Interesting piece that comes from CareerBuilder.com and is on CNN today on what to say and not to say during a job interview.
Here are the story highlights according to CNN:
* Talk about what motivates you, excites you, why you are in your industry
* Stray from talking about lifestyle choices, politics, religion or family plans
* Stay away from your health history — mental and otherwise
The CareerBuilder story is titled, “Leave this info out of your Interview”, and it inspired me to add a few interviewing tips below that work well, whether you’re marketing a company, book, or product.
Here are additional tips on interviewing:
1. Don’t boast or exaggerate and don’t use the terms “leader or leaders” when responding to a question in reference to you, your book or your company.
2. Highlight the differences from competitors without denigrating competitors.
3. Make sure you’re familiar with the journalist’s or interviewer’s work so that you can understand how they interview and be responsive to their techniques.
4. Don’t fall for their techniques. (Don’t say more than you need to, don’t reveal something secret because they look sad and get quiet, and if they’re not clear on something you just said, make sure you take more time to explain it.)
5. Don’t be belligerent, haughty or snarky with the interviewer – they don’t get snark, and it usually doesn’t come across the way you meant it in print form. (Re: funny or humorous)
6. Don’t ask to preview the article before it comes out.
7. Don’t tell them about your latest breakup, your problem childhood, your greatest long lost love unless it’s absolutely necessary and the story happens to be titled, “How A CEO reeling from a terrible breakup, still recovering from his crappy childhood and searching desperately for his long lost high school prom love, successfully outpaced all his competitors to win top CEO of the year.”
8. Don’t lose your sense of humor when you interview. If you have one it’s ok to laugh and use your sense of humor as long as you’re not laughing at the interviewer.
9. Be charming and conversational.
10. Don’t over-correct the journalist or reword every question they’re asking. (Email me privately if you want to know how horrible this can be first-person and I’ll tell you my story about one of the main guys from Spinal Tap and my interview with him for the film, Best In Show.)
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We ALWAYS ask to proof read stories that are written about our company. We have had LOTS of cases in the past where journalists in the small towns in Maine who are reporting on our company have made mistakes (they have stated that we sell appliances when we don’t, stated that we have 6 stores when we have 8, abbreviated our name incorrectly as Hammond Lumber Co., which is actually a trademarked company name in CA, mis-printed what people have actually said in the interview, etc.) How do you avoid this without proof reading?
We found your blog through a marketingprofs email. We’re glad to find a great new resource for insight on how to attract attention. This list from the careerbuilder article was helpful, too. We’ve learned our lesson on #5!
Nettie,
Nice job on this!
Best Regards,
Margie