Why All Your Experience Still Isn't Getting You An Offer

“What I’m concerned about in my interviews is I’m not used to starting every sentence with ‘I, I, I,’ and I don’t want to seem like I’m bragging or taking all the credit. But I know my 20 years of experience is exactly what they’re looking for, and I should be able to step right into this VP role and hit the ground running.”

It’s frustrating when you know for a fact you have the right number of years of experience, in the right industry, and at the right level, but when you go on interviews, they don’t advance to the next stage – and you repeatedly end up not hearing any offers.

Let’s drill down to a key reality here: what you do (experience) gets you in, but who you are gets the win!

That’s because everyone on the short list of consideration who’s vying for the same role you are a) matches the stated qualifications; and b) offers a pretty similar background as you – that’s how you all made it onto the short list.

Therefore, what turns your interview into the next interview, and ultimately into an offer is who you are – that is the only differentiating factor you have.

Where Does “Who You Are” Begin?

Present who you are in your response to the guaranteed 1st interview question, which will be, “Tell me about yourself,” or it’s close cousin, “Walk me through your resume.”

It’s amazing how badly this question trips people up, especially given that there’s a 101% chance this question is coming. Since you know that, let’s make sure you’re prepared for it.

When you hear, “Tell me about yourself,” pretend that you heard, “Tell me about yourself in relation to me.” The interviewer is not asking about your birthplace, family, or college (unless the interview attended that same college.) The best approach here is to quickly get to the unasked question, which is, “What can you do for my organization that I need right now?”

Who Does The Interviewer Need You To Be?

You are not conducting your job search as a chameleon. Your answer is not going to stray from the core experience and expertise you bring to the table. If you’re in marketing, your answer centers squarely on marketing virtually every time.

Who the interviewer needs you to be is the person who can demonstrate exactly how you match the role’s stated and unstated requirements. For your “tell me about yourself,” response, stick with the stated requirements. You’ll probe more deeply into the unstated requirements later in the interview or during a future interview.

Identify 2-3 points in the job ad that indicate what the person in this role would be doing that would earn you a paycheck every 2 weeks.

Here’s a sample ad for a VP, Marketing position: “The successful candidate is an experienced marketing leader with strong interpersonal, communication, and time-management skills who thrives in a fast-paced environment. The primary focus of this role is leading the team responsible for building and executing marketing strategies to effectively connect our brand and service offerings with our clients and prospects. Responsibilities include developing integrated B2B growth strategies and tactics, implementing marketing plans to achieve business goals, and leading messaging strategy and development of B2B content.”

It’s easy to fall into the trap of saying, “I’m a senior marketing professional with great interpersonal and time management skills.” It doesn’t pass the litmus test. The employer is not really giving you a paycheck every 2 weeks to have great interpersonal and time management skills.”

Better: “I’m a marketing person who really thrives when I have the opportunity to innovate and carry out marketing strategy that truly connects with and engages the ideal customer.” That answer indicates who you are in direct relation to who the interviewer needs you to be. And use your tone to show you have enthusiasm for the work, and that you like diving in, brainstorming, rolling up your sleeves, and delivering a quality result every time.

How To Pair Up Who You Are With What You Do

Previously, you evaluated the ad to identify the top 2-3 things you’d be doing in the role that are paycheck-worthy. Next, evaluate your resume to identify the 2-3 accomplishments you’ve delivered for past employers that exactly or closely match those 2-3 key requirements.

Continue building upon that answer above by using your resume accomplishments as a springboard. It can sound like this: “That’s precisely what I did when I was with Simon Lear Co., in that I needed to lead a market research initiative that pinpointed the customer profile we needed to target, and then we built and carried out a new campaign that over-delivered on every front.

Then, bring it back to the interviewer’s organization with, “That’s why I’m so excited to be talking to you more in-depth about the position today, because it’s clear to me that my background tightly dovetails with what I understand at this point your organization needs.”

You’ll find additional strategies in The Ultimate Job Search Guide that will impact how well you come off to the people making the decisions, and how to make yourself stand out even further from the rest, so that your interviews progress the way you want, and you hear the offers you need. Make sure to download your free copy now. https://www.perfect10resumes.com/ultimate/