From the book How to Prepare for an Employment Interview.
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THE POSITION: How will you make a contribution?
Management guru Tom Peters says that all good jobs are co-created -- joint ventures in problem solving between employer and employee. "It's up to you to invent a job," says Peters, "figure out how to add value and then get on with it."
That's what your preparation is all about-figuring out how you will add value to the organization so you can go into an interview prepared to present yourself. And the value you offer will not usually be limited to what the employer is expecting.
Before you made your initial contact with the company, you probably put some thought into what you offer the employer and the skills you would bring to their organization. I'm sure you mentioned some of these key strengths to persuade them to arrange an interview with you.
Now you want to try to figure out the skills and traits that are most important for success in the kind of work you see yourself doing. You'll then probe your own experience for examples you can cite as evidence that you have these skills and traits.
Most jobs are not independent of the person in them
We've all seen movies where new recruits into the military come off the bus at boot camp. There's usually a sequence showing them arriving as unique and diverse individuals, then going through the process of having their heads shaved and being put in the same uniforms ... emerging as interchangeable parts known by their rank instead of their name, trained to all act in the same way in every situation.
There are still some positions that are treated this way. But today, most businesses are much more flexible and able to take advantage of the unique talents and strengths that each of their employees has to offer. (Usually without paying them any more, but we'll leave that discussion for another time!)
Management consultants have been saying for years that...[continued here]
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