If there is an opportunity to interview the interviewer, take it, said career expert Liz Ryan.
How do you make the interviewer feel you’re an expert in the field and already close to the position you’ve applied for? Turn the tables and interview the interviewer, said Liz Ryan, a Human Resources (HR) expert and author.
Look for openings in the conversation where you can direct questions back to the interviewer and draw connections between your experience and the new job, she said in a column for BusinessWeek. You want to find out how the interviewer envisions the role, and how they see it solving a business need.
The best way to talk about yourself, advises Ryan, is by talking about your experience through the lens of the new position.
Ryan offered the following hypothetical example:
You: At Acme, I was dealing with a series of new product launches and discontinuations, and I understand that’s a feature of life here at Smith Manufacturing, also. Would you say that managing product releases and updates is a major issue for Smith Manufacturing and its marketing team?
Interviewer: Yes, definitely. One of the biggest challenges in the job is undoubtedly dealing with the high volume of product-line shifts. Last year we released 35 new products in seven product lines, including two new product lines. That’s a common situation for consumer-products marketers but often not as familiar to B-to-B marketers.
You: And are the challenges associated with those product-mix changes typically related to aligning your distribution channels, or with manufacturing issues, or something else?
(Image by shirishbendre via Flickr cc 3.0)
More on interviewing:
- Turn the Table on the Job Interviewer at Your Own Peril
- Five Ways to Dodge and Deflect Job interview and Application Questions about Your Age
- Can We Meet for Coffee or Lunch?
- Phone Interview That Went Too Far
- “How Are You Today?” — The Top Seven Interview Answers
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