Tuesday, September 8, 2015

Step 3 of The First Interview - Knowing The Company/Product Knowledge

Hey Everyone! 
I hope everyone had a fun/safe labor day weekend. this week I want to break down step 3 of the first interview: Knowing the Company/Product Knowledge.
As important as the first 2 steps are, step 3 is what I call the "core of the interview". It's imperative as you transition into this part of the interview that you as a candidate are not just regurgitating information you read on a company website or the "About the Company" section back to a manager, they can pick up on it right away  and can promptly end any interview and bring in the next candidate waiting. 
Knowing about the company/product knowledge is a managers way to gauge a few different things about you as you go through this stage-
1.It's their way to see if you've actually done your "homework" on the company/products.
2. They want to see how much you care about the position and how bad you want the job (Body language, enthusiasm, conviction while speaking is key as most managers are taking mental notes while you talk) --> do you look at this position as just a job to cure your boredom while you look for something else or can this position become a potential game-changing career? 
My recommendation to candidates for this stage of the interview process is to obviously do your due diligence on the company, the company's direct competitors and have 7-10 facts/speaking points about the company that you can follow up with simple questions to engage the manager as you're going through the interview. By having speaking points you're already putting yourself in a better position than by just talking about what the manager already knows and it will better your chance of getting the position you want. 
Product knowledge is important for obvious reasons. If you get the position you're going to be selling these products and managers will test your knowledge to gauge how much you know as well as your presentation skills of these products. Like the company history and about the company, a manager wont want to hear you recite what the product does. 
As a candidate and potential employee, you can ask certain questions about the product like 1) how the product became a main product of the company, 2) how it evolved to where it is today, 3) what changes have been made over the years to the product, 4) what type of money/research is going into the current product and future product development to sustain the company's success going forward?, and 5) what type of impact has the product had on the market from past to now? it keeps the manager engaged with you and ultimately will also better your chance of getting the position you're going for, as always you can find my linked in page Here and email david@seerion.com if you have any questions or are interested in any positions that you see. 
Next week we will talk about Step 4 of the Interview process, the position breakdown and why it's important to know about the position you're interviewing for, have a great week everyone! 
"Be quick but don't hurry." - John Wooden 

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