146 How to Sell Yourself
“What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made professionally?”
Turn it around. “I once trusted a person more than I should have.
His actions hurt both me and my business associates. It taught me
to check people out.”
“Don’t you honestly believe you’re overqualified for this posi-
tion?” If you believe the interviewer’s perception is wrong, you
might try, “Not unless you’ve got a lid on the job, the salary, and
the responsibility that I’m not aware of.”
A job interview is a one-on-one situation, and just as the inter-
viewer is sizing you up by the signals you send, you can size up the
company by carefully observing his signals. Is he open, consider-
ate, and courteous? Or is he closed, uninterested, harsh, or even
hostile? It won’t take you long to figure that one out. And if the
latter is true, you’d probably rather not work for the company he
represents. In fact, he may soon be out of a job.
It works!
For several years, I’ve done many programs for the training
arm of Arthur Young, now Ernst & Young. As I was working on
this book, I got a letter from Alice Rice, one of the breakout
leader trainers who had worked with me on dozens of occasions.
Here’s what she wrote:
Dear Arch,I began working with Colleen (a job search consult-
ant) in February of 2001 when I determined it was time
for a career change. After about three weeks of working to
prepare a resumé, build my campaign, and identify pro-
spective employers, Colleen decided it was time for a mock
interview. I had been trained by the best for the best in
presentation techniques. To my surprise, I was nervous
and anxious about the 20-minute video we were going to
tape to allow a critique of my interviewing for a new job.
As Colleen was asking me questions related to “your
best experience,” “what you are most proud of,” “what
can you offer my company,” etc., I kept some very simple
thoughts in mind. All of these came to me through my
training with you. From the time we met in May of 1988,