For years, I had an 8-minute video on how to optimize your LinkedIn profile.
I was a little shocked at how many PhDs sent me messages to thank me for that video.
At that time, I remember thinking, “But this should be basic?” But alas, even to me, at one point, this was not so basic.
So I’ve learned to never assume anything is basic.
Let me share one “basic” I learned and practiced recently.
Treating an interview like a conversation.
During a recent interview, one of the first questions I asked was, “What are 1-2 goals you have for the person who fills this role in their first 90 days of being hired?”
I learned this from watching an episode of Steven Bartlett’s Behind the Diary. He discussed this question as one he would like more interviewees for his company to ask him.
So I put it to the test.
Most interviews start with someone asking, “So tell me about yourself.”
I’ve learned to keep my answer to this question succinct and have practiced it so that it takes me less than 60 seconds to give them exactly what they need to know.
But what I did differently from any other interview before was include the question above at the end of my response.
“I’m curious. What are 1-2 goals you have for the person who fills this role in their first 90 days of being hired?”
Now, warning: there’s no guarantee the interviewer will answer this question.
If they do however, this is how you set up the entire interview to be a conversation where you have some control, rather than an interrogation where you might feel powerless.
In my case, the interviewer answered the question. And from then on, I answered all questions using words the interviewer herself had given me in her response.
Not in a random way. But appropriately where a past project I had worked on was relevant.
I got the job.
If you try this, let me know how it goes.
Have a great weekend.
Gertrude Nonterah, Ph.D.
Creator of The BoldPhD.com | Author of Navigating the P.I.V.O.T.