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“The Career Game”: 7 Strategies on How Not to Lose The Interviewing Game
You can’t imagine the number of times that I’ve heard stories of candidates getting so taken in by the Interviewing Game that they’d do anything to get the job. That’s how you know you’ve lost the game (and probably the job, too).
The stories that candidates tell me would break your heart. The only reason they don’t break my heart is that I’m a recruiter and apparently don’t have one.
The people that you’re interviewing with are playing a game. I call it The Interviewing Game. Original, no?
I know that you’re trying to get a job and it is a very serious matter, but unless you know how to play this game, you’re going to do damage to your career that will last a lifetime. So, in order to be serious about your career, you’ve got to play the game.
In any case, today I’m going to talk a little bit about The Interviewing Game, what it looks like, and some tips on how not to lose.
WHAT THE INTERVIEWING GAME LOOKS LIKE
In the Interviewing Game, there are two teams: everyone at the interviewing company is on one team and you are on the other, all by your lonesome.
Don’t worry. I’m on your side, too. And that’s more than enough.
The Interviewing Team has a goal: they need to hire a good employee to do a certain job. However, in the process, they are also looking for someone who will stick with the company, conform to their culture, be as cheap as possible, as for as few raises as possible, cause as few problems as possible, and, ideally, be able to be manipulated into doing as much work as possible.
In order to find this interesting list of traits, they start to play the Interviewing Game.
They will see how you respond to pressure. They will tell you that they believe that they’re the best company in the world. They will make sure that you’re willing to put in long hours. They will probe you to find out if you’re just a little ambitious (not ambitious at all means you’re just a drone and too much ambition means you’ll leave their crappy, stagnant company before too long).
In short, they will do whatever it takes to make you want the job so much that you’d do anything to get it.
They will do this by setting your expectations from the first minute you talk with them. Everyone on the interviewing team is setting expectation. Longer hours. Little pay. Some weekends. Whatever.
And you, if you’re typical, walk into the Interview Game with no gameplan at all.
HOW NOT TO LOSE THE INTERVIEWING GAME
I say “How Not To Lose” because my goal is to keep you in the game and even start to use the game to benefit yourself. In the end, however, I can’t guarantee a win because there’s the possibility that you might not be qualified or are too expensive.l
However, these strategies will keep you in the game as long as possible:
- Know Your Acceptable Win - If you don’t know what a “win” is, how are you going to know if you’ve gotten it? Take the time to figure out what the minimum situation you’ll accept will be. That’s not just money. That includes vacation, culture, hours, commute, etc.
- Do Your Own Expectation Setting - Include the things that you’re looking for in your answers to your questions. If you don’t want to put in 80+ hours a week, include something like this in one of your answers: “…and then my boss came up to me on Friday and said we’d have to work all weekend. Can you imagine!?! As if I didn’t have a life outside of work!”
- Be Relaxed… - If you’re nervous or overanxious, you’re going to appear too desperate. They want you to want the job, but if you give the impression that you’re entire life is hanging in the balance (whether or not it actually is), they’re going to get skittish about you. So before you walk into the interview, pop a Xanax, down a couple shots, do some yoga, or do whatever it is that relaxes you.
- …But Not Too Relaxed! - If, in your attempt to play it cool, you seem too detached from the interview, you will appear uninterested in the position. You need to seem attentive and interested in order to move on in the game.
- Be Prepared To Walk Out - Since you know what your minimum conditions are for a win, you should also be prepared to stop the interview as soon as the Interviewing Team steps over the line. So, as soon as the words, “…most of the people in this position make in the lower $20’s…” come out of the interviewer’s mouth, you have to be prepared to walk out. Start to pack your things and thank them for their time while stating the minimum requirement that they’ve violated. If it’s just a manipulation (which it often is), they’ll stop you.
- Don’t Put All of Your Eggs In One Basket - While you may believe that one job is the perfect thing for you, you still need to have alternatives. Keep pursuing new opportunities even when you’re on 3rd interviews. This will help you to not be so tense about getting this one job while give you some negotiating power (”Wow! That’s a great offer, but Company Y just offered me $10,000 more a year. I really want to work for you, but…”)
- Don’t Take The First Offer - While more and more companies are standardizing what they’ll give whom, the truth of the matter is that they can do whatever they want. Since they’re trying to get you to work as cheaply as possible, never take their first offer. Schedule a time to sit face-to-face and negotiate out each of the pieces of the package. Press for this even if they act either offended or like it can’t be done. Usually, it’s an act.
There you have it! If you follow these strategies when playing the Interviewing Game, you’ll be playing to win. Or, at least, playing not to lose!
Enjoy the Search!
Dan
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Daniel R. Sweet
Chief Cook-And-Bottle-Washer / Technical Recruiter
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