Filter In, Filter Out - Interview Technique
I was talking to a friend who had a big interview coming up and feeling they really wanted to get it right and I said, ‘remember, they want to filter you IN, not filter you OUT’.
We both thought that was genius (I exaggerate) and we had a chuckle about how I’d be using that as the theme to my next coaching corner. And me voilà!
“They want to filter me in not filter me out’ is a useful mindset shift that alters how you approach interviews.
Interviews aren’t a test you pass or fail. They’re a matching process.
And if a company has gone to the effort to put together a job description and hold interviews, they really are looking for someone to hire. They don’t want to filter you OUT because that means more time they spend on interviewing and finding someone. They want to find someone who is easy to filter IN.
Your job is to make sure you understand what their filters are.
Some of you might have picked up that this year I’ve really got into knitting as a way to get off my phone. Of course, now I’m a knitting addict instead of a phone addict but my family say it’s healthier and more productive because they get hats, scarves, tops and gloves.
But I’ve taken to finding bargain balls of yarn on Vinted and then figuring out what do to with them. So I go on this website Ravelry and enter the type of yarn I’ve got, the meterage and press ‘apply filters’ and it pops up with patterns of what I can make with that yarn. Brilliant!
So when you go to an interview, it’s the opposite. They’ve got the desired vision of the what they want at the end but they don’t have the yarn or perhaps even the pattern. So it’s your job to work out how you can be that yarn and, if needed, be a great pattern writer.
I hope this knitting analogy is working, because it’s no good turning up like a giant, tangled bag of wool and hoping they’ll dig through and find something useful. It’s far more powerful to say: “You’re looking for an aran sweater? Here’s the yarn I’ve got, and here’s exactly how it could work.”
In the real world, that looks like:
Answering what’s actually being asked - not what you think sounds impressive
Joining the dots between your experience and what they need
Being clear about how you think, not just what you’ve done
Giving specific, relevant examples that make it easy to picture you in the role
And one small move that makes a big difference is after you answer, pause and ask: “Does that answer your question, or would it help if I go into a bit more detail?”
Make sure you’ve demonstrated how you hit those filters.
So remember, filter in, not filter out.
I hope that helps.
