Tips for Getting the Job
Tip#3 Closing on the next step of the interview process
The term “closing” is a sales term that means influencing one to agree to take certain action (as in signing a contract or writing a check.) A complex sale involves a number of small closes before the ultimate closing purchase. The interview process is a series of closes leading up to the final job offer.
If you’ve purchased a car lately you know that the sale starts with the test drive and moves forward through a series of carefully crafted questions such as “Do you prefer silver or black?” “Which of you will be the primary driver?” “Shall we park this in the sale-pending area?” “Do you wish to trade in your car, or shall we finance this 100%?” The effective salesperson knows what closing steps must take place—attempts to skip these steps and the sale may be lost altogether.
As a clever sales person identifies the small closing steps needed to move the sale forward, so must the job seeker understand the closes necessary to keep the interview process moving forward toward a job offer. Those steps look something like this:
* The cover letter must entice the reader to read your resume.
* The resume must motivate the reader to call you in for an interview.
* In the first interview ask for a second interview.
* “When would you like to schedule our next meeting?”
* “Is there any reason you wouldn’t consider inviting me back for second interview?”
* “Who will I meet in the second interview?”
Read on to: Tip#4 The Second Interview
