Page 101 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want

I know, because I have done it many, many times. The
chances are that if you have not prepared in advance what
you are going to say in response to the awkward questions,
you are going to lose the job by saying something o≠ the
top of your head which, in retrospect, may turn out not to

be the smartest thing to say.
Under those circumstances I think it is extremely
useful to have a dummy run. If you are working with a

good recruitment consultant, they will be able to rehearse
with you. Or you can practise your answers with a friend
or colleague, a partner, parent, brother or sister, or a flat-
mate – and then ask them how each answer sounds to their
ears. Is it convincing? Is it too defensive? Does it raise other

questions?
The knack is not to learn your answers word for
word. That starts to sound more like a script. And – how

annoying! – your interviewer won’t have a copy of that
script. If you are relying too much on prepared answers,
any questions that are unscripted can throw you o≠ your
stride. You should be aiming at consistency of answers, but
phrasing them di≠erently each time.

In the lead-up to the 2010 General Election, and the first-
ever prime ministerial debates in the UK – a job interview
held in front of millions of viewers – imagine the number

of times David Cameron, Nick Clegg and Gordon Brown
rehearsed their answers to questions on the economy, on
immigration, on foreign policy. They all knew that there
were two other people who wanted the job of prime

89 preparation