Industry experts are more likely to be hired over a perceived low level of knowledge applicant, as all employers associate expertise with productivity.
With this in mind, the more an interviewee can prove sector knowledge, the more likely they are to be offered the advertised role.
For a highly experienced and confident applicant, such as the self-assured interviewee, the task of showing above-average industry know-how comes naturally due to their long duration within the job sector.
For other less experienced interview identities, including the inadequate candidate, to be seen as hireable, the applicant must be viewed as being more of an expert than they are.
These 3 job interview hacks will help anyone increase their chances of being hired.
Hack 1 – get quoted in industry magazines.
Nothing says ‘expert’ like a real quote in an industry magazine.
You don’t to be a charismatic and sector authoritative to have your opinions printed on paper (or online). In fact, it is really easy for anyone with a little industry knowledge, to be quoted by a journalist.
In a second I will show you a 5 step process that will get any career professional mentioned in an industry article.
What is important about this interview hack is that it can be used twice during the recruitment process.
First, the applicant’s application form. When highlighting their level of experience, a job hunter can state how they ‘…have X years of industry experience and have been quoted on (add sector-related activity) in (industry) magazine (or blog)…’
Stereotypically, only ‘experts’ have the industry experience and sector knowledge base to be viewed as worthy enough to be of interest to a leading sector magazine.
This hack, therefore, creates the ‘Halo Effect’. The halo effect is a psychological process where an interviewer, due to what they believe they know about an applicant (that they are an expert as they were referenced by a journalist) influences how they act towards the interviewee, often scoring their interview answers higher than they would have without the halo effect in operation.
Secondly, the same expert hack can be utilised in job interview itself.
Questions such as ‘tell me about yourself?’ or ‘what is your experience?’ lend to an applicant referencing how they are often quoted in sector-related articles.
No matter how the interview hack is used, employers are often impressed by an applicant with a visible level of expertise.
How to get quoted in an industry magazine.
- Sign up to HARO (help a reporter out) as a ‘source’
HARO is a platform for journalists and expert sources to collaborate to help produce informative articles, news stories, and blog posts.
- Receive emails based on your job sector/expertise
Once signed up you will receive daily emails with a list of request for quotes, stories, and expert industry information from a range of physical and online newspapers and magazines
- Write and send of quotes, opinions and expert advice on subjects relating to your career
Some request ask for a full length piece, while others ask for a quote on a particular sector subject or an expert interview.
- Receive confirmation that the piece you have been quoted in is ‘live’
When emailing your tips, advice or quotes, ensure that you record your name, profession, and even link to your personal website or social media pages as most online journalists reference the source.
- Use being a professional source during the recruitment process
Don’t go into to much detail, and avoid explaining the process of being a ‘source’. Instead, discuss how as an industry professional you are often asked to give quotes and sector related opinions.
Hack 2 – Create a celebrity status
In the main, career professionals use linked-in to find job opportunities, to network with industry professionals, and now more than ever before, to share pictures of cats!
But linkedin is one of the best sources for pre-interview research.
One thing that impresses an interviewer is when a candidate knows who they are – it makes the recruiter feel like a celebrity.
With just a few hours strolling through the interviewer’s post you can find interesting facts that can be mentioned in the job interview to build rapport.
It is well documented that commonality increases liking. For instance, if an applicant’s research shows how they and the interviewer have both worked at the same organisation during the same period, the interviewee, on arrival to the interview could ask ‘hey, didn’t you work at X about 5 years ago?’
Not only will the interviewer agree (as the statement is true) the interviewer will increase liking due to the psychological power of the affinity bias.
A secondary gain from this hack is that the interviewer will feel compelled to ask the candidate what job role they had or what department they worked in, creating a natural conversation.
Conversations bond people together , especially when discussing shared experiences.
Another way to use the ‘celebrity’ status hack is by showing enthusiasm for an industry-related project, achievement or comment the interviewer has referenced on their Linked-in profile.
As an example, saying ‘I liked how you defended your argument about (sector relevant criteria)’ or ‘I know you champion (industry policy) this is something I’m passionate about to’ will help increase rapport.
Positive comments are associated with being liked, and through the power of reciprocal liking, the employer who now thinks the applicant likes them, will in turn like them back.
Hack 3 – Linkedin for likeability
The familiarity principle stats that more exposure a customer has to a brand the more that customer will positively evaluate the brands products.
Why do brands such as coke-cola and McDonald’s spend billions of pounds on advertising even though customers know who they are and already purchase their products?
Because familiarity increases likeability. Some research shows how a customer needs to see a product 7 times before they are influenced to purchase it.
This psychological sales hack is the same for applicants in the job interview.
The more awareness an interviewer has of a potential employee the more inclined they are to offer them the position.
How many times have you missed out on a job opportunity because the position was offered to an internal candidate?
Linked-in can be utilised, prior to the job interview, to increase familiarity with the interviewer.
This hack needs to be started well before the interview, even before a job has been advertised.
- Choose several companies you would be happy to work for
- Set up alerts to ensure you are one of the first to know about new job openings
- In the meantime, on Linked-in search for managers in each of the desired companies and connect with them
- Next join industry related groups, especially those that the managers have previously joined
- To increase visibility, like and add comments to the managers posts
- To show sector expertise, add industry articles and make sector related comments and question on industry related groups
By the time an applicant has applied for a role within one of the target companies, they would have hundreds of LinkedIn interactions, many of which would have been viewed by one of the managers who are now part of the interview panel.
Conclusion
To be successful in a job interview, especially for medium to high-level job roles, employers need to view the applicant as an industry expert.
Using exposure, via platforms such as Linkedin and showing expertise through being quoted in industry magazines, which can also be added to the candidate’s LinkedIn page, creates the impression of being highly knowledgeable.
This process creates the halo effect, improving pre-interview opinions. In the interview, rapport can be further improved through the use of finding commonality.
Once the interview opinion of an interviewee is positive, all the career professional has to do is to give detailed answers to each interview question to showcase previous experiences and competencies.
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