Adding depth in an interview

I spent most of yesterday interviewing students with a view to hiring one for the summer to help us with admin on Skillfair. The job isn't particularly exciting but we need all the usual attributes that you'd want from a graduate - self-motivated, thorough, ability to work relatively unsupervised etc etc.

I'd forgotten how little experience most people have at this stage - but there were still some who managed to shine despite that and I've been trying to work out why. The trick seems to be making sure that when asked an open question , like the dreaded 'where do you want to be in 5 years time' the good candidates don't necessarily answer the exact question but do provide plenty of detail that gives you an insight into who they are.

I asked all students what they wanted to do after graduation and in truth none of them really knew, but the answers ranged from 'Dunno, guess I'll wait and see what's available' to 'Well, I'm not sure but I've explored these 3 areas and I'm, trying to get some work experience in this other area to see if I like it' - I'll leave you to guess which answer was most impressive :-)

I think providing the right amount of relevant detail is a key skill for consultants pitching for assignments, whether by email or face to face. You need to provide enough to give the client some idea of your experience and how it might be relevant - but avoid drowning them in irrelevant information.

benefits of an objective view

People have pointed out that there are lots of 'consultant stories' around other than the watch-borrowing one - I particularly liked this one from Stan Wright about a consultants take on an orchestra and this (rather old) one about the difference between a Japanese and American rowing eight.

Both jokes/stories make the point that if a consultant or organisation loses sight of the purpose of the organisation then they can very quickly destroy any value that it has. In bigger organisations it can sometimes see as though the majority of effort goes into looking at how the organisations internal processes function rather than concentrating on what actually needs to be delivered to customers.

The value of an objective view is that you can often ask the awkward questions, such as, 'why are you doing this?', 'do customers actually think your service is good', that internal staff are either deterred from asking by politics or don't want to ask in case they lose their jobs!

When is a future truth useful?

Having blogged about "Consultants watch-borrowing habits" this week, I've been on the look out for other comments from clients that would offer hints about how best we can present ourselves to clients to have a better chance of winning assignments.

I almost dismissed an article about Tim Smit of Eden fame, headlined as rewriting the rules of business, but the final paragraph made me stop and think. Smit said “I discovered a technique that revolutionised my life. It’s called lying – or rather, the telling of future truths. It’s about putting yourself in the most public jeopardy possible and saying ‘I am going to do this’, so the shame of not doing it would be so great it energises every part of your being.”

I think there are times when telling a 'future truth' can help a client understand why we can help with their business event when we don't have the specific industry experience they're so often looking for. I think the trick is to come up with an experience that is close enough to be convincing and explain why that equips you perfectly both to help them and bring fresh ideas from a similar but different sphere. Of course, downright lying is most definitely not acceptable, but a little creativity and imagination may be all it takes to make your pitch stand out from the crowd!

Consultants watch-borrowing habits

There's an old saying that ' a consultant is someone who borrows your watch to tell you the time and then charges you £50 for the privilege' , something that will strike a chord with many business people. Although this is an 'anti-consultant' line it does illustrate what many managers use consultants for.

I've lost count of the number of times I've been told by a manager that 'Everything you're saying I've already told the management - they won't listen to me, but they will listen to you because they're paying for your advice'. The reason this works is that companies tend to assume that their employees have their own agenda when they recommend change - and see external consultants as providing an objective view of the world.

I think this external view is something that we should promote in a psoitive way - after all it's our knowledge of a range of companies and approaches to problems that is our stock in trade.

First (and last) impressions count

We all know about first impressions being the important at interview - but what does your internet impression tell clients about you before you've even met?

Having spent the day travelling to Manchester and back with Jo to check out venues for this year's conference I've been reminded just how important first impressions are. I won't name names, but the first place we visited was somewhat spoilt by a group of people hanging around the main entrance smoking. Although our view of it improved as we went through the building and saw the much nicer entrance that our delegates would actually use, it was really difficult to shake off that initial image.

Of course, we all know that first impressions are critical in an interview or client meeting, but as more and more people have extensive online profiles it may be that concentrating on your first physical meeting might be too late. Web pages are remarkably persistent and what seemed like an appropriate descritpion of yourself a few years ago may not make the grade now - so it's well worth typing your name into Google occasionally to see what clients can see about you before you meet them.