Are you a job lover, an industry lover or a company lover? Did you know that when you interview, one of these roles is more important than the other 2?

Maybe you are all of these things – if so – yeah!  Good for you and especially for those you serve!  You truly are a job/industry/company “lover” – not a “hater”!  Hopefully, you are not “lukewarm” to “mildly liking” of these things.  I especially hope you are not a job/industry/company “hater” – if you are – I feel bad for you but I feel even worse for those you serve – so, as Cher in Moonstruck would say “snap outta vit!”

So, if you could “snap outta vit!”and demonstrate that you are at least one of these – which would you think is most important to an interviewer?

Did you guess company lover?  I think most people would sense that it’s flattering for an interviewer to hear how much you admire the company you are interviewing with – and how much you would love to work there – maybe even in any capacity (at least until you can make some key contacts, strut your stuff and then land the job you really want)!  But actually, that’s probably exactly what the interviewer is trying to avoid.  Why would that be, you might be wondering?  Doesn’t everyone want people around them who feel privileged to be associated with them – including companies?

Yes – of course they do – BUT when it comes to interviewing, being a company or industry lover is never more important than loving the job the company wants to fill.  Think about it…

There are lots of people out there who claim to love the company they work for – it is much more common to hear people go on with adoration in their voice for their company than for their job or industry.  However, loving a company is never enough for job satisfaction.  After all, about 70% of the workforce is disengaged.  Let me demonstrate this for you another way…

Whenever I have been involved in company downsizings and people are upset – even crying at the end of the notifications – it’s usually over 1 to 3 things:

1. the people they will miss seeing every day
2. the opportunity to work at all (the routine of working – the opportunity to be needed and valued)
3. and/or the company itself (being affiliated or associated with that organization)

…- it is almost never over the job – the loss of the tasks they get to perform for others every day.  Of course, all 3 of these things matter to most people – deeply – especially once you master the job and come to know the people and the company.  So how much you love your company may reveal itself to at the end of the employment relationship – but at the beginning, the company wants to know that you are gonna love that job – so you better be able to demonstrate that.

So here it is …

Interviewing Toolkit – item #5…

Be able to explain why you are a good match with the job. Have a story to demonstrate that match.  It’s also great if you can also have a story for how the industry and company are  good match with who you are and what you bring to the table too but be careful not to put more emphasis on matching the industry or company over the job because many companies are leery of candidates trying to just “get a foot into the door” into their company or even the industry if it is new to the candidate.

 

Nothing should hold more weight for you than how you match up with the job at hand.  Show that company that if they don’t hire you, you will take your passion for that work and do it at another company – perhaps even in the same industry – whoa!  Make them want YOU – at least make them want you not to be at their competition’s offices.

 

So again, it’s wonderful if you are passionate about working at a particular company or in support of a certain industry – but that’s another story entirely – and you should have those stories ready to go too.  But you probably won’t have enough time in the interview to demonstrate how you are a good match with all 3 – so nail the most important one down first – your job match story.

 

Still skeptical?

 

Put yourself in the shoes of the hiring team – they want to know that you are ready to do the heck out of the job they are hiring for – they want to know you will be super excited and happy every day to do the job they need done – whether that is polishing their floors or selling their products/services.  If you also happen to be passionate about the industry or their company – those are fat bonuses – but they don’t take precedent over the job at hand.  Filling that job is their job – not recruiting another person for the company in general or inducting another member into their industry.

 

PLUS – companies want to avoid people who want to get into a company at any level – in any job.  They fear you will post like crazy to get the job you really want (the one you didn’t tell them – or that they didn’t uncover – in the interviewing process).  HR and hiring managers hate having to deal with the same candidate over and over again – telling them “no – not interested” and they hate it even more when its an internal employee – they still have to work with you every day – no one likes a “rejection elephant” in the room – especially if it’s there because you are not fully qualified for the job you are posting for (but you think you are qualified).

PLUS, PLUS – you only convey that you don’t want the job you are in if you keep posting. This is why many companies have policies that employees must stay in their current role for a number of months/years before they can move internally.  Quick turnover (or interest in quick turnover) from any role is not a good thing for anyone.

 

So, like your career story,  share your rich and unique qualities/talents, interests, and skills and how you see them to be similar to the job you are interviewing for.

 

When I am coaching my clients who are stuck on how to explain how a job they are interviewing for is a good match with them, I ask them to play the “9 2 (to) 5” game with me.  I ask them to tell me, in their own opinion, what “9 2 (to) 5” looks like to them – there are 3 components…

 

1. 9 personal qualities,
2. 2 personal interests, AND
3. 5 professional skills…

 

…they imagine someone would have to demonstrate to be valued as a top performer in the job they are interviewing for.  You can also do this for the industry or the company you are interviewing in – or already working for if you are posting for a different job in a company you have been working in for some time.

 

Then you pick out the personal qualities, interests and skills that also describe you – those are the things you talk about to demonstrate how you feel you are a great match with that job (or industry or company).

 

One of the biggest missed opportunities for the applicant in the interviewing process is at the very end of the interview.  If the interviewer doesn’t ask you “Is there anything else you would like us to know about you?”, then you can simply say, “If you don’t mind, I’d like to share something else about myself with you.”  And this is where you can talk about anything you think is relevant that wasn’t discussed in the interview conversation – it’s especially a great time to share why you feel you are a great match with the job you are interviewing for.  Remember, it’s usually first and foremost – at least in the interviewing process – the most important thing to demonstrate your love for – your work!