If an
interviewer has read your resume carefully, he may try to zero in on a “fatal
flaw” of your candidacy, perhaps that you don’t have a college degree…you’ve
been out of the job market for some time…you never earned your CPA, etc.
A fatal flaw
question can be deadly, but usually only if you respond by being overly
defensive.
BEST
ANSWERS: As every master salesperson
knows, you will encounter objections (whether stated or merely thought) in
every sale. They’re part and parcel of
the buyer’s anxiety. The key is not to exacerbate the buyer’s anxiety but
diminish it. Here’s how…
Whenever you
come up against a fatal flaw question:
Be completely
honest, open and straightforward about admitting the shortcoming. (Showing you
have nothing to hide diminishes the buyer’s anxiety.)
Do not
apologize or try to explain it away. You
know that this supposed flaw is nothing to be concerned about, and this is the
attitude you want your interviewer to adopt as well.
Add that as
desirable as such a qualification might be, its lack has made you work all the
harder throughout your career and has not prevented you from compiling an
outstanding track record of achievements.
You might even give examples of how, through a relentless commitment to
excellence, you have consistently outperformed those who do have this
qualification.
Of course,
the ultimate way to handle “fatal flaw” questions is to prevent them from
arising in the first place. You will do
that by following the master strategy described in Question tell me about
yourself. i.e., uncovering the employers needs and them matching your
qualifications to those needs.
Once you’ve
gotten the employer to start talking about his most urgently-felt wants and
goals for the position, and then help him see in step-by-step fashion how
perfectly your background and achievements match up with those needs, you’re
going to have one very enthusiastic interviewer on your hands, one who is no
longer looking for “fatal flaws”.
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