TIN #020 - Ace the interview using your network
Interviews can be tough. Your network can make them easier
Good morning!
Job searching is hard. You need any advantage you can get.
You use your network to find job opportunities.
But once you get an interview, you don’t need your network, right?
Wrong!
Today, I want to share how you can use your network before, during, and after the interview process to set you a part from the other candidates.
This issue takes about 5 minutes to read.
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Interviews don’t work
Research shows that interviews are unreliable for predicting if a candidate will become a successful employee.
In fact, the odds of hiring managers picking their next rock star employee based on the interview are the same as flipping a coin.
If interviews aren’t effective for companies, they definitely aren’t effective for candidates.
You can’t avoid the interview process if you want a job. At the same time, do you want to trust your career to such an unreliable process?
Why not use another strategy to improve your odds of getting the offer?
Your professional network is the X-factor. You can use it before, during, and after the interview to stand out from candidates who only answer the questions.
Before the interview
Your strategy for standing out starts before you get an interview.
It starts before you apply online and submit your resume.
Think about an open role from a recruiter’s point of view: hundreds of candidates apply for a job posted online.
The recruiter has to filter all those applications and resumes.
Then the hiring manager has to pick a few to interview.
Imagine if a hiring manager hears you would be a good candidate for the job from someone he or she trusts?
It happens every day.
We call them referrals, and for a recruiting team, they are gold.
In fact, referrals are so highly regarded that companies pay their employees money to provide them.
Your goal is to get referred for the position.
The referral moves your resume to the top of the virtual pile. It gives you an advantage going into the interview process because the hiring manager trusts the person who referred you. Some of that trust transfers to you as a candidate.
To get referred, you need a vibrant professional network that includes people who work in places you would like to work.
Identify your target companies. I showed you how to create your Target Company List in TIN #005 and how to use it in TIN #006.
Find people at your target companies and connect with them. Start a conversation with them and work on developing a professional relationship.
Once you have a real, professional connection with someone who works at a company where you want to interview, ask them to refer you.
Five years ago, I was looking for a new job.
I applied for an open position at a large healthcare company in Denver. After I applied, I reached out to a family friend who is a doctor who knows a few people at the company. He sent my resume to the Chief Medical Officer at the company, who sent it to the hiring manager.
In most companies, any candidate referred receives an interview. This is a professional courtesy to the referrer and encourages future referrals.
I may have gotten the interview without the referral. But because my resume arrived at the hiring manager’s desk from someone she knew, she was going to interview me.
I still had to perform well in the interview. But after getting a referral, the interview wasn’t about whether I was right for the job. It was about confirming I was the kind of person the referrer said I was.
Most interviews are about confirming the perceptions the interviewer has of the candidate in the first ten seconds. Why not set the perception before those first ten seconds by getting referred by someone in your network.
The referral gives you a level of trust with the hiring manager going into the interview.
During the interview
The next recommendation is controversial. Not everyone will be comfortable using it.
When you’re in the interview, take advantage of opportunities to mention people you have worked with in the past by name. This works especially well if the hiring manager knows the person you mention.
Some people call this as name-dropping. They advise against it. But if you exercise good judgment, this can help you create a connection with the interviewer.
Here are some thing you should NOT do:
Mention people you don’t actually know or who don’t know you
Talk about a CEO or CFO or other executive unless they know you well
Use the person’s name without context. Explain how you know them and how you worked together in the past.
The reason to do this is to give your interviewer an opportunity to do a reference check after the interview.
Many companies are going to ask you for a list of references. Those same companies are going to assume this list is full of people who will speak highly of you.
Give the hiring manager the name of someone you worked with, and he or she is likely to contact that person.
These checks are called “back-channel” checks and people have different opinions about them.
Here’s how I think about it: When you hire someone to do work at your house do you take the contractor’s word for how good they are?
No!
You look at online reviews submitted by people who have worked with the contractor to get their review of the person. Think of giving names of people you have worked with as a way to build an offline, personal profile of yourself the interviewer can access.
Hiring managers are looking for any type of information they can get to confirm their impressions of you from the interview. These reviews can set you apart as a candidate.
When I was interviewing for the role I mentioned earlier, the hiring manager and I were talking about the consultants I had worked with in my last company.
I mentioned the name of the company and the lead consultant. I had maintained a strong professional relationship with this person. I knew if I mentioned him, he would have no problem recommending me for this job. He also knew I was looking for a new position because I had given him my Target Company List during my search.
I left the interview, and before I got home, I had an email from this consultant saying the hiring manager had contacted him. The consultant gave me the equivalent of a five-star recommendation.
This was one more piece of positive data for the hiring manager to have for me.
After the interview
Most employers still ask for a list of references they may or may not check before making an offer. Don’t wait for the hiring manager to ask for the list.
After you leave the interview, you’re going to write a note thanking the hiring manager for his or her time.
As part of that note, you’re going to provide your list of references.
Give this list some thought and contact these people. Let them know you gave their names to your future employer.
Tell them some of the things you talked about in the interview. Ask them to help confirm some of the points you emphasized in your interview.
You’re trying to remove any doubt from the hiring manager’s mind that you’re the best candidate for the job.
The interview gives you a chance to show your abilities. You still need to nail it. You need to be prepared and give the best representation of who you are and what you can do.
Based on the research on the effectiveness of interviews I linked to above, that's not enough.
Every candidate is going to be doing the same thing.
Instead of having one point of data (the interview), the interviewer will have multiple sources of data for you (all the endorsements from your network) to make the hiring decision.
You’re network is important in every stage of your job search. Make sure you leverage it during the interview process, as well.