The Best Way You Can Help Yourself During Your Next Interview

The Best Way You Can Help Yourself During Your Next InterviewThe Best Way You Can Help Yourself During Your Next InterviewIn your next interview, phone screen, or chat over drinks, when the topic comes up ask what are you looking for? The most successful hot dog cart in Ladders hometown of New York City isnt a hot dog cart at all. Its The Halal Guys, a gyro, chicken and rice stand in midtown a couple blocks from Fox News and Radio City Music Hall.As you can see, the line stretches all the way down the block. And its that way any time of day or night. My wife and I once waited a half-hour at 1 a.m. in the morning for Halal Guys gyros after a late night celebrating our anniversary.Now the thing that makes The Halal Guys special is the food and the service. They focus on their specialty and theyre quick to ask what youd like. It makes sense because thats the best way to make sure your customer is getting what they want.And youve experienced the same thing at restaurants and retail shops your whole life. The person behind the counter asks how can I help you? or would you like fries with that? or what would you like today, hon?The question seems so obvious to us because weve grown accustomed to it.Which makes it strange that when youre the one doing the selling or offering, and youre sitting across from your customer, these simple questions so rarely pop into your head to ask.Time after time, when were in the job search, or doing some purposeful networking, or fielding phone calls about job opportunities, we let flattery or nerves or anxiety get in the way of asking the obvious questions.What would you like? is also the right question for you to ask your future bosses, prospective colleagues, and interested recruiters. By the time youve landed on Ladders, youve figured out what youre good at, and where you specialize in life. And just like The Halal Guys, there a limited number of roles that you know youd be good for, or interested in. But somehow, in managing our c areers, we can get flummoxed with trying to sound smart, or live up to some imaginary standard in our head, or let the nerves take over and spend the entire time guessing what the person on the other side of the coffee table needs. But wed actually do better when were moving along in our careers, by starting with what would you like? When you walk into an interview, ask your future manager what are you looking for? When you get a call from a recruiter via Ladders, ask what are you looking for? When a prominent person in your industry floats the idea over cocktails that maybe you could make a new home at their firm, ask well, what are you looking for?And, look, I get it. The nerves, or the surprise, or the social niceties can sometimes make it difficult to keep your focus.Somehow, this is one of those areas where it seems to actually come easier when its a friend or a close colleague from a past life in the discussion. Youre far mora inclined to ask what are you looking for because y oure genuinely interested in making sure that what youve got, and what they need, are matched well together.The fact that theres a schuldverschreibung of knowing each other over years, and your desire to make sure youre doing right by your friend somehow supercedes those nerves and anxieties and surprise. And that makes it easy to get to the heart of the matter and ask without guile or gumption whether or not you truly match up with what your friend is seeking.And while I know it is easier to do with friends, its a good idea to extend this courtesy to everybody you meet in planning your career.Just like the Halal Guys start every customer interaction with what would you like? you can start your conversation with what would you like in this role?Whether its your future boss, the industry recruiter, or the HR manager, make sure to ask up front what they are looking for.The unsurprising truth is they will tell you.This eliminates a lot of guesswork and misunderstandings on your part. I f it turns out theyre looking for something you dont have or cant do, theres every reason to be polite and pleasant and steer the conversation to some other topic because this is not the job or role for you.The Halal guys dont do ice cream sundaes, Cobb salads, or sushi. There are a lot of things that you cant, dont, or wont do. The sooner you can determine whether theres a fit the better off youll both be.And this is important not just for the efficiency of being persuasive in your interviews, but also because wasting your time on roles or conversations that are never going to lead to success distracts you from other, better, more fruitful conversations.So in an interview, in a phone screen, in a chat over drinks at the trade show, when the topic comes up ask what would you like?And Ill see you at the corner of 53rd and 6th in ManhattanIm rooting for you.