Three Things Every Executive Interviewer Wants to Hear

A powerful control technique in an executive interview is effective story-telling; especially when you concentrate on action-oriented stories that portray several capabilities. Invariably, incidental situations in the story will register memorably because of their relevance to the interviewer’s needs and an executive job offer will be forthcoming.

Brief anecdotes emphasize your values and strengths, and establish your credentials in areas of employer need or concern. One of the most impressive ways of presenting value is to do so in a manner that succinctly describes problems you were successful in solving by using a “Three C” format: Circumstance, Conduct, and Conclusion.

Executive Interview Three C General Format:

* The Circumstance: What was the opportunity, problem, or business challenge? Keep to one or two sentences.

* The Conduct: What specific actions did you take, or why did you take action? Three or four actions should be identified, along with the rationale. Use the personal pronoun “I” followed by an action word, such as managed, directed, led, designed, created, formulated, negotiated, planned, trained, sold, etc. Keep to one or two sentences.

* The Conclusion: What was the positive outcome? Quantify results and include a time frame. The Conclusion should be limited to two or three sentences.

An effective Three C story presents a scenario in which the executive interviewer can identify with the challenges you faced in considering your circumstances and conduct. Strong Three C’s position your skills to the employers’ needs; the listener will identify with the favorable objectives and positive results. Invite interviewer questions, particularly when you have great data.

The most successful presentations are typically brief; each should be able to be told in less than 90 seconds. You guide the conversation in the direction that will best highlight your value; effectively controlling the entire executive interview process by offering the interviewer a choice of Three C stories.

The interviewer at some point will ask a question relevant to immediate productivity. “If I understand the question properly, you want to know if I’ll be able to hit the ground running, and the answer is, ‘absolutely.’I have a history of quickly assessing problems and executing effective solutions. For example, there was a time when I implemented a multi-billion dollar IT program overnight and another time I stepped into a new role and prevented a hostile takeover. Which would you like to hear about?”

“I was hired in as VP of Information Systems after the rapid departure of my predecessor and in the middle of a complete infrastructure rebuild. Vendors were late, software had bugs, employees were exhausted, and each day of delay was costing the company a quarter of a million dollars.

I segmented the project into two components: hardware and software, and assigned a manager to each. It took 24 hours non-stop just to lay out the objectives with the managers and develop an operational plan; another full day for the managers to implement the plan with the employees and vendors. On the third day, I gave all IT personnel the day off and pressured all vendors to be set up by the end of the day.

Every IT employee showed up motivated and re-energized after 24 hours off, and by 6 AM the next morning, the entire network was online. The $250,000 per day hemorrhaging had stopped and the owner later confided that it saved his company.”

A good storyteller is welcomed and remembered in almost any environment. Many executives, upon successful completion of their campaigns, cite the Three C technique as the most effective of all approaches used in converting executive interviews to executive job offers.

When you leave the organization no second option, your negotiation position is strengthened. By controlling the interview with powerful stories, you’ll get the offer by destroying the competition.



By: RL Stevens

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