For anyone seeking new employment, a new job, or a new position (call it what you will) plan on leaving every in-person or telephone interview with one of my most important job-seeking strategies: ASK FOR THE JOB! It sounds simple but no one does it.
The “universal job seeker” generally leaves an interview by asking, “What’s the next step?” or worse, allowing the person they just spent the last 20 minutes or more with to glibly say, “Don’t worry, we’ll call you.” You know what that means, right? They aren’t going to.
After all the time and effort you spent writing and rewriting your resume, applying to and researching the company, prepping your wardrobe, checking out your interviewer on LinkedIn, preparing questions, mentally preparing for and practicing how to tell them how good you–and only you–are for this position and then you go and lose all that personal power and momentum by letting them have the final word! Don’t do it.
I Want This Job
I want YOU to have the last word and close the interview with a statement. A very simple statement.
Here’s how to do it: When it’s clear the interview is over (and assuming they haven’t made an offer on the spot), stand up, shake your interviewer’s hand, look them square in the eye and firmly state, “I want this job.” If you are interviewing with one individual, you are done. Do Not Say Another Word. Turn around and walk out the door. Do not look back. (This is for effect. It’s almost like a movie. They won’t forget you.)(Why? Because nobody else they have interviewed has ever done this!)
If you have just completed a panel interview, repeat this statement with each individual in order with a small, personalized comment for each person: “Shelley, thank you for your time today. I want this job.”, “Adam, I appreciate the questions you were asking. I’m a good fit. I want this job.”–and so on down the line. Then, once again, Don’t Say Another Word–this is where the power lies. A little nod of acknowledgement and then turn and walk out the door.
You will not believe how much you have just elevated yourself in your interviewer(s) mind. Why? Because NOBODY EVER ASKS FOR THE JOB. For some reason, people think this is beneath them. It is not and never will be!
Side Note
The first time I used this strategy, or something very similar, was when I had just graduated high school and was seeking a job at a local lumberyard. When I interviewed with the yard manager I KNEW he was not going to give me a chance. I could see it on his face. I wasn’t big and gnarly like all the other hardhats in the yard. I told Mr. Cordell Dykes–yes, I still remember his name–and I quote, “For every dollar you pay me I will give you back ten in value”. His eyebrow hit the ceiling. After it returned to his face, and without saying a word, he reached behind him, picked up a hardhat and a pair of work gloves, shoved them across the desk and told me to be back at 5 the next morning. I worked for Mr. Dykes for more than a year.
Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash