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POWERFUL PHRASES for Successful Interviews
Over 400 Ready-to-Use Words and Phrases That Will Get You the Job You Want
By Tony Beshara AMACOM
Copyright © 2014 Tony Beshara
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-0-8144-3355-3
CHAPTER 1
Powerful Phrases to Get Face-to-Face Interviews
The most important thing you can do to get a job is to interview. Nothing else matters unless you can get a face-to-face interview with a hiring manager—someone with authority (to hire) and pain (an urgent need to hire). Learning to use the right words and phrases can make getting an interview easier.
Most people are uncomfortable with selling other people on interviewing them with the possibility of being hired. It can be daunting, burdensome, and an excruciating task. No one likes to be rejected. And there are fewer more clear-cut rejections than being denied an interview or being rejected for a job.
The risk of being rejected goes with the process of getting interviews and being interviewed. The sooner you face that reality and prepare for this kind of rejection, the sooner you're going to be able to find a job. Pristine résumés, brilliant research, great contacts, even superior previous job performance, will not help you find a job anywhere near the extent that getting numerous interviews and performing well in each interview will.
The initial interviews, if they're successful, will lead to subsequent second, third, or fourth interviews that will eventually land you a job. The most effective thing you can do is to pick up the phone and call anyone and everyone you can, whether you know them or not, to find people who might be able to grant you time for an interview.
CONTACTING PEOPLE YOU KNOW
The easiest place to start looking to set up interviews is with people you know. Here are the first people you want to contact and ask for the opportunity to interview:
* Previous employers, peers, and subordinates
* Family
* Friends
* Acquaintances
* Competitors
* Suppliers and distributors
* Customers
Note that it is important for you to record the telephone number and date you call people. You may be calling the person back again in thirty, sixty, or ninety days. Many people will not respond to you positively for a month or two. You want to remind them that you need a job!
Let's start with words and phrases to use in contacting people you know. Keep these in front of you as you make the call!
Previous Employers, Peers, Subordinates, Friends, and acquaintances
No matter how well you know the person, start your call with a simple introduction:
Hello, ________ this is _________________ (your name). We know each other from _________________.
This prepares the way for the phrase stating the reason for your call:
I am currently looking for a new job. I called to ask if you know of any job opportunities available either with your firm or any others you might know about.
Then provide a quick update on your job situation:
For the past________________ (time period), I have been working at _____________________________ (company). I am looking for a job as __________________________. Can you think of anyone who might need what I can offer?
(Very long pause) ... If the answer is no, then say:
I really appreciate your time. I'd like to send you my résumé, and if you can think of anyone who might be interested, please pass it along to them.
I am not sure how long my search will take. I'd like to call you back in a month or so to see if you might have thought of anyone who might be interested. Would that be all right?
This way, you've laid the groundwork for further contact down the road. And sending your résumé will provide a tangible reminder of your ongoing job search. (Very few people will tell you not to send your résumé.)
Family
With family members, your approach is basically the same:
Hello, __________. This is _________________________ (your cousin, brother-in-law, or other relation). I called to ask you if you know of any job opportunities that might be available. For the past __________ (time period), I have been working at _______________ (name of company or what you have been doing). I am presently looking for a job. Can you think of anyone that might need what I can offer?
(Long pause) ... If the person says no, then say:
I really appreciate your time. I'd like to send you my résumé and if you can think of anyone who might be interested, please pass it along to them.
I am not sure how long my search will take; I'd like to call you back in a month or so to see if you might have thought of anyone that might be interested. Would that be all right?
Again, it's unlikely that relatives will say no to receiving a résumé, even if they don't think they can be of help.
Competitors, Suppliers, and Customers
Here you're approaching people you know through business. Start with a quick reminder of who you are and how you know them.
Hello,____________. This is __________________________. We know each other from being a _________________ (competitors, customers, or suppliers). I called you to ask if you know of any job opportunities that might be available. Most recently I have been _________________ (describe what you have been doing). I am presently looking for a job. Would your organization be in need of a good _____________?
(Long pause) ... If the person says no, then say:
I really appreciate your time. I'd like to send you my résumé and if you can think of anyone who might be interested, please pass it along to them.
By the way, I am not sure how long my search will take; I'd like to call you back in a month or so to see if you have thought of anyone that might be interested. Would that be all right?
Once again, you finish by asking if it would be all right for you to send your résumé and call back in a month or so to see if the person has thought of anyone who might be interested.
CALLING PEOPLE YOU DON'T KNOW
This part of the process can make a big difference in how fast you find a new job. The procedure is simple: You get on the telephone and present yourself to a prospective employer and ask for an interview. This is known as a cold call. It is simple and direct. The results you get will be immediate. The cold call will either result in an interview or it won't.
The process of doing this is very simple, but the manner in which you do it is sophisticated and takes a lot of courage and practice. The reason it takes courage is because you are running the risk of being rejected within ten seconds. On top of that, you probably are going to have to make about 75 to 100 of these calls before you get an interview. So, you have to expect plenty of rejection before you get positive reinforcement.
Keep in mind that when you do this, you are trying to get an interview regardless of whether or not there is a position open. You are selling an interview, not necessarily selling the idea of getting a job. It is extremely important that you recognize this difference. The purpose of this call is to get in front of a prospective employer so you can sell yourself and your skills. You are purposely going to ask for a meeting with the prospective employer without asking if there indeed is a need. Don't confuse getting hired with getting an initial interview. All you're trying to do is sell an audience with that person.
The reason that you are just trying to sell the initial audience, or interview, is that, very often, hiring managers will interview potential employees whether they have an opening or not. As you will see, the phrases to use do not ask if there are any openings; they ask for an appointment, an interview, and do not presume a current or upcoming position opening.
Whom to Call
If you don't know the name of a hiring manager within a firm when you call an organization, simply ask the name of the manager of the department that you would normally report to. If you are an accountant, call and ask for the name of the controller. If you are a controller, call and ask for the name of the vice president of finance or the chief financial officer (CFO) or, when it comes down to it, anyone who is in charge of the finances for the company. If you are a salesperson, you should call and ask for the sales manager, the regional sales manager, the vice president of sales, and so forth. If you are an administrative support person, then you would ask for the administrative support manager. When you call, ask for the manager of the kind of department that your skills and ability would fit. It is that simple.
In larger organizations, the people who are answering the phone are instructed to not give out that kind of information. They may tell you just that, or they will tell you that they don't know, or that they don't have the titles of the people in the company. So, you can do two or three easy things:
* You can go online to the company's website and find the names of the people that are in charge.
* You can ask for the customer service department or the person in charge of customer service. They will be quite helpful.
* You can ask for the accounts payable department. These people are so used to getting beat up every day by vendors asking for money that when they speak to someone nice, who is just asking them for a name, they are usually so grateful, they will tell you anything, especially something so simple as who the managers are.
Now, if you get "lost" in the voice mail system that only allows you to spell the names of people, you are going to get very frustrated. If you know the name of the person you're trying to reach, of course, spell their name. Some companies' voice mail systems purposely don't include the names of some of the managers. (I know it's stupid, and it makes absolutely no sense, but I don't write the rules.)
If you run into this, your goal is to speak to just about anybody. So hit the first letter of any common name like "S" and speak to whoever answers. Ask for the accounting department, sales department, customer service department, and so on. If you don't know the name of the manager of the department you need to speak with and you get a voice mail from one of the administrative people, you have no choice but to leave a message and ask them to call you back. I would not recommend telling them why you are calling. When they call back, be as nice and cordial as you can. You want to speak to their department manager. Most of the time, administrative types want to help, so they will give you the name of the manager. Try to speak to the manager right then.
If you have skills that can transfer from one industry or profession to another you can cold call just about anybody. For example, any kind of administrative, accounting, bookkeeping, or sales experience can carry over to a lot of different businesses. So, you can cold call from just about any reference book that might provide names of companies and telephone numbers. Don't overlook the white pages of businesses or the online telephone book itself.
What to Say
You want to get past the initial responder as quickly as possible, so you should start with a direct question:
Hello, who is your __________________ (controller, vice president of sales, information technology (IT) director, CEO, or other title)? Fine, let me speak with ____________________ _______________.
If you are put through to the person you wish to speak with, get right to the point by stating who you are and what you want:
Hello, __________________, my name is ________________, and I am with ________________ and have a great track record of _______________. I would like to meet with you to discuss my potential with your firm. Would tomorrow morning at 9 AM be good for you or would tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM be better?
If you get a response like, "I really don't have any openings," then your response should be:
I understand and the kind of person that I want to work for probably does not presently have an opening.
I would just like to take fifteen or twenty minutes of your time because I am a top-notch performer. I am the kind of person whom you would want to know to either replace your weakest link or to be aware of my availability when the next opening does occur. Now, would tomorrow morning be good for you or is tomorrow afternoon better?
You will either get the appointment or a more insistent response of, "I really don't have any openings. There is no reason for us to meet."
At this point, you have nothing to lose, so you might as well state your case as strongly as you can:
I understand that you don't have any immediate openings, but I have a great track record of ____________________ ______________________.
I am the kind of professional who is better than 90 percent of the employees you might have now.
It is to you and your company's best interest that you at least talk to me and be aware of my availability. If not for now, then maybe in the future. My experience has taught me that, often, great talent comes along when you don't need it. But, it is always a good idea to be aware of talent on a face-to-face basis.
I will only take a few moments of your time and it may wind up being beneficial for all of us. Would tomorrow morning or tomorrow afternoon be better?
If the response is, "Can you e-mail me a résumé?" your answer is:
I can, but my résumé is only one-dimensional and it is of value for both of us to associate a face and a personality with a résumé. I'd like to bring it by, hand deliver it to you, and spend maybe fifteen minutes of your time so that you know what my accomplishments are and how they can benefit you and your company. Is tomorrow morning good or would tomorrow afternoon be better?
If the response is an emphatic, "Please just e-mail me the résumé!" (just a nice way of saying no), then your response is:
I'll do that right now. I will call you back tomorrow to be sure you have received it, and then we can set up a visit.
If you get a very emphatic no, and it is clear that you're not going to get any kind of face-to-face interview, you then need to pause for two or three seconds and say:
Do you know of any other opportunities that might exist in your firm with another manager?
If you get a person's name, ask:
May I use your name as a reference?
If you get the name of another manager, also ask for his or her phone number.
If the answer is "no" to your question about other opportunities with the company, then ask (after a two-or three-second pause):
Do you know of any other organization that you might have heard of through the grapevine that might need someone of my experience?
If you get the name of an organization or a person's name, again be sure to ask:
May I use your name as a reference?
Powerful Phrases for Referrals
If you get a referral to a particular person or organization and the person who referred you said you could use his or her name (this is an indication of how strong the ties are between them), here are the words and phrases to use:
Hello, Mr./Ms. _______________. I was referred to you by ________________________. I am _________________________ with ______________ and a great track record of ________________.
I would like to meet with you to discuss my potential with your firm. Would tomorrow morning at 9 AM be good for you or would tomorrow afternoon at 3 PM be better?
You will be amazed at the number of job opportunities you will uncover this way.
Controllers know other controllers. Vice presidents of sales know other vice presidents of sales. Engineering managers know other engineering managers, and so on. It is not uncommon for one type of manager to know a number of other types of managers both within and outside of their own company. Their counterparts in other organizations often ask these managers if they indeed know somebody to fill vacant positions. You may only get a productive response one out of every forty times you try this approach. But don't be discouraged. The one interview you get as a result of asking that question is worth the forty or fifty times of asking.
Whether you get a referral or not, it is a very good idea to end the conversation with the following:
Thank you for your time, I would at least like to e-mail you my résumé in case something might change with you or someone you know.
Nine out of ten times, the person on the other end of the phone will be willing to receive the résumé. No matter what the person's response, whether it be positive or not, end the conversation by saying:
I'd like to give you a call back in thirty days or so to see if there might be any openings there or if you might know of any openings with friends of yours.
Again, nine out of ten people will agree to your doing that. To a certain extent, that lets people off the hook for the moment; but they also know, in the back of their minds, that they could easily have a position open up at any time.
Here's a key point: Cold calling is a numbers game. The more calls you make, the more likely you are to get an interview.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from POWERFUL PHRASES for Successful Interviews by Tony Beshara. Copyright © 2014 Tony Beshara. Excerpted by permission of AMACOM.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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