What You Need to Know About Business

Asking Questions -- An Essential and Overlooked Step

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Putting a Spin on Work Experience

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[Chapter 15: continued from here] If you happen to find yourself in circumstances where you know they really want you, and you're somewhat indifferent about receiving the offer, then you might be able to use a different approach. In most situations, however, your primary focus should be on communicating your value. Once that's been established, then you can see if your own needs will be met.

Working through our fear of rejection

Logically, this advice-to pull out all the stops to receive the job offer-is indisputable. If we were driven by logic like Vulcans, I'm sure this is the strategy we'd all follow.

Human beings, however, can have problems with this approach. As an interviewee, it puts us in a decidedly subordinate role. Instead of envisioning the interview as a mutual exchange of ideas among equals, we're forced to see it as an encounter between the judge and the judged. We feel uncomfortable allowing someone to appraise our value, while we just do what we can to please and excite them. We want to be on a more even footing with the interviewer. We want them to feel that we're checking them out too.

The fear of rejection is a debilitating disease for any sales rep. And when the "product" you're representing is yourself, its effects become particularly fierce. A common response is to be quick to find fault with the interviewer or the organization-or to convince ourselves that they've already decided who they're going to hire. Another reaction is to display an aloof attitude throughout the interview -- acting as if we really didn't care what decision the interviewer comes to.