THE INSIDE VIEW THE INSIDE VIEW SHOW BOOK REVIEW TM RATING (5 out of five star rating)
Author: Elinor Stutz
Title: HIRED!: How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself on Interviews.
Paperback October 20, 2010
Publisher: The Career Press, Inc., 217 pages
Price: U.S. $14.99
“Elinor Stutz’s HIRED! is a gem that shines the wisdom of how to take a calculated risk with your career and be happy doing it.
Elinor Stutz’s brash accounts are alluring on how she held true to her beliefs. She felt as though she was in a war to find an ethical company whose care for employees promoted mutually beneficial relationships. It was at the time of the dot.com boom. Stutz’s somewhere over the rainbow industry was the high tech industry. She made her move, but soon found that the high tech industry had as much downright unethical behavior at the time of the dot.com boom as other industries that had been left in the stone ages, technology wise. Discouragement over the lack of ethics did not stop Stutz’s long view on how a single relationship can bring great gains. As result, she became a work-world soldier of sorts and armed with the salesology, the study whose backbone is comprised by the following twelve stages of the sales cycle: 1. Mindset—reflection and moving forward, 2.Goal-setting and planning, 3.Sales funnel—playing the field, 4. Brand development, 5. Prospecting, 6. Researching your prospects, 7. Qualifying prospects, 8. Relationship selling, 9. Overcoming objections, 10. Trial close, 11. Negotiation, and 12. Final close. The final Close isn’t as final as it sounds as Stutz’s questionnaire on pages 197 to 204 allows readers to write personalized ways in which they plan on leveraging the sales technique to land the job of their dreams.
Who ever knew the science of a sale could help so many master relationship-selling? For so many years our society had been on a roller coaster of technological advances and a worker’s sense of incompleteness due to technological illiteracy. In that sense, we took our eye off the ball of the value of relationship building and allowed memory-based electronic devices to come between us and the primary value of relationship building: relationship selling. The 1980s were once marked by the promises of relationship building. In the 90s, workers found—instead— the yet answered promises of the tech boom that brought a virtual prosperity into the first decade of the 2000. The gains were hard to pinpoint, and that eras ruins from its sole focus on relationship building are in the form of rampant social networks. However so connecting, the social networks and what extent of connectivity technology brings is not where the value lies; but, instead, the value lies in relationship selling and, from that, gauging what known people contributions come from people-relating-to-people; calculating and bringing what value will come from that interaction. Stutz’s questionnaire keeps the focus on people bringing forth value.
Whether readers are in need of making a career transition or are in need to become re-employed, HIRED! divulges the wisdom of how to sell mutually beneficial supportive relationships through use of Stutz’s hybrid of the sales cycle. Time and again, in HIRED!, Stutz’s long view is contagious. Between the lines, readers get an empathetic sense that the only difference between the word HIRED and FIRED is one letter. When Fired, the letter F stands for what is most affected: Family. When Fired, the one letter H stands for Happy. As drones in the millions, who have no job or “Just a job” (feeling as slaves) and are afraid to have again that quest to seek the job of their dreams, Stutz helps readers overcome that paradigm by teaching about how truthful matching of the sales world immediately applies to the extent to which contributions bring great personal gains. Getting to happiness through employment does not have to be about drudgery. HIRED! shall save sloughs of readers from potential grief down the road. This grief is all around us; held by those whose belief system has been shaken by a rugged economy; thrashing about, sinking many, thwarting their vision to succeed. Stutz’s knows all too well that many stop just short of knowing what was just around the corner.
Bravo to Career Press for seeing this gem (HIRED!) as part of the answer to getting the workforce of a tried global economy to learn how to be happy once more, contributing value.”
Salvador SeBasco
Literary Director and host of THE INSIDE VIEW SHOWTM BROADCAST
book critic, on staff with a CNN affiliate.
October 19, 2010
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WISCONSIN BOOKWATCH, December 28, 2010
I’m very pleased to inform you that the December 2010 issue of our library newsletter “Wisconsin Bookwatch” features “Hired!”.
An interview is often one’s first assignment in sales. The product is yourself. “Hired!: How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself on Interviews” is a guide to making the interview the place to promote yourself as the best possible candidate for the job so that you get the job. From good conduct before the interview to nearing the end of the interview and more, “Hired!” is an
excellent resource to be studied and understood for any job hunter.
This review also appears in the December 2010 issue of our online book review magazine “Internet Bookwatch”; the Cengage Learning, Gale interactive CD-ROM series “Book Review Index” which is published four times yearly for academic, corporate, and public library systems. Additionally, this review will be archived on the Midwest Book Review website for the next five years at http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Sincerely,
James A. Cox,
Editor-in-Chief
Midwest Book Review
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MORE.com MONEY & CAREER EDITORS
Questions to Ask in a Job Interview
At the end of an interview, an employer often asks, “Do you have any questions?” Here’s an excerpt from the book Hired! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself on Interviews that suggests the questions to ask that can help land your next job:
What are the goals for the department? The answer will give you an idea of whether the goals of the department are realistic and whether they are something you want to be a part of.
Assuming I’m chosen, what types of goals will you set for me? Be aware that the answer may not be entirely truthful. However, it will give you at least an indication of what you can expect. More importantly, phrasing the question in this manner will have the interviewer seeing you as the employee. It provides more of a psychological impact than any real insight for you.
Is it a team environment or would I work solo? Personally, I would want to know if I were going to be placed in a cubicle by myself, or if collaboration is a major part of the workday. As always, you should know what is important you.
Does the team work with other departments? If you are a social person, interaction among departments may be very important to you. If not, being closely aligned with only two or three other people, or none at all, may be preferable.
If I were to stay on long term, what could I expect my career path to look like? You need to know if the position you are interviewing for and company you are interviewing with has room for career growth. The answer may make a huge difference on whether or not you want to accept. Employee turnover, and the additional training that requires, puts an enormous financial burden on a company. Interviewers want to be certain you will not be moving to another company country in three months. So when you speak to career path, the question automatically removes that concern.
Do you plan on being here long term? I have heard of instances in which the interviewer quit prior to the new candidate coming on board. If you have created a bond between yourself and the interviewer, it can be a disappointment to find out that the person who was instrumental in hiring you is no longer with the company. You might even feel betrayed and wonder what’s next.
Make sure you ask insightful questions about the company, too:
What is your market share and how do you see it growing? Ask this question if you were not able to find it in business news. No matter what position you are applying for, you want to know whether or not the company will be around for a few years. You will also want to know about their corporate directives and policies. Not every question will be answered, but you will be able to learn a lot by observing the way they are handled. The more your questions show critical thinking, the more likely you will differentiate yourself from everyone else and be seriously considered for the job.
Does the company have new directives to increase growth? Not all companies will share this for fear of inside information getting back to its competitors. But some general ideas of strategies for growth should be shared to encourage your continuing interest. The answers will also give you some insight into management. How they approach business—aggressively or conservatively—will be clear. This will help you determine if you agree with their philosophy.
Who else will be making the final decision on the candidate to hire? This question has two important elements attached to it: first, it begs the question of whether others are involved in the decision-making process; second, it is an indirect way of asking what you can expect as the next step. If you are told that additional people will want to interview you, find out their titles and the approximate time frame for meeting with them. Different departments tend to have their own ways of thinking and doing things, so you will want to do some research if you aren’t certain as to what types of questions you should ask of each department head.
Reprinted, with permission of the publisher, from HIRED! HOW TO USE SALES TECHNIQUES TO SELL YOURSELF ON INTERVIEWS (c) 2011 Elinor Stutz. Published by Career Press, Pompton Plains, NJ. 800-227-3371. All rights reserved.
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BUNNY BELLE, October 14, 2010
‘HIRED!’ Gives Job Seekers A Swift (And Often Needed) Motivational Kick
Sales person extraordinaire Elinor Stutz, CEO of sales training company Smooth Sale LLC, has released her second book entitled Hired! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself on Interviews. As a recently transplanted professional in a new city, and someone continually working on her interview skills, I was anxious to read this book and see if it had anything to offer beyond the traditional “Ask questions, take notes, look presentable, and network, network, network” advice given to job seekers. While all of the information may not elicit a “Holy cow! That’s brilliant!” response from readers, Stutz has packaged her message in such as way that you can’t help but feel motivated.
Stutz breaks down her methodology for securing a job by aligning it with the process of making a sale. From prospecting potential clients (i.e. employers), to making the presentation (i.e. the interview) and closing the deal (i.e. negotiating and signing the employment contract), her examples of selling techniques parlay well into the career seeking realm. The basic overall message is that you the job seeker are a brand in yourself. Your talents, skills, experience, what you can bring to the company and right down to the packaging it’s wrapped in—which should be a pressed suit if you’re on the interview—are a product and its you’re job to sell it. Selling yourself (read that again: yourself, not your soul) is the bare bones of the job hunt: you have a great product that you think every company needs to snap up before their competition does.
Stutz warns though, be selective about to which jobs you apply. Yes you want to be employed and not have to worry about the eating peanut butter sandwiches the rest of your life, but you also need to find a job that’s the right fit for you. She cautions about being over-eager with interviewers, which in effect gives away all of your leverage when it comes to negotiating compensation, or applying blankly to all jobs with a steady paycheck advertised in their want-ad (or Craig’s List post as it may be). The entire selling process (again, that’s the interview) is a matter of connecting yourself with the company and showcasing how your product (a.k.a. experiences and know-how) will not only fulfill their needs but also move them forward. Once you convince them of that, and assuming you can also deliver on it, the client (i.e. interviewer) will be sold and you’ll get what you wanted all along: a job!
If you’re currently on the job hunt, or just looking to brush up on your selling, err interview, techniques then Hired! will give you the swift kick of motivation you need and maybe even some new insight along the way.
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My Take on the Book As a person who works with students that are getting ready to enter the workforce, I strongly recommend that you check out this book. The author looks at interviewing in a completely different way and helps you to see the interview process through a new lens. Using practical, real world examples and advice that all can understand, this book provides great resources for the would-be job seeker.This book will definitely open your eyes to the job market and give you tips that may just land you your dream job!
About the Book In today’s tough economy, most people are too desperate to get any job, rather than seeking one that will provide the career satisfaction and growth they deserve. Worse, they treat the interview as an opportunity to focus on themselves.
In HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews, Elinor Stutz asserts, “The interview is not about you; it’s about how well you will solve the company’s problems and fit in with the company culture. This is the only way you will get a job you actually enjoy!”
Learning to persuade potential employers that the best candidate for the job is sitting right in front of them is key to landing that dream job.
HIRED! is a must-read to learn:
• How to achieve the right mindset for successful interviewing.
• How to conduct specific research prior to the interview.
• The leadership skills required for advancing a two-way interview.
• Specific questions you must ask on the interview.
• Strategies for negotiation.
• How to steer conversation to learn what the company is seeking.
The goal of Hired! is to help job-seekers get the interviews they want and to make the most out of every interview. What works for one person might not work for another. Making the style and approach unique is the key to winning an interview and hearing the word “Hired!”
HIRED! How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews (EAN 978-1-60163-142-8, pages: 224, price: $14.99) was published by Career Press. The book is available at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Amazon.com, and many other booksellers.
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MOM MOST TRAVELED
by Candace Broom
Get ready to ace the interview: Hired!: How to Use Sales Techniques to Sell Yourself On Interviews is a good way to adjust your perspective.
Hired! author Elinor Stutz makes an eye opening point: the interview is not about YOU. It is about how well you will solve the company’s problems and fit in with the company culture.
Boom! So true! The power of persuasion.
Hired! breaks down the interview must-do’s for you like this:
• How to achieve the right mindset for successful interviewing.
• How to conduct specific research prior to the interview.
• The leadership skills required for advancing a two-way interview.
• Specific questions you must ask on the interview.
• Strategies for negotiation.
• How to steer conversation to learn what the company is seeking.
Above all, Hired! is about tailoring the techniques to fit who YOU are and enable you to land the job YOU want.
