NLP Job Hunting Techniques, Are You Experienced?

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One problem that job seekers have is that they feel like that company holds all the cards. Here is an idea to switch the balance of power and use your experience to have companies screaming to employ you. 

Nice CV Mr Hendrix, But Are You Experienced

I was hanging out on Facebook the other day and caught the picture below on Theories of the misunderstanding of things page. After I had finished laughing I thought about the very real problem job candidates face when being interviewed.

The key issue is that many candidates go into the job hunting process with a begging bowl attitude almost begging for a job. Have you ever been face with a desperate over eager sales person? If you have then you will understand how badly this comes across and how unlikely you are to buy from this person. Job candidates come across in the same fashion.

NLP Techniques, Reframing Experience

Imagine a sales person that instead of bombarding you with statements about how great their product is; they take the time to understand your needs. They then go on to link your needs to how their product could solve those needs. They negotiate intelligently and are prepared to walk away if the deal doesn’t suit both parties.

In a job interview situation this is reflected by the candidate walking in with an air of confidence, presenting their experience and linking it to the role they are applying for. The ideal candidate understands that the interview is not about them, it is about the company’s needs and how they can fulfil that need.

Usually when I say these things some people normally start saying things like, “But you aren’t in control of the interview and all you can do is answer the questions that are asked of you.”

I normally respond by suggesting that as an interview candidate it is your responsibility to be in control of the conversation. Whilst the standard form for an interview has the majority of the questions being asked of the interview candidate it shouldn’t stop the candidate being in complete control of the situation.

I am suggesting that the interview candidate should have done several things prior to the interview.

Firstly the candidate needs to set up their CV or Resume so that they already know what questions should be asked and what experience they will be presenting back to the company. This experience should be based on the company values, the job criteria and benefit statements that meet the company needs.

For example if your last job was a pizza topping designer and you are looking for a job as a brain surgeon you need to explain how the precision hand eye coordination of placing toppings on a pizza relate to making precise cuts with a scalpel that a brain surgeon makes. If Jimi Hendrix were going for a management position he might link his skills as a performer to captivating and selling the vision to his team.

Using Questions to Present Your Experience

Once you can do this all you need is to have an answer formula that allows you to relate the question to your experience and forces the interviewer to see you as a successful applicant that is doing a great job for the company. The more you can get the interviewer to see you this way the better success you will have.

Obviously this takes a little bit of practice and the reality is spending half an hour for the next week practicing this way of answering questions will inevitably end up with you achieving your dream job. If you need more information the whole process is laid out in a step by step process in the NLP CV Writing and Interview Skills course. Here is what Raymond had to say about it:

You can click through and get a copy of the course right here

Tags: Job Hunting, Persuasion, Reframing