you if they don’t know you need help. If I’d received this phone call six months ago, we potentially could have avoided months of fruitless effort and increasing despair. Reach out, let people know you’re looking for work and ask for their help. You’ll likely be surprised by the support you receive and the efforts others will make to help you.

When you don’t get an invitation to meet face to face after your telephone interview, it’s likely that you made one of the following mistakes:

1. You didn’t convey enthusiasm and excitement for the position. When you’re face to face with an interviewer, they can interpret your body language, your smile and your posture while talking with you. On the phone, the only element that you control is your voice. It’s up to you to be energetic and enthusiastic in your responses – more so than if you were sitting in front of your interviewer. Stand up. Smile. Tell yourself to relax. And keep your energy level high throughout your conversation.
2. You didn’t sell yourself. There’s only one person on the call who’s looking out for your interests: You. No one else will read between the lines of your resume to divine your true worth. Do you want them to know what a great job you did on last year’s Xmas promotion? Tell them. Do you want them to know how much money you saved during last quarter’s reorganization? Tell them. It’s not bragging if it’s true.
3. You didn’t tell memorable stories. Facts are boring and forgettable. Stories, when well told, are memorable and make you distinctive. Be prepared to tell the stories of your career that illustrate your professional strengths. Have six stories practiced and prepared so that you aren’t caught off guard reacting to their probing questions about your accomplishments.
4. You didn’t actively listen. It’s amazing how much inside information that hiring managers will reveal to those candidates who ask questions, shut up and listen. Really listen. Listen to the tone of their voice – are they exasperated or enthusiastic? Are they anxious or excited? You can adjust your responses to assuage their concerns or contribute to their excitement. But only if you listen to what they’re saying rather than anticipating your own next response.
5. You didn’t follow up. A critical part of the job search process is demonstrating your capacity to follow up properly. Although every blog, book and column instructs job seekers to follow up with their interviewers immediately after each interviewer, fewer than 20% of job seekers actually do. You should send an immediate email thank you note, followed up with a note the next week if you haven’t heard anything. Diligent follow up can keep you in mind and make the difference between landing the job and joining the crowd of anonymous submissions.

You have the capacity to make a distinctive impression in your telephone interview, but it takes preparation, energy and thorough follow up to land the job you covet.

The most important thing is to send some kind of follow up after your interview. Despite that fact that every career guiding book, blog and video advises job seekers to send thank you notes after the interview, fewer than one in five candidates actually sends any type of follow up note. It’s actually shocking how few people adhere to the rules of common courtesy.

My advice: send both an email and a physical letter to each person that you interview with. However, do not send the exact same note to each person. Modify each note in some way so that it is personalized for the recipient. Why? Because they will compare notes to see if you were able to discern the needs of each interviewer and take the time to craft a meaningful note that addresses each party’s concerns.

Send the email the same day as your interview. Take a couple of hours to consult your notes, write your draft and personalize some element for each person. Send it to someone you trust to edit the note for spelling and grammatical errors. Wait for their comments, then email the note to each party.

You should also send a copy of your note as a physical letter, delivered through the mail to each party. Virtually no one receives a personal letter anymore. The only mail we receive are bills and mass produced pieces of direct mail. Letters are unique and distinctive. And they serve as a constant physical reminder of your thoughtfulness as they sit on the recipient’s desk.

Print the same note as your email on your letterhead, sign it and add one extra element: a handwritten P.S. below your signature that references some detail from your interview. Even if the recipient doensn’t read the text of the letter, they will always read the handwritten P.S.

Best of luck in your tennis tournament this weekend.

Thanks for the book recommendation. I just picked up a copy of  The Designful Company and am looking forward to reading it.

Since you know Bob Johnson, you should chat with him about the project we worked on together last year. It was a terrific success.

The follow up letter should help you stand apart from the crowd. Sending the note puts you ahead of the pack, and personalizing the note with your thoughts and observations can seal your position at the dominant candidate.

It is a near certainty that job seekers today will encounter the dreaded telephone interview during their job search. Knowing what to expect and how to prepare for the telephone interview can provide job seekers with an enormous advantage, but too many candidates make common mistakes that knock them out of consideration before getting a chance to really demonstrate their skills.

If you’re preparing for a telephone interview, check out our post on 7 Tips to Ace Your Telephone Interview and then avoid these common mistakes:

#1 you don’t understand the purpose of the telephone interview. The telephone interview is not intended to secure the job for you, it’s intended to weed out candidates from the initial pool being considered by the hiring company. You can’t win the job with a great performance, but you can lose a job with a poor performance. Your goal, then, is simply to avoid being eliminated from consideration.

Knowing this, you should provide just enough information in your responses to whet their appetite and want to learn more about you and how you can contribute to their organization.

#2 you talk too much. Recognizing that the purpose of the telephone interview is to remain in consideration and to secure a face to face interview, you can only hurt your chances of consideration if you drone on too long with your answers.

You face two risks with long, drawn out answers to interview questions. First, you may say something that raises a red flag with the interviewer. The more you talk, the greater the potential of saying something that they don’t agree with or are concerned about. So, your answers should be brief and to the point, not long and drawn out.

Moreover, the longer you talk, the greater the chance that the interviewer will become bored and distracted as you drone on and on about the details of last year’s ERP installation in Milwaukee. If they become bored, they’ll shift their attention away from you and onto other distractions on their desk – their email or their Facebook page – instead of focusing on you. Keep your answers short and on point to keep the conversation constantly moving forward.

#3 you don’t listen. Too many job seekers mistakenly think that the job interview is all about them. The fact is it’s not about you, it’s all about the hiring company and what they need. You are secondary. Your interviewer will provide detailed information about the job, its requirements and their specific needs and qualifications, but too many candidates are so focused on themselves and what they’re going to say next that they miss entirely the details and insight provided by the interviewer.

Listen carefully. If it’s a new position, find out what their expectations are. If it’s a replacement position, find out what went wrong with the previous employee. If they tell you that the last person to fill this job didn’t know how to motivate and lead his staff, you know that you have an opportunity to interject a story about your managerial skills that can set you apart.

#4 not having prepared responses. There is no excuse for any job candidate to be caught unprepared for the most common interview questions. Tell me about yourself. Why should I hire you? What is your greatest weakness? Questions like these are likely to be asked in every interview and you should be ready with a 45-60 second response to each of the most common questions. If you’re prepared with short, concise answers, you won’t make the mistake of droning on and boring the interviewer and you’ll appear alert and in command.

#5 you have a lousy mobile phone connection. Conduct your job interviews on a land line phone, not on your mobile phone. Too many interviews have been ruined by dropped calls and bad connections. Eliminate these technical problems entirely by securing a land line for your call.

#6 not displaying energy. You are at a disadvantage in a phone interview since the interviewer cannot read your body language to gauge your excitement and energy. The only thing that conveys your energy is the tone of your voice, so you must take steps to energize yourself so that your voice reflects your energy. Stand up while you’re on the phone. If you can, wear a headset so you can move around the room. By allowing yourself to move while you’re on the phone, you become physically animated, which alters and energizes your verbal presentation.

#7 not communicating interest. This is not the time to play hard to get. The objective of the telephone interview is to secure a face to face interview, so you’ve got one chance to let them know that you’re interested. The best way to show interest is to ask questions. Let them know that you’re researched their company and their products or services. Ask them about their plans for the organization, where they see growth coming from, and how they see your position contributing. Become involved in the conversation, don’t behave as a passive participant just waiting for their next question.

#8 not asking for next step. If you want to meet your interviewers personally and explore the job further, ask them. It’s that simple. As the interview winds down, tell them that you’re interested in exploring the position further and ask them What’s the next step? Too many candidates hang up without having any idea where they stand, when they’re going to hear something or who else they should meet. Don’t let this opportunity go to waste. Be assertive and try to get a commitment from their end concerning when you will hear from them and an outline of future steps.

From the hiring manager’s perspective they are looking to determine three things.

1. Are you capable of doing the job?
2. Do you want to do this job?
3. Will you fit in with the organization if I hire you?

Now there’s not much I can do to help you demonstrate that you have the skills to do the job they’re looking for. You either have the skills and experience the hiring manager’s looking for or you don’t.

However asking the right questions and showing enthusiasm and interest can help you demonstrate that you want the job with their company and that you’ll fit in with the chemistry and culture of their organization.

The most common reason for being dropped from a hiring manager’s hot list is the lack of any personal chemistry or rapport with the interviewer during the job interview. If their assessment is that you’re qualified but you simply wouldn’t fit in with their team, then you’re not going to get a job offer.

Most hiring managers believe they have an intuitive sense of who will and won’t perform well and fit in with the rest of their workgroup. However most managers aren’t formally trained to interview candidates and rely on personal intuition and subjective interpretation to select candidates.

So, your primary job during the interview with the hiring manager is to overcome their interview deficiencies and help the interviewer focus on how your unique skills can directly benefit the organization, convey your enthusiasm for the position, and engage the interviewer through thoughtful and astute questions.

Starting with a set of basic questions that can include:

• Can you explain the company’s organizational chart?
• Can you give me a more detailed understanding of what my days might be like?
• What are the specific challenges that you’re facing right now?
• What are the department’s specific objectives for the next three months/six months/one year?
• Why is the position open?

These leading questions should open up a variety of avenues for you to ask more probing questions that will help you truly establish whether you are interested in the company. The interview is a two-way street. You’re not there simply to sell yourself but to determine if you’re sold on the company.

Some of the more probing questions could include

• What are the things you’d like to see changed in your department/division/company?
• Are there plans for new products or services that I should know about?
• How is his job and performed in the past?
• What you see is the key goals for the company during the next year? For my department? For this job?
• How do you see my role in evolving in the first two years?
• What do you think my biggest challenge will be if I start working here?

Now, even if you’re comfortable with the job, the department and the company you should never underestimate the importance of the company culture and how you’ll mesh with it. So you should also ask questions that will determine whether you’ll be a comfortable fit with their organization. These would include:

• How would you describe your management style? Would you say it’s similar to others in the organization or would you consider yourself a bit of a maverick?
• In your experience what particular types of people do you seem to work best with?
• What particular traits do you value most in your subordinates?
• What kinds of people seem to succeed in this company?
• What have you enjoyed most about working here?
• What have you like least?

The answers to these questions do several things. First they help you define yourself according to the attributes of manager cites so you can position yourself as the ideal candidate possessing all the traits are looking for.

These questions should also give you a good sense of the values of the organization and the hiring manager and whether you’d be a good fit with both.

The important thing to remember is that asking cogent and insightful questions makes you stand out from the rest of the candidates and enhances the perception of your qualifications for the job.

Although you may assume that every candidate is prepared to ask intelligent questions, you’d be wrong. I get constant feedback from hiring managers who are shocked by the number of job candidates who don’t ask a single question during the interview. And not one of them gets a job offer.

By engaging in intelligent conversation with the interviewer you’ll separate yourself from the pack, make a sterling impression and hopefully get the chance to answer one final question, “When can you start?”

Behavioral interviewing cuts through the banalities of traditional interviewing and requires candidates to provide specific examples of their career skills, accomplishments, and behaviors.

In the traditional job interview, the interviewer peppered the candidate with a series of questions that the well prepared candidate had likely practiced for, including:

• Tell me about yourself. Typically results in a 90 second elevator pitch that may reveal their accomplishments, but not how they were achieved.
• Why should I hire you? The practiced respondent will have a single sentence positioning statement already prepared, but again, their response doesn’t provide any insight into how they work.
• What are your greatest strengths/weaknesses? No job seeker will reveal their actual weaknesses, but will attempt to position their weaknesses as strengths.  You need to dive deeper to determine actual weaknesses and to assess professional strengths.
• How do you deal with difficult co-workers/customers? Most candidates will tell you exactly what you want to hear. They all try to get along with everyone, try to be empathetic and understanding and have never had serious interpersonal issues on the job.

There are hundreds of books available to prompt the job seeker how to answer these questions. We’ve even posted detailed posts and videos to instruct you how to respond to these questions so we know that a practiced job seeker can provide their interviewer with all the right buzzwords and banalities to bluff their way through the interview.

That’s exactly why employers are shifting to behavioral interviewing and asking questions that require the candidates to provide concrete examples from their past and detailed information concerning the professional problems they faced, how they dealt with them, how they worked with others and what precise results were generated.

It’s almost impossible to fake your way through the response to a detailed question like:

This position requires an in-depth understanding of the dominant social media platforms and how they can be successfully leveraged to build relationships with our customers. Can you please describe the social media platforms you’ve used professionally and how you’ve integrated them into your marketing mix to achieve specific objectives?

There’s not much room for B.S. in the answer to a question as detailed as this. And the real strength of this line of questioning is in the follow-up questions that will inevitably arise. What were you thinking? Who else was involved? How did you split up the responsibilities? Each question requires details that can’t be easily faked or prepared beforehand and will generate more insight and honesty than the standard job interview questions.

The types of behavioral interview questions revolve around several themes, including:

• adaptability & flexibility
• ambition & initiative
• analytical thinking
• building relationships
• communication
• decision making
• delegation
• interpersonal skills
• creativity and innovation
• leadership
• planning & organization
• problem solving and conflict resolution
• self-assessment
• strategic planning
• teamwork
• time management

Sample Behavioral Interview Questions

The toughest part of the behavioral interview is that you can’t prepare for any specific questions that might be asked. However, you can prepare to answer questions on broad themes that will likely be explored, including:

• describe a project you worked on in the last year that resulted from your initiative. How did you initiate the project? Who was involved in the decision-making? What was your role during the implementation? What was the outcome?
• What was your biggest failure you’ve experienced? What were the business/personal ramifications? What did you learn?
• What goals have you set for yourself professionally and personally? How often do you review your goals? What do you do when you reach them or fail to reach them?
• Tell me about your creative process. Do you consider yourself a creative person? What inspires you?
• Describe your most frustrating project. Who else did you work with? How did you handle the difficult personalities involved? What lessons did you learn?
• Tell me about your last project. Were you more involved in the strategy or execution? Which one plays more to your strengths?
• How do you develop your subordinates’ skills? How do you assess their skills? Which staff member do you think you had the greatest impact on professionally?
• We’ve all had to work for difficult bosses. Tell me how you worked with your most difficult boss and how that has affected how you work with your own staff.

How to Answer Behavioral Interview Questions

Most guides on behavioral interviewing suggest that you follow the three-step STAR process when responding to a behavioral interview question. The STAR process includes:

1. Explain the Situation or Task you were involved with
2. Detail the Action that you took, and
3. Describe the Result of your action

So, taking one of our earlier questions, let’s see how you would apply the STAR response process to generate your answer:

Can you please describe the social media platforms you’ve used professionally and how you’ve integrated them into your marketing mix to achieve specific objectives?

The executive management of a national staffing company wanted to increase their visibility and desirability among technical job seekers nationwide. Although the company had a long history in the technical staffing industry, their name recognition wasn’t commensurate with their experience and capabilities.

Working with their marketing staff, we created a plan that centered around the creation and development of a WordPress blog as their content hub that fed LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter accounts with constantly updated content.

We monitored the activity on the different platforms, surveyed our technical employees to determine which platforms were most important to them, and adjusted our social media mix to provide the content that was most in demand and generated traffic back to our website so we could capture potential candidates for our technical positions.

In just six months, we generated nearly 200,000 views of our online videos, increased traffic to our corporate website by 400%, captured over 200 new candidates and strengthened our relationships and increased our contacts with our current technical recruits.

The important thing to note is that the only requirement for a strong answer to a behavioral interview question is honesty. There are no right or wrong answers, just answers that are revealing and illuminating. And if you’re prepared for these types of questions, you can separate yourself from all the other candidates who never looked beyond Why should I hire you? as the toughest question they’d face.

The importance of the personal story was perfectly illustrated to me last week when I was approached by a friend asking for help in getting back in the job market. She had a resume and a LinkedIn profile – fulfilling the absolute minimum requirements for any job seeker – but had no idea how to jump start her search.

Initially, she wanted my help pursuing a senior development position with a local non-profit and asked for some help modifying her resume to make her more attractive to the organization’s director. However, a quick perusal of her resume convinced me that no amount of creative writing could transform her background in the hauling industry and real estate management into anything remotely appropriate for the opening she wanted to pursue.

Not wanting to dash her hopes upon the jagged rocks of reality, I sat down with her to discuss her previous work experience and asked her to recount some of her most distinctive, enjoyable and memorable moments from her previous jobs. Initially, she started to recount the tasks she performed in each of her previous positions, but I told her to put the resume aside and just tell me stories that stood out in her mind.

She described the day she was hired at the hauling company, interviewed in a dank interior office, lit by a single bulb and crammed from floor to ceiling with paper. Unopened envelopes, bills, unsent invoices, even checks, piled on every surface and jutting out of every cabinet and every drawer. The office resembled a scene from Hoarders and presented a challenge to my friend. She offered to get the entire office and business organized and running efficiently and was hired on the spot.

She then spent weeks opening every envelope, sorting payables from receivables, meeting with bankers to discuss how the company would work with the bank from that day forward, met with the accountant to clarify how the books should be kept, contacted all the clients to resolve billing issues and personally handled all client service calls. She took over the business and made it run. And she loved doing it. She faced a herculean task that would have driven me into one of the cluttered corners, whimpering in the fetal position and dove into the project headlong.

I love her story. And she had others. How she expanded their client base from 65 clients to over 3000 by herself. And how she handled all client service calls and built enduring relationships because her clients never called their hauling company, they called Paula. She became the face and voice of the company and turbocharged its growth.

Once I heard those stories, I didn’t care what accounting program she used, or how they processed payroll. I simply trusted that she could face a task – no matter how complex – dive in and get it done. And I appreciate it more because she excels at the things that I avoid. And I know dozens of business executives like me who desperately need someone who can organize their business and keep it running smoothly day to day. Is there a title for that? I don’t know. But I know there’s a story to tell that will let Paula put whatever title she wants on her business card.

So, what are your stories? The ones that are so memorable you still remember the tiniest details? They don’t have to be your greatest successes, either. Frequently they result in failures that taught you permanent lessons. As long as they continue to inspire you, they’ll inspire your listener. So jot them down. They’ll separate you from every other job seeker who focuses on their tasks without sharing the technicolor details of their real accomplishments.

Control Your Contact
You don’t want to get hiring calls while you’re at your current job or while you’re making lunch for your kids. You need to be in a private area that allows you to focus on the conversation. In addition, you need your resume, your list of questions and a notepad in front of you to jot down important thoughts and details and you need to be prepared. Provide your prospective employers with a single number to reach you. Typically this is your mobile number. If you receive an unscheduled call, ask if you can call back when you’re available to speak privately or have them reschedule the call at a time when you can be prepared. Make sure you have a very professional voice mail message on your mobile phone and check your messages regularly. Return every call as soon as possible and if you end up in a phone tag situation, be persistent and proactive.

Focus
Only conduct interview calls when you are able to devote 100% focus to the call at hand. If you get a call while you’re in your car or out in a social situation, ask to reschedule the call. The hiring manager wants to conduct the best interview possible and will understand that you can’t focus on the interview if you’re distracted. They will be understanding and accommodating and will respect your desire to perform your best.

Practice Your Answers to the Tough Questions
You know exactly where your professional weaknesses are, and you should expect that they will be revealed during the interview. Do you have a lot of project experience but not much management experience? Are you competing with MBA’s when you only have an undergraduate degree? Did you move to four different companies in three years? Be especially prepared to discuss these difficult issues, and determine how you can position your weaknesses in the best possible light. Knowing how you are going to respond to tough questions makes them much less intimidating.

Google Yourself
Every job candidate should be aware of all the information that will be revealed about them during a public web search. Every employer I know conducts at least a quick Google search on every job applicant just to discover what’s out there, so make sure you conduct an Internet search on yourself to preempt any surprises. In this new age of social media dominance, you need to be aware that your social media activities will also be reviewed by many employers and recruiters. Expect your Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter pages to be examined, and if you have anything on your sites that can be considered offensive or inappropriate, either remove the items or shield them behind privacy walls. Anything that remains public can and will be used against you during your job search.

Arm Yourself With Information
When you apply to a company, it’s incumbent upon you to learn something about that company. Knowledge is power. Read their entire website. Learn their company stories, how they were formed, what their mission statement reveals and familiarize yourself with the entire breadth of their products and services. Read their News Release page to see how they present themselves to the public and to determine how active they are in their industry. Then do a Goggle news search to see if they’ve been in the news for any reason, good or bad. When you’ve done your research, you can be assured that you will stand out among the crowd of applicants with your ability to speak informatively about the company and its activities.

Tell Stories
The single biggest drawback of resumes is their focus on titles, dates and responsibilities. But your real job consists of daily stories that demonstrate how you work with others, clarify the skills you bring to each project and explain how you achieved specific results. Facts are forgettable while stories are memorable. For each position that you’ve held, write down the three most compelling and illustrative stories that demonstrate your expertise, your commitment and your management style.

Engage in Conversation
An interview is a dialogue, not a monologue. Although the interviewer will typically control the conversation and ask most of the questions, you need to engage the interviewer during your responses. If you’re asked about specific technical qualifications, respond precisely then ask how your skills would fit in or fill a need with the employer. Your responses should be limited to two minutes before you ask your own question concerning how your talent and experience would fit in with the employer’s organization. This is an excellent time to determine if you fit into their organization and culture. If their management style revolves around a command and control dynamic but you excel in an open organization with a less formal management structure, then both you and they should discover this early in the search process. Ask questions and engage in a real conversation about life and work within their company.

Final Thought
When you answer your phone, and there’s an employer on the other end, you’re on. You have to be prepared to convey your professional strengths, relate the value you bring to an organization and express your enthusiasm for their company.  Think ahead about what you will say, how you will respond to difficult questions, and have your personal stories memorized that will demonstrate the skills and experience you offer. Use your resume as a guide but let the conversation extend to the employer’s current pain and problems that hiring you will alleviate. If you’ve prepared, you won’t be anxious and you’ll deliver the great first impression that will get you the face to face interview that you really want.