Page 138 - James Caan - Get the Job you Really Want
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The answer is: half a day, tops. You only need to invest half a day
of e≠ort.
The jc twist
If I was going to an interview and had spent time creating a
knock-out presentation, I would completely undersell it. The
way I would describe the presentation is, ‘I don’t know if this
is useful, but I’ve put down a few ideas on paper.’ I would be
giving the interviewer an amazing document but presenting
it as something that I had jotted down, because I don’t want
them to think I’ve made a huge e≠ort. It’s a bit like going on a
date. You don’t want to let your date know you’ve spent four
hours getting dressed. You want to give the impression that
you just threw something on. While you are talking through
the presentation the interviewer will be sitting there flicking
through the pages, picking up on the style, the content, the
quality, the research, the writing. And thinking, ‘If this is
something they’ve just jotted down, I’d love to see what they
think of as a real presentation.’
Because of my involvement with Dragons’ Den, I had to hire a
communications manager: the profile the programme has given
me meant I was doing more and more work with the press and
media. It was becoming ridiculous: every day somebody was
ringing up, asking, ‘Will you come on CNBC or CNN or the BBC?’
My P A said to me, quite rightly, ‘James, this is not a job for me.
I can take the messages but I can’t talk to these people, I don’t
know what they are looking for, how to choose between them.’
126 get the job you really want