I recently took on a client who is
focused on changing not just her job, but career field as well. She’s used her past two sessions strategizing
for interview techniques. One of the
techniques I gave her involves the word “because.” As odd as this tip might appear, it does impact
the tone of an interview conversation. . .
I love hanging out with my eleven
year old godson, Finn. He’s smart, bright, funny, and an utter goober, though
I’m not sure he’d appreciate my saying that on my blog!
One of the things he most enjoys
when we’re together is to come up with ways to drive me crazy! For instance, he’ll play that game where he
repeats everything I say, exactly as I say it, so I feel like I’m in an echo
chamber talking to myself. The other thing
he loves to do is ask me, “why?” When I
say something, he’ll immediately ask, “why?”
and no matter my answer, he’ll just respond, “why?”
At first, I’ll try to come up with
a real answer to his “why” question.
Eventually, though, my brain fries and I’ll move on to wacky answers,
until, I just yell, “because, that’s
why!” And then he laughs.
As annoying as this game might be
(and I do enjoy being “annoyed” by Finn), it actually replicates a very common
pattern in most conversations and interviews.
Often times, we say something
without exactly explaining it. Then the
other person will ask, “why do you say that?”
And then you try to explain with, “because. . .”
In an interview, if you make a statement
without giving the “because” part, the person experiencing the interview will
wonder, why does he think that? Why does she believe that? Why does he feel that why?
Giving people the “because” part of
why you think something helps to give them a fuller sense of what you mean.
The truth is, we’re always asking “why?”
even when we’re not saying the word out loud.
Throughout our daily conversations, people will say stuff that makes us
scratch our heads and think, “huh?” You
might ask the other person to explain; often times, though, we don’t.
In an interview, you want to reduce
the times the other person thinks, “huh?!”
That’s why you want to give them a “because.”
Now, if you’re tempted to dismiss
this as a “nice” tip, but one you’ll not use, consider this rather odd
experiment. . .
Years ago, a university sociologist
conducted this simple experiment at a library: when someone approached the
photocopier to use it, another person, an actor, would walk up and say,
"Excuse me, may I go ahead of you? I need to make five copies, because I'm
in a rush." 94% of the people
allowed the person to go ahead of them.
Okay, so people are polite and
willing to help out a person in need.
BUT, the sociologist then gave the experiment a twist.
The actor would now go up to a person at the copier and just say,
"Excuse me, may I go ahead of you because I have to make five copies?" And this time, 93% of the people let the
actor go ahead of them––even though he had offered them a ridiculous reason!
I’ve tried out this experiment with
various groups and the results have matched up.
So, how can it be explained? It’s
because of the power of that word “because.” People psychologically feel satisfied when
their “why” question (whether they say it aloud or just think it) is answered––even
with a dumb answer.
Now, I am NOT suggesting you give
nonsensical answers to your interview questions! BUT, I am suggesting that you give thought to
the “why” behind your statements. Let
interviewers know “why” you think and feel the way you do, without them having
to ask, and you’ll give them a clearer sense of you.
In return, they’ll pay more
attention to you, which really is what you want an interviewer to do!
No comments:
Post a Comment